This gallery contains 16 photos.
We spent the morning with more lectures and an introduction to microscoping, using the microscopes in the ship’s Ocean Academy – looking at plankton samples, gathered during our stay at 14th of July glacier two days ago. In the late … Continue reading
We continued our way through the Prince Christian Sound.
By now the traditional Hanseatic Pølser Party had started on the pool deck. Food (pølsers = Danish-style hot dogs) was offered – and drinks were flowing freely.
I nevertheless stayed up on the Sun Deck to a) avoid the music and b) get in the views, while we were going through the Southern bit of the Prince Christian Sound.
Of course this did not stop me from having the one or other pølser (with extra pickles of course) and punch (plus those suddenly appearing glasses of jenever).
When we hit the Southern mouth of the sound, nature had a special treat ready for us – a small group of orcas just in front of the ship … seemingly on the hunt for some prey.
The ship did stop at some point in the sound and we were invited for a shore landing at Igdlorsuit (which ultimately turned out our last shore landing before arriving in Iceland).
We made it over to the beach in an old glacial valley. A walk was offered to the front of the retreating glacier – a distance of about 1.5km / 1 mile one way through rough terrain. It turned out a nice walk through the autumn tundra – to (after climbing the glacier’s terminal moraine) get a great view of the glacier itself.
Today saw us crossing over from Greenland’s west coast to the east coast via the Prince Christian Sound.
We entered the sound in the early morning well before breakfast, but in time for a slow sunrise, that threw in amazing colors and quiet added to the mood.
My nickname for the sound: Lemaire Channel for beginners 😉
This gallery contains 19 photos.
Similar to previous days, the crew did use the lunch break to move the ship into another fjord – just in front of the little island of Uunartoq. We made it ashore … and made it first up to the … Continue reading
This gallery contains 19 photos.
After two and half churches yesterday (counting the church ruin of Hvalsey as half) another small church was waiting for us today. We made it to the small settlement of Lichtenau or Alluitsoq, found in the late 18th century as … Continue reading
The title says it all – right?
Like on my last trip, I ended up being one of the few, who had breakfast on the outer deck almost every morning. This time I had to skip for one morning in the Denmark Strait – the sea was simply to rough and the outside tables and chairs roped up and secured.
Below some photos of the views before and during breakfast this morning. Who needs breakfast, when you get to see this … ?
Disclaimer: I surely did have breakfast this morning … slowly starting with some tea – and then adding in all the other good stuff … makes life even feel bitchier – right? 😀
This gallery contains 16 photos.
This afternoon it was back to town – this time to Qaqortoq, with around 3300 inhabitants the forth-largest town of the island. We were lucky, the main pier in the port was empty – and just the right size for … Continue reading
We had covered the 240km from the Ikka Fjord during the night; we were now in a side arm of Einars Fjord – just in front of the Hvalsey ruin site.
Hvalsey is a former Norse settlement. It is believed, that Hvalsey had been founded in the late 10th century by a cousin of Erik the Red; it was inhabited until the early 15th century, when the Norse colony essentially disappeared. Last recorded event here is awedding from 1418.
What remains today is a ruin site featuring a (fairly well preserved) church, the ruins of the great hall and community building. In the area directly around further ruins can be found, though their previous function remains a bit of mystery.
We made it ashore as usual and then had some time to explore the ruin site, but also the surrounding area … below some photographic evidence.
After the visit to the former cryolite mine of Ivittuut this morning, another interesting mineral was waiting for us this afternoon – ikaite, also dubbed as the melting mineral – as it decomposes into calcite and water once the temperature reaches around 8°C / 46°F.
The mineral had first been discovered in a fjord close to the Ivittuut mine – the Ikka fjord (hence the mineral’s name ikaite). In that fjord – under water – towers of that mineral of 10 meters and more can be found.
During lunch the ship had moved over to the Ikka fjord, where a local ranger boat was already waiting for us. Hanseatic had to stay outside the area with the ikaite, so zodiacs were prepared and then boarded.
Following the ranger boat an armada of about ten zodiacs made it into the ikaite area. Most eyes were now fixed on the water, aiming to see one of the towers at an expected meter underneath the surface. There was no luck here – with the water still murky from the storm some days back. Also it did not help, that we did the zodiac trip during high tide – the top ends of the columns must have been like a good two meters away from the surface – so bad luck, when combined with with the murkiness of the water.
Nature however did compensate for that – and threw in a load of musk oxen, as well as a brace of sea eagles.
