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.

 

[Pushka]

Brilliant. So Flashbacks luggage got lost on the ship charter flight or separately? Must be very frustrating. He will probably get it back when the cruise ends.

 

[RooFlyer]

I should say that I am enjoying the cruise with @k_sheep and her +1 and two friends of theirs, and @Flashback, his +1 and his parents. So a pack of 9, nearly all with a strong interest in gin & tonics. One cabin (not mine) became a regular 'gin palace' Very good travelling companions

After re-boarding, we headed NW along the coast of Disko Island to a location called Kuanit and a destination I was really looking forward to. Some of the freakiest geology I've ever seen.

Although much of Greenland is abt 3 billion years old, there are regions of enormous amount lava and volcanic rock accumulations - abt 7km thick, millions of cubic km of volcanics. At Kuanit there is an area of basalt lava that has cooled to form columns, much like many other places in the world (Giant's causeway in Ireland, Devil's Tower in Wyoming, Organ pipes at Hobart). However here, they have columns in many directions by a mechanism I don't understand. From Google, the overall process:

* Volcanic Eruption: Molten basalt lava erupts from fissures in the Earth.
* Lava Plateau Formation: The lava flows out, forming a plateau.
* Slow Cooling & Contraction: As this large body of lava cools slowly and evenly, it contracts.
* Stress Cracks: This contraction creates stress patterns and fractures in the rock.
* Column Formation: The cracks propagate inward from the surface and bottom of the lava flow, creating a network of columns.
* Hexagonal Shape: The most efficient way to relieve stress is by forming columns with six sides, which is why they are often hexagonal.

However here, the columns are in all directions. First, the well-known arch

 

[RooFlyer]

Overnight, we sailed around the west coast of Disko Island to reach Uummannaq in the early morning. Its located on a small island



One of the prettiest towns we visited on the cruise





A couple of humpback whales very close to the shore was an added bonus.







As usual, there were several walks but k_sheep and I simply wandered along the road around the coast. Interesting town perspectives





Some spectacular Archean migmatite rocks in road cuttings

 

[RooFlyer]

Uummannaq is known as 'Greenland's Riviera' and on a fine and slightly warm day like today, its appropriate.





The mountain behind the town is 'heart shaped'.







These puppies came bounding up and were patted by a few incautious pax.



We were a bit delayed in arriving, and when we did, we found a Viking ship already parked. We must have been scheduled to arrive first, as we neatly inserted ourselves between Viking and the shore.



They have a good set-up though. Overhead cranes to deploy zodiacs, and also a covered ?20 pax motor cruiser.

 

[RooFlyer]

There is some Danish folk law that associates Santa Claus with the town. So you can write a letter to Santa and post in the 'world's biggest post box'.







Perfect weather for a G&T on the balcony.



And we sailed away down the fjord still in perfect weather.





Good for some hot tub, with the icebergs passing by.

 

[RooFlyer]

A couple of hours cruising saw us offshore at Niaqornat, a small village of about 100 people where a local with good English told us about the place. Then there were short walks of various intensities.





The only wet landing of the cruise.



Coffee and cake!







Some went up there (a tsunami escape route)



Others went up there:



Me, I just stayed on the beach and enjoyed looking at the rocks.



Later that evening, we sailed around the cape and took the inshore route to the Eqip Sermia glacier, ensuring a smooth ride. Nearly all the little settlements we passed had 4G mobile coverage and it would usually leak out to the boat, for a while. If you come to Greenland, buy a data plan.



A few birds followed along with us, most of the time



As we enter the channel

 

[RooFlyer]

We glided up the fjord close to Eqip Sermia, passing the usual stacks of icebergs. This ship is very nippy and only rarely a small berg cough the bow.








Then, a great whale show - lots of breaching, fin slapping etc.

 

[RooFlyer]

We anchored in fine and still conditions




The reason being that the 'polar plunge' was occurring here. I designated myself cameraman from above (there is a ship's camera man at sea level). The Captain is in attendance and he went in also.

 

[RooFlyer]

Before I go on, need to report on this chap. Carries the 3+m 'selfie' pole everywhere (it telescopes down). Can be standing on a deck below, and peeps on the above deck find it waving in front of them.



After a wonderful BBQ lunch on the outside deck, we had a zodiac cruise in front of the Eqip Sermia glacier. It has ice cliffs +200m high and is a prolific 'calver', shedding almost continuously.





This pic is about 5km away from the glacier leading edge.



There is a lodge overlooking the bay and glacier



As we zodiaced towards the glacier, the ice became more prominent until it was a constant re-frozen sheet.







There was a cruise-ship kayak excursion - but eye wateringly expensive.



Nice halo around the sun



Some videos of the zodiac cruise.

The engine worked hard!

Token bird shot



Fabulous ice textures

 

[RooFlyer]

Then we sailed for Ilulissat, noted for being at the mouth of the Ilulssat ice fjord, another prolific shedder. But not before another humpback encounter







Sunset








The ice gradually became thicker and thicker and the captain expertly weaved between them - although there was some contact, as reported from deck 3!!







Amazing scenes- there were 2 Norwegians on the obs deck, swearing they had never seen anything like it.





As soon as we passed this guy, the Captain ducked over and steered us through his channel.

Ilulssat in sight, then bed.

 

[RooFlyer]

... until 1:15am when the exped leader came on the speaker to announce Aurora borealis was visible, fortunately off the post side, where I was. Fantastic.