21-7-02 (Sunday)

Rain, rain, rain, we stayed in the tent, being very cozy, until about 10h00. Had breakfast and went off into town. At this stage the rain had mostly stopped. The aim was to see the town and to see where we would go to hire a gun. This being Sunday we thought that most shops would be closed. The supermarket 'Svalbard Butiken' was open giving us an opportunity to stock up on Kaviar and some cheese. The Arctic Sport shop was also open and we inquired about a gun. We can have an old German gun from the 2nd World War for 600 Kr a week. Sounds like a good deal. Asking about fuel for my spirit cooker I had some difficulties explaining what it takes (methylated spirit) despite the fact that he was selling Tranjia cookers. He thought that I must ask at the petrol station.
Having had an 18 Kr coffee in the Bunsen café we closed our visit into town and went back to camp to have some Kaviar on Pumpernickel. It is very pleasant sitting in the cabin looking out, so much different from the previous picture looking though the window. The sun was out and I had to move away from the window to stop me from burning.
To round off the day and to stop Jim from muttering that we should have taken the gun and started on the hike we went for a small walk along the road to the south. This took us to the end of the runway and back again. On the way we noticed one of the houses flying the old South African flag and wondered what that was all about, perhaps one of the volkstaat supporters in exile? We stopped to ask. The story was a bit garbled, the guy was a Swedish seaman and brought this flag back from Durban on one of his visits many years ago. He now flies it to annoy the Sysselmannen (the governor of the island) who had decreed that no foreign flags are allowed. This, by the way, is mainly directed at the Russians.

22-7-02 (Monday)

'We should have taken the gun, now we have to go back into town', so Jim was saying. Town was about 4 km away. I managed to get my Rød Spirit at the petrol station. Irene was also along and it looked more and more like she was going to join us. We got our 1938 Mauser and were advised to also purchase some snublebluss. What is that? It's a flare that is set off by a trip wire. We needed four of them, one for each corner. This set us back 660 Krona, but half we get back if we don't set them off and Irene shared in the cost. And whilst in town we met up with Colin Priddle or at least a likeness of him.
Having a leisurely lunch in the hut we set off, that is the three of us. All along the road to Bjorndalen. On the way out we got attacked by the crazy birds, I hope the Gauleiter wasn't watching. The packs were heavy and soon after the last house we found a lovely spot with some firewood. We managed to have a wee fire. Irene and Jim fired off their guns to make sure they work, now we are down to five rounds.

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