This past weekend I took part in a different type of adventure up here in Svalbard. Due to the fact that I was not able to rent a rifle I decided to put the conquering of the next mountain off until next weekend. Instead I went to the mid summer festival that happens every year here at Longyearbyen. It takes place down on the beach and they make a huge bonfire for everyone to sit around, it made for quiet the nice scene.

As I got down there I saw a strange sight, which I will show you first and then explain what it is.

It looks like a bunch of children playing with sticks. What they are actually doing is protecting themselves from the dive bombing birds that surround them. These birds apparently called Tern's make their nest all over Svalbard and generally close to the human population. Although when you get close to their nest they begin to dive bomb you and attempt to attack you with their sharp beaks. It makes for quiet the strange sight and certainly makes you watch where you are going. I also luckily had been warned about the danger of these birds from a Grad Student back in NH. There seemed to be a collections of nests just past the fire and as the night went on it seemed to almost become a challenge to see how far you could go.
A little while later on there was an all boys choir that came and sang to everyone right on the water, which was very pleasant.

Later on I talked to one of the boys and it turned out that they were a group from northern Pennsylvania and were doing a tour. They were very good and it was nice to meet some one from the US. Although it was hard to continually pay attention with this behind me.

It was overall a very nice night and a good time to meet some locals. Through all of these pictures you can see that it was a cloudy weekend, but that amazing thing is that even when it is cloudy Svalbard still continues to be stunningly beautiful!

Nothing like a snow covered mountain peeking out from behind the clouds.