Day 31 28 August Greenland to L'Anse aux Meadows, Canada

 This is a sailing day as we make our way south. The captain came on about lunchtime to tell us “To hold on to your chairs.” Apparently. we can’t land at our next port of call as it is an exposed anchorage so we have a change of port destination to Sydney, Nova Scotia. It means missing the only UNESCO heritage Viking archaeological site in North America, but these things happen. After our fantastic weather in Greenland, we have no complaints.

 

We attended several lectures today. One was about the Acadians who were French immigrants caught between the wars involving the French and British in North America. They wanted to be neutral but were being forced to join sides. The British essentially deported them and destroyed all their farms. They were initially deported to the other 13 colonies, but those colonies weren’t told that they were coming. And had no desire to accept them. Only the colony of Connecticut looked after them. They were abandoned and almost half of them died through neglect. When some of them tried returning to their farms, the British then started to deport them to England and France. It was truly a dreadful story, and some went to Louisiana and became known as Cajun. (Apparently a mishearing of the word "Acadian".)

 Who would have thought that Beyonce has Acadian ancestry? Or Matt LeBlanc from Friends?

 We also had lectures on Canadian history and dragons. We had a very filling meal at the ship’s signature restaurant, Manfredi's.

Day 30 27 August Qaqortoq (Greenland)

 With a population of 3,000, this is the largest town in southern Greenland. The area has been inhabited for the last 4,300 years. A different group of people arrived around 2,800 years ago with their rectangular peat dwellings.

Written records of South Greenland history begin with the arrival of the Norse in the late 10th century. Their ruins are located 19 kilometres northeast. The Inuit arrived in southern Greenland around the 12th century. However, there is little evidence of early contact.  But later, the south Greenland Norse traded with them, especially ivory. The Norse era lasted for almost five hundred years. The last written record of the Norse presence is of a wedding in 1408.

The present-day town was founded in 1775 by the Danes.  It became a major center for the seal trade and still has a sealskin tannery. The museum buildings date back to 1804. The oldest standing building is from 1797.

Fish processing, tourism, tanning, fur production, and ship maintenance and repair are key activities, but the economy is based primarily on educational and administrative services. The primary industries in the town are fishing, service, and administration.

Agriculture is mainly sheep farming, cattle and reindeer herding, on farms in the fiord landscape close to Qaqortoq.

Qaqortoq is located in one of the most mineral rich areas in the world and most of their electricity is from hydroelectricity.

 The town has more than 35 cruise calls per season and +30,000 cruise visitors. 

In the early 1990s, Greenlander and Nordic artists created the Stone & Man project, to give the town an open-air art gallery. There are over 40 sculptures. Many are carved into the natural landscape, like a rock wall. This is like an Inuit Mount Rushmore.

Big horn sheep.

The town has the oldest fountain in Greenland, Mindebroden, finished in 1932 with Igaliku sandstone and depicts whales spouting water out of their blowholes. This fountain is made from a beautiful reddish speckled granite. The guide called it “salami granite”.

The original Lutheran church which is now too small for them.

The Museum collection. Perhaps part of the new Harris Scarffe range...

Part of their collection which was well displayed.

Charles Lindbergh the American aviator stayed here in 1931 and 1933 doing aerial surveys. Probably the first B&B. (Brrrr and Brrrr).

Can you drink Icelandic beer in Greenland? Yes...yes you can...but because our fridges aren't cold enough it wasn't the best taste. Mmmmm...room temperature.

Look at that sky...just sensational.

Day 29 26 August Iceland to Nanortalik (Greenland)

We awoke to fog today. Hopefully when we go through Prince Christian Sound, the fog will have lifted. Apparently, this is the first cruise for Viking which has been able to get through the Sound this season. The Sound is 100 km long and is sometimes only 500 metres wide. Here is the first maritime glacier that we saw today.

 

Here the MS Fram is near the end of the glacier. You can see a couple of zodiacs that would take people close up. It gives you a sense of scale.

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The fjord system is surrounded by steep mountains, in general reaching over 1,200 metres, one of them 2,220 metres high. Many glaciers go straight into its waters where they calve icebergs. The sunlight made it a picture-perfect day - it was just stunning!!!!!!

There is only one settlement Appilattoq which is home to less than 20 people. It is tucked away behind rock with a narrow inlet for them.

                                                    Winnie the Pooh face down?

Nanortalik has about 1,200 inhabitants. Its name means "Place of Polar Bears" or "Place Where the Polar Bears Go". They are very rarely seen here. Perhaps the Inuit were banking on tourism in the future. This area was one of the first parts of Greenland settled by the Norse and one of the last settled by the Inuit.

