Filling in some gaps in Spain, a Greenland cruise and I'm getting a tattoo!

[Flyfrequently]

Ok @RooFlyer - am I the first to be sucked in by "tattoo" in the title of your TR ?

Sorry @RooFlyer to hijack this thread, but you did mention  tattoo
Surfer Flyfrequently just sent this through.......

She placed 9th and her bestie won the over 40's Thermos National Longboard comp in July ,
(I think it's a shark @HirafuHeartAttack )

 

[RooFlyer]

They have found Flashback's bag. It's in Copenhagen. How a cruise doesn't meticulously check the loading and unloading of bags for a charter flight, is beyond me. The bag is being flown to where we were yesterday and figuring out how to get it to where we will be.

Update. Five days later Flashback still doesn't have his bag, or know exactly where it is. Complete shambles between airline and Albatross. It was in Copenhagen and supposedly sent onto Kangerlussuaq . From there, supposed to be sent onto Illusiac, where we are now (Thurs). Nope - never was coming, but they told Flashback differently! No actual confirmation that the bag is in someone's possession in Kanger.

After clearing the Kangerlussuaq fjord overnight and transiting a little way north, we came to Sisimiut, a gorgeous little town, in fine and sunny weather. Its the second largest town in Greenland, after the capital, Nuuk.

Sisimiut literally means "the residents at the foxholes" (Danish: Beboerne ved rævehulerne).[4] The site has been inhabited for the last 4,500 years, first by peoples of the Saqqaq culture, then Dorset culture, and then the Thule people, whose Inuit descendants form the majority of the current population. Artifacts from the early settlement era can be found throughout the region, favored in the past for its plentiful fauna, particularly the marine mammals providing subsistence for the early hunting societies. The population of modern Greenlanders in Sisimiut is a mix of the Inuit and Danish peoples, who first settled in the area in the 1720s, under the leadership of the Danish missionary, Hans Egede.

 

[RooFlyer]

There was a talk on Greenlandic language and also a tasting of local foods.

The tasting didn't rate very highly, unfortunately. Nothing on the right hand side was finished.

 

[RooFlyer]

A look at the ship, MV Ocean Albatross



My cabin







An excellent mudroom, with individual lockers, so you can leave all outside gear here, rather than carting it back and forth to your room.



The theatre/lecture room. There aren't any 'shows' - films some nights but most after dinner stuff in the observation lounge on L8







The pool is empty, but the 2 hot tubs do good business.









A nice cosy library for board games - gets used a lot



And out Captain - 36yo Jonas, from Sweden. Notice something?



Yes, he's 203cm, 6'7" !!

And a good sport - the Polar Plunge

 

[RooFlyer]

In the afternoon, we had a demo of kayaking skills by the Greenlandic champion. Kayak is a Greenlander word (along with anorak and igloo)

These are just some of the technical skills that were demonstrated to us. It lasted maybe 20 minutes.

It was a lovely warm afternoon on the cabin balcony. Just perfect for:



Leaving port





Following this guy out



As soon as we left the shelter of the fjord, we got hit by strong northerlies, which gave us the roughest overnight passage of the trip so far (5 days later than this)



The winds and sweel were head on. so quite a bit of pitching, but little rolling. The crew were very thoughtful ...



I managed to keep everything down, but apparently there were a few overnight casualties.

 

[RooFlyer]

After tundling up the coast northwards, we arrived at Qeqertarsuaq, on the southern point of Disko Island.



Its quite a big town, but unfortunately when we arrived it was very foggy





We were offered a range of activities - a long hike, a medium hike to a waterfall, or short strolls around the town. I chose the medium walk, along with most of the others.









The fog started lifting nicely as we walked out of town



But came straight back in



The waterfall was more of a water chute, and only a moderate flow. When it gets going, its nearly to the top. Anyway, a bracing walk of abt 6km.



Back to town and admiring the usual colourful houses.





And back to the ship with this rather startling image.