30 Jun23:00pm

Arctic Adventure day seven!

Date: 30th June
Latitude & longitude: 78.23°N, 15.59°E
Wind speed: 20km/hr
Wind direction: NW
Barometer: 1017 hPa
Air temperature: 7°C
Sea temperature: 5.6°C

Good news, everyone! We’ve arrived on board the Greg Mortimer!

Today was a lovely day of sightseeing and historical discovery in and around the town of Longyearbyen, organised for us by Aurora Expeditions. We woke early for a delicious buffet breakfast provided by the hotel as part of our Aurora Expeditions deal.

At 2pm, we were picked up by a tour bus and taken to Camp Barentz, a cabin created to honour the discoverer of Svalbard — Willem Barentz. We learned about some of the fascinating Longyearbyen history and the story of Barentz’s trek through the Arctic.

At the camp we also got to meet the huskies and learn about dog sledding across the snow-covered tundra.

After Camp Barentz, we were taken for a trip to the Svalbard Museum. It was rich with historical artefacts and we spent an hour taking it all in.

Finally, it was time. Time to head to the ship. To embark, we first had to board the mini Zodiac boat at Longyearbyen port, to take us across the water to the Greg Mortimer.

We embarked the ship in a state of wonder — it was so much bigger than we had imagined, and equally as luxurious! We were met with welcome drinks and some important briefings, including a mandatory lifeboat drill — safety first, people!

After settling into our cabins, we headed for dinner and spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing in disbelief …

One more sleep till we get to make our first trip out to sea!

See you tomorrow and thanks for reading!

Love from the A Team
Tanya, Gavin, Richard & Graeme

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29 Jun23:00pm

Arctic Adventure day six!

Date: 29th June, 2022
Latitude & longitude: 78.22°N, 15.65°E
Wind speed: 7km/hr
Barometer: 1014 hPa
Air temperature: 8°C
Sea temperature: 5.6°C

Hello from Longyearbyen! This morning, after a hearty buffet breakfast at our hotel, we headed to Oslo airport to catch a short flight to Longyearbyen, the small town where we will be embarking on the ‘Greg Mortimer’ ship.

Coming in to land, we were met with the most gorgeous views of the land — beautiful snow-capped mountains, interspersed with bits of glaciers, low-lying clouds covering the land. It was amazing, and we were all blown away by the beauty.

When we arrived at Longyearbyen airport, we were greeted there by the Aurora Expeditions team and taken to the hotel in town. It was 8pm but of course it was still fully light and bright outside — there are no sunsets at all in Longyearbyen, not for a few months yet!

We decided to check out the little town for dinner and went to a cute local pub for a delicious feast, then headed back to the hotel pub — the northern most pub in the world — for drinks and a game of cards.

One more sleep till we embark on the ‘Greg Mortimer’ and begin our Arctic Adventure!

See you tomorrow and thanks for reading!

Love from the A Team
Tanya, Gavin, Richard & Graeme

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28 Jun23:00pm

Arctic Adventure day five!

Date: 28th June, 2022
Latitude & longitude: 60.20°N, 11.10°E
Wind speed: 19km/h
Barometer: 1016 hPa
Air temperature: 21°C
Sea temperature: 18.5°C

It took us 19&1/2 hours but we finally made it from the airport in Singapore to the streets of Oslo! Along the way we had to;

a) spend 3&1/2 hours in Singapore airport just to get on the flight
b) spend 3 hours in Doha airport on the stopover — though, we had lounge access, so, free food for the win!
c) line up for 1&1/2 hours just to get out of Oslo airport
d) go get a rapid PCR test, a requirement before boarding the Aurora Expeditions ship (we’re all negative!!)
e) spend $120aud on a taxi to our hotel!! Prices here in Norway are crazy high!!

After a quick hour-long nap, we decided we couldn’t miss an opportunity to explore Oslo a bit so we headed to a part of town called Grunerlokka. The streets were filled with cute little bars and restaurants that all have outdoor seating and the place was alive with people laughing, chatting and drinking. In Oslo the sunset is not till 10:45! And then the sun rises again at 4am! So I think people have collectively decided to make the most of the day and stay out all night.

We had an Indian dinner and some drinks, walked down to the river for a bit of sightseeing, and then decided we needed an early night so went back to the hotel for a 10:30pm bed time. That long transit from Singapore really took it out of us!

Tomorrow we’ll be on a short flight to Svalbard and the real Arctic Adventure will begin!!

See you tomorrow and thanks for reading!

Love from the A Team
Tanya, Gavin, Richard & Graeme

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27 Jun23:00pm

Arctic Adventure day four!

Check out was at noon today, but we decided to keep one room until 6pm to use the hotel pool, as our flight to Oslo is not until 2.30am on the 28th (worst time ever!!).
We didn’t have much to do today but I did need to buy some open-toe slippers because my feet have swollen up (from the plane? Or maybe the humidity?). After a bit of shopping and a delicious Indian Nasi Kandar lunch, we went to the hotel to go swimming one last time and to do a bit of last-minute work before finding someplace for dinner and then heading to the airport. It’s going to be strange but interesting to go from this 30°C weather to 1°C in Oslo!! (It goes to a top of 2°C, though!) 

