A free day in Oslo today.

It was not the Radison at $550 per night, but Guesthouse 102 at $180 per night. It was very comfortable - warm and cosy, shared bathrooms (who really needs to shower in the Arctic anyway), and a good breakfast. Also, with a. 20 minute walk to the settlement - 30 minutes to come back as it is up hill, you get to see much more of this harsh environment, almost at the top of the world. Pick up was at 8.30 and after a briefing, issue of snowmobile suits, mittens, m...

After a good sleep we were on our way again. Got the bus to the airport and checked in. We are getting good with the automatic check-in procedures and got ourselves a window seat for the flight to Longyearbyen. Unknown at the time but the flights to the Svalbard Islands, of which Longyearbyen is the settlement (population 2,000), are classed as international flights. Our reasoning is that there is a treaty between Russia and Norway and whilst Norway technically ...

Thought I would add a quick entry to include last night's photo of the "snowmobile champ". No need to write anything else. A picture speaks a thousands words!!!!!

Had a good sleep last night after the excitement of snowmobiling. Actually, the room was too hot for a while and both Aaron and I woke up at 2am in a sweat and had to turn the heating down - to 15 degrees; it was just too hot! Caught the airport bus and checked in for the Norwegian Airlines flight to Tromso; only a 55 minute journey. It felt strange to be back in Tromso; as there was a feeling of familiarity -and it was very cold again. I don't think it has sno...