In 1999, Idun’s older sister Jorunn celebrated her birthday at Spitsbergen, where the 5 ‘Løwø Children’ grew up.
The first part of the program was a guided bus tour in Longyearbyen, where the guides were ‘The Løwø children’ themselves.
The birthday dinner took place at ‘Huset’, and the following day we went to the cabin at Kapp Laila. For many years our mum Kari and dad Fridtjof had a cabin in Adventdalen (below Operafjellet), but it was inaccessible all summer because of the big rivers. In 1982, they took over a working barrack from Birger Pedersen, and this was to become the new cabin – at Kapp Laila, midway between Longyearbyen and Barentsburg. The cabin was therefore ok. But how to move it from Longyearbyen to Kapp Laila?
The answer was: On a raft! After all, they had a 16-foot boat called ‘Hårek’ with a 50-horsepower engine in the back. No problem, right? Extra muscle power was hired via their youngest son, Frode. However, he was tired after working double shift in mine 3, and needed rest. And he got that – on the coach in the cabin while it was on tour. The towing took 24 hours. Conveniently enough, there was a wood stove in the cabin, so they could even make coffee on the way.
Kapp Laila is accessible both summer and winter, but there is a ‘but’ during summer season. The cabin is located by a lagoon, which is so shallow that you have to plan arrival and departure times according to the tides.
We stayed and celebrated our sister at Kapp Laila for a whole week, and it was splendid weather every single day. So we rigged some driftwood as benches, and barbecued by the sea every afternoon. Fabulous! The first night we were so many guests that there wasn’t room for everyone indoors (Jorunn had also rented two neighboring cabins). Idun and Knut therefore slept in tents outside, as Idun’s eldest brother Asgaut also did. ‘What about the polar bear risk?‘ Knut asked. ‘There’s no risk‘, Idun replied: ‘The Løwø family never sees any polar bear‘. And with some red wine in the body, it was easy to fall asleep in the midnight sun… and just as suddenly wake up the next morning to outside noises. Idun jumped up and picked up the rifle that was hidden under the sleeping bag. Was it actually a polar bear? The zipper in the tent was carefully pulled down, and Idun looked out: ‘What’s going on?‘ It was Asgaut who had crawled out of his tent: ‘I don’t know if I’m most afraid of polar bears or lying on top of a gun – there will be no more sleep anyway!‘ The next night we moved into ‘Bikkjebu’, the dog club’s cabin , and felt safe there.
One night after playing ‘Mattis’ (card game) for hours (in traditional student way, the looser (‘Mattis’) from the previous round had to wear a funny headgear, read: a sleeping bag cover), we found out that time was just right to swim in the lagoon. It was a wonderful midnight sun night. What could go wrong? Well, the tide could obviously be of the wrong type… This night water was definitely low, and we realized that at low tide the lagoon consisted of equal parts (15 cm / 15 cm) water and mud. We had a dip, but this bath is not really recommended by ‘Tobatheornottobathe’. But sunbathing in the midnight sun? Yes, that is something we will recommend! Doesn’t do much for the tan, though…
And the polar bear? A bear mother with two cubs attacked the fridge (= a tub with food under the balcony at the north wall) one week later. Tobatheornottobathe had left Svalbard by then, but those relatives remaining are still talking about the incident.
Depending on the mood, it doesn’t need a door either, the polar bear can just as well punch itself through the wall. And why does it do that? In search of food, of course. The polar bears are very fond of chocolate, but not all kinds of food are appreciated, as you can see in the next photo (also from the cabin at Kapp Laila, but not in 1999).
In 1999 the three bears broke into cabin after cabin, but were shot as they arrived Barentsburg. The Russians don’t let the bears rule their lives.