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26 Jun23:00pm

Arctic Adventure day three!

What random, great and convenient timing, my friend David Maze is stopping over in Singapore for one day only on his way to Berlin and we are here to meet him! So that was convenient! He arrived early with a list of local delicacies he wanted to try, so Dave and I spent the day looking for and eating everything — fish egg soup, Hainanese chicken rice, Kaya toast, satay pork, chicken and mutton. We then went back to the hotel for an afternoon swim while the sun was still out. For dinner we walked to Marina Bay again because it’s such a lovely area, and had Singapore Slings before saying goodbye to Dave Maze. We found another Nasi Kandar for dinner, and then headed back to the hotel for another midnight end to the day. Somehow we discovered that we had walked 24,000 steps during the day!! Another great effort!! Perhaps this will make up for all the eating?

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25 Jun23:00pm

Arctic Adventure day two!

We’ve made an executive decision that on our way back from the Arctic, on our stopover in Singapore, we’re going to spend one night in Marina Bay Sands hotel — check out this place!! It looks so amazing and it has an infinity rooftop pool!!
Today we did a lot of walking, mostly to get to a Nasi Kandar to eat food, but also so that Richard could go buy a camera and some gear because he forgot (?!) to bring it! 
Later in the night we met up with Gavin’s friends at Super Loco, a Mexican restaurant, and headed home for midnight. 14,000 steps in the day, not bad!!

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24 Jun23:00pm

Arctic Adventure day one!

Gavin McCormack & I are going on an amazing adventure to create an educational program recorded live from the Arctic!! Gav will be doing content creation and Graeme Myburgh and Richard Mills are joining us for photography and videography duties. We will be going on the Svalbard Odyssey for ten days, sponsored by Aurora Expeditions! I’ll be on writing/editing duties and creating a daily blog at upschool.co/blog if you wanna read along. To begin with, we have a few days in Singapore, though.
Byyyyeeee!!!! 

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03 Jun14:28pm

Tanya Reads The Five People You Meet In Heaven

I’d like to introduce you to another favourite book of mine – The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Mitch Albom’s more famous book is Tuesdays with Morrie, but I much prefer this one. The Five People You Meet in Heaven begins with a recap of the last hour in the life of maintenance man Eddie, who works in the amusement park at Ruby Pier. Eddie is killed in an accident and sent to heaven, and there he encounters five people who had a significant impact upon him while he was alive. The book is a fictionalised account of what happens after you die – the five people you meet in Heaven who guide you and explain their impact on you or your impact on them. No matter your religious persuasions, this book is filled with beautiful truths and profound observations – it makes me cry every time I read it, so be prepared for that! I’ll leave you with one of my favourite quotes from the book – one of those profound observations I mentioned earlier;

“’You have peace,’ the old woman said, ‘when you make it with yourself.’”

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03 Jun14:23pm

Tanya Reads Three Wishes

I first discovered Liane Moriarty when I was on holiday, browsing a local bookshop. I’d already finished reading the books I’d brought with me, so I had to buy something new, naturally. I bought a copy of her first book, Three Wishes. The book opens at a birthday dinner between three triplets, Cat, Lyn and Gemma, that devolves into a violent argument and a mad dash to the hospital after one of them sticks a fork into another’s pregnant belly. We spend the rest of the book learning why and how these events came about. I spent the rest of the day finishing that book and rushing back to the bookstore to buy more of Moriarty’s books – I must have bought another three or four of them – and I promptly read all of them over the next few days of my holiday. Moriarty writes intriguing stories that are so easy to read and her characters are loveable, believable and quirky. I don’t think I’ve ever discovered an author where I can say, without a doubt, I love all their books equally. Her books are perfect for holiday reading, so when you’re next packing for a trip away, don’t forget to pack some Moriarty.

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03 Jun14:15pm

Tanya Reads The Woman in the Window

Sometimes, when I’m meant to be putting books away in the shop, I’ll do that thing considered so scandalous – I’ll judge a book by its cover and start reading it. One day, I picked up The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn. I have to say, whoever coined that phrase got it wrong. I think you can quite often judge a book by its cover – that’s why authors employ the best designers to create their book covers. This book captured my interest in the first few pages. It’s dark, suspenseful, compelling writing full of unexpected twists, and it’s a bit of a thriller. It’s another of those books that are so easy to fall into, and I read the whole thing within one day. Every few pages I was convinced I had worked out the next twist in the story, and every time I was surprised by the outcome. If you love books like Gone Girl, Apple Tree Yard, The Girl on the Train and Before I Go to Sleep, you’ll love The Woman in the Window. Consider these all essential reading for fans of suspense and thrillers.

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