The Cottages of Jan Mayen

The first cottage I want to describe is Camp Vera. It is situated at the northern part of Southern Jan. You see Jan Mayen is shaped as the torso of Jane Mansfield... the upper body (eastern part) is called Northern Jan and the lower body is of course called Southern Jan. It is quite difficult to deliver supplies to Camp Vera as you have to carry everything over the mountain. Due to the same reason, maintenance is difficult too. If the Coast Guard is visiting the island they may find the time to provide some transportation, either with the help of their helicopter or by boat. Some years ago a small avalanche damaged one of the walls, but it is temporarily restored by now.  There are lots of driftwood at the place where Vera is situated. This driftwood comes with the Golf Stream from the Siberian forests. I have been told that the famous trapper Hilmar Nøis brought sufficient driftwood from Svalbard to build a house for himself in Norway. You see there are lots and lots of driftwood there too. 

An other popular attraction is the cottage called Ulla. This was a cozy old place. Weather beaten and leaking, lacking most of the accommodations just as Vera. . In 1993 a new cottage arrived from the mainland to replace the old Ulla. The transport of the new cottage from Olonkin City had to be planned carefully and by the help of a bulldozer, a pay loader, a trailer and lots of skilled people, the operation went smooth.

It was disappointing to discover that the new cottage was leaking more than the old one due to a construction mishap. Snow managed to enter under the roof and as soon as you started to fire up the very efficient stove, the snow melted and water came dripping in quite large quantities... even if the weather was brilliant. The roof has been repaired and I believe the stove has been replaced. There were some problems with smoke not wanting to leave. The old cottage was aged with style, smoked walls and marked from lots of visitors but quite cozy. The new one didn't have charm, but it had separated bedroom and it was easy to clean and had more space. 

I was very disappointed to find out that the old cottage has been burnt. I don't understand why people has to burn everything they find that they doesn't need? May be they are afraid that somebody will find use in it? They could have had it as an emergency cottage and used it for storing supplies for instance.

There are more cottages and one of the most available are Puppebu. This cottage was originally looking like this picture, but I have been told that it has been replaced with a new one. Well, I can understand that. Rot had made some serious and successful attacks and it needed a major restore to work as the resting house that it was meant to be. It was situated at Hvalrossbukta, the Walrus Bay, where the provisions for the station arrives by boat. At the picture I have arrived with the truck "Pollux". One of my tasks were to control the bulldozer and the dory that were stored in a house there.

In my humble opinion Gamle Metten or Fryden or Frydenlund as it also may be called, is one of the nicest cottages. Originally it was the second Meteorological Station of Jan Mayen, it was built after the war and is situated beautifully at the south west end of Nord-Jan with the Northern Lagoon just below and Beerenberg behind. Here are several buildings from the time when this was the main station of the island. Luckily they have been maintained quite well or should I say that they must have been built from very good materials by men who knew their profession. During last summer work started and the coming summer, this building is going to be  repaired even more so it seem like it is been taken good care of. The work is done free of charge by people that have a heart for Jan Mayen. This pleases me and everybody involved in the island. I hope the different responsible people in charge can learn from The Norwegian Meteorological Institute and put some money into the restoration and salvation of these unique and historical monuments.

Here, a diesel fuelled PowerStation delivers power enough to heat and light up the cottage. New windows, interior and furniture makes it easy to feel at home and you can even drive all the way from the main station to Frydenlund by car or as you can see at the picture, by Snow Track, this vehicle is called Sol. Behind Sol you can see the house where the power station is situated.

There were some other cottages not included in the list covering actual places to stay for some time. Well, Camp Helene can be visited just for fun. It is a copy of the original trappers cottage with the same name.  The original is just a couple of meters away but not very inviting. The copy has a couple of benches to sit at, a stove to make it cozy and some other essentials. It is just some kilometers from Olonkin City and a nice place to visit on a Sunday trip to Metten.