We woke around 7am and had a leisurely start with a cup of tea before going to an excellent buffet breakfast -offering most things i.e. hot, cold continental and waffles. After the price shock yesterday we decided to make a couple of cheese sandwiches for our lunch as neither of us can manage a large breakfast that some seem to consume to last them all day but we would like a light breakfast and a light lunch.
The highlight of breakfast was seeing an arctic fox in half winter half summer coat running across the grass in front of the hotel.....no doubt in search of nesting birds or any carrion.....they are the jackal of the arctic.
We then dressed up for the cold as we could see others outside with hats and gloves on - the thermometer outside our bedroom window said 5 degrees but the blasting wind made it feel much cooler when you were outside; you soon found out that the hat and gloves were essential. We set off to explore the small metropolis and find the sports centre, which is attached to the school and open 2-5pm on Weekends and 5-10pm in the week. It said it had a fitness centre and I wanted to see if I could use it as part of the training for my charity bike ride which starts on the day after our return to the UK ( 26 June). We eventually found it and I decided to come back when it was open and give it a whirl.
We continued our walk around the town spotting the local reindeer - smaller,stouter, slower and less skittish than their southern cousins - all traits are great for heat conservation. They don't live in large herds instead they live in groups of 2-6.
As we went back into the Main Street the shops were opening and we bought John a mammut thermal top - 40% off so a real Norwegian bargain, but then took a mortgage out on two coffees @£8!
The museum was close to the hotel so we decided to go and take a look - it was a really modern and well worth a visit. It gave the history, geography and natural history of Svarlbard and was a great introduction. It was 75 krone admission but I noticed they had a senior rate so John's ticket was a princely 50 krone. As you went in they provided blue plastic shoe covers which meant we didn't have to partake of the normal tradition of removing our shoes as we entered establishments and which we did every time we went into the hotel.
After our light lunch back in our hotel room we set off for the gym - John with a book me with my gym kit and I worked out on the bike, in a really good gym, for an hour. On our way back the general coop store was open so we bought an apples, crisps and cheese supper and a lovely rice and fruit dessert.
When we got back it actually snowed quite hard - everywhere that had already lost its snow looked as if had been dusted with icing sugar but it didn't last too long. As the weather didn't look much different for tomorrow we abandoned any ideas we had for going on a guided hike - the cloud cover was very low and we would see very little or nothing.
We relaxed in the evening wrote our postcards, ate our picnic supper and watched BBC entertainment and world news channels on the television.