… are currently a bit difficult in Longyearbyen. This has happened before, after all, it is still at the end of the world or at least not far off. But things are getting thinner now and will probably stay that way for a while. This is what some of the shelves in the fresh produce section of the Svalbardbutikken supermarket look like these days:
Empty shelves in Svalbardbutikken.
The regular cargo plane stopped operating at the end of last year. A replacement is planned, but not yet in sight.
Cargo ships come regularly to Longyearbyen, the passage from Tromsø takes 3-4 days. However, the logistics are obviously not yet perfect, and depending on the weather, it is not unheard of that a cargo of eggs arrives in the shape of of scrambled eggs mixed with cardboard and eggshells.
At the moment, Svalbardbutikken has no choice but to ask its customers to be patient.
Notice on an empty shelf: ‘Due to the new flight and freight situation, there will be a shortage of perishable goods between deliveries for some time.
Until the airport opened in 1975, Longyearbyen was cut off from supplies for months in winter. After the war and until 1975, there was a mail plane that occasionally made deliveries by ‘mail drop’ (literally). There were probably no bananas or eggs in it either, and the contents of many a tin of apricots had to be scraped out of the snow later, frozen 🙂. At that time there was a ‘jernku’, an ‘iron cow’, in which milk was made from powdered milk. The term ‘jernku’ is often used in Longyearbyen these days, with a slightly sarcastic undertone. There was indeed a real cow, and sometimes several ones, but the milk it produced was reserved for pregnant women and families with small children.
Cows in Longyearbyen (1937). Photo: Odd Danielsen.
For now, we have to make do with what we have. The cargo ship is due to arrive on Monday.
New pages
By the way, if you have the time and inclination to let your mind wander a little more towards Spitsbergen, you can do so on the new pages that are being created during the long evenings of the polar night. After years of exploring remote corners of the island also regarding new pages within this website, I’m now concentrating more on the beautiful places we’ll be visiting in the future. There are still many unknown corners to be discovered, but I’m going to take a more or less systematic approach, starting with a few well-known spots. Trygghamna with Alkhornet and Ymerbukta together with the neighbouring beautiful Erdmannflya will certainly be remembered fondly by some.
I mentioned Sassenfjord and Tempelfjord in this context back in December. The gap between them will also be closed in the future.
Esmarkbreen in Ymerbukta: still one of my favourite glacier photos,
in beautiful light at the end of September. One of many photos on the new Trygghamna, Alkhornet and Ymerbukta & Erdmannflya pages.
This and other publishing products of the Spitsbergen publishing house in the Spitsbergen-Shop.
Norwegens arktischer Norden (1): Spitzbergen
Photobook: Norway's arctic islands. The text in this book is German. [shop url="https://shop.spitzbergen.de/en/polar-books/70-norwegens-arktischer-norden-1-aerial-arctic-9783937903262.html"] ← Back
Lofoten, Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen from the air - Photobook: Norway's arctic islands. The text in this book is German, but there is very little text, so I am sure that you will enjoy it regardless which languages you read (or not).
The companion book for the Svalbardhytter poster. The poster visualises the diversity of Spitsbergen‘s huts and their stories in a range of Arctic landscapes. The book tells the stories of the huts in three languages.
Comprehensive guidebook about Spitsbergen. Background (wildlife, plants, geology, history etc.), practical information including travelling seasons, how to travel, description of settlements, routes and regions.
Join an exciting journey with dog, skis and tent through the wintery wastes of East Greenland! We were five guys and a dog when we started in Ittoqqortoormiit, the northernmost one of two settlements on Greenland’s east coast.
12 postcards which come in a beautifully designed tray. Beautiful images from South Georgia across Antarctica from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross Sea and up to Macquarie Island and Campbell Island.