The town was founded in 1770 as Nennortalik. There is no large-scale fishing as sea ice prevents fishing for several months a year. While Greenland is almost completely without trees, 40 km from Nanortalik is the only forest in Greenland with trees up to several metres. Most other places, trees grow to about half a metre.

There was an open-air museum that was low tech but quite well done and there was lots to see.

The church in which were organised locals to sing for us. Hordes of cruise tourists!

The flag of Greenland.

Three were three young girls who had been singing for a couple of hours hoping for a tip. They were probably 5-7 years old, so we gave them some money for their efforts.

It was spectacular weather.

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Day 28 25 August Iceland to Greenland

We continue to head south-west towards Greenland, and we awoke to very calm seas. Today we cross the Irminger Sea, which borders by southern Greenland and was named after Danish Vice-admiral Irminger (1802–1888). It was very smooth sailing indeed. An uneventful day and the sun even briefly shone through late afternoon.

Day 27 24 August Iceland to Greenland

The first of a few sailing days to Greenland. Just after lunch we passed the site of the bloodiest battle in Icelandic history. Somewhere, about one kilometre behind this settlement of Hausgenes is the battle site.

The Clan of Asbirningar (720) lost to the Clan of Sturnlungar (600) but some distance inland) in the bloodiest battle ever fought in Iceland. It was fought at Haugsnes (pictured). There were 111 fatalities in total, of which 70 were Asbirningar, including their clan leader. This defeat led to the end of Assbirningar power.

 The seas were still a little bumpy but fairly good.

Day 26 23 August Akureyri (Iceland)

Our overnight sail was a little rough but we arrived in Akureyri, the "Capital of North Iceland", which is an important port and fishing centre. The area where Akureyri is located was settled in the 9th century. It has a milder climate, and having an ice-free harbour is important. In the early 21st century, fishing industries have become more important. It has one of the warmest climates in Iceland, despite being only 100 km from the Arctic Circle.

 

We had a long bus tour today. We visited the majestic Godafoss Waterfall, and despite the photos, it was very windy and wet. Bone-chillingly freezing; even our eyeballs felt chilled! You cannot really convey the degree of cold in the photographs.

 I think my thumb is frozen.

Brrr...it so cold maybe these are called the God-forsaken Falls?

The Hverir Geothermal fields are here with their boiling mud pools and fumaroles give a lunar landscape appearance. Missing from the photograph, is the charming smell of rotten egg gas! 

There was the Dimmuborgir lava field where every second column is meant to be a troll. You are limited only by your imagination! It was a pleasant enough 20-minute walk. But anyway, is this a squirrel? 

This is the smallest lava tube I have ever seen, but at least they have one.

 

We couldn’t see too much of Lake Mývatn from the bus, because of the rain and cold (Icelandic summer?). One bonus was that with the midges which can be really bad in summer were not around.

 

Pseudo-craters are craters that do not have a magma chamber underneath. When they were formed it was like a bubble bursting. They are dotted around the place. 

I guess this is a beach. (But with ponies.) 

We had lunch at a local hotel. A tomato soup and a main course of Arctic Char (freshwater salmon) which was delicious with salad and baby potatoes. It was finished off with coffee and a chocolate. We then journeyed home well-watered and fed.

 We have been told that we won’t be leaving port today as they have seas of 5 metres. With the delay in sailing, we won’t be going back to Ísafjörður, but luckily, we had done our tours there already. Unfortunately, the people who joined the cruise at Reykjavik will miss out completely.

We had a talk on The Game of Thrones which was very interesting, even though we have not been fans of the TV series. The author of the books has been criticised on the grounds that his plot lines are unrealistic. But he has drawn heavily on actual historical events, from many different country’s histories, for plot lines. The author himself has said that, “He files off the serial numbers of history”.

 One of the women from our bus was complaining that it was the worst tour she has ever done and she seemed to be quite agitated. Yes, it was windy, wet, cold and unpleasant but the ship does a great job of explaining what is involved with physical activity, the weather and what to wear. There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices. I went down to Guest Services to give them some positive feedback on the trip, in case that woman complained to them.

Day 25 22 August Seyðisfjörður (Iceland)

The 650 people can trace back to the ruin of a burned-down church in the 11th century, but essentially Seyðisfjörður started in 1848 by Norwegian fishermen. These settlers also built some of the wooden buildings which still exist. The first telegraph cable connecting Iceland to Europe made landfall in Seyðisfjörður in 1906, making it a hub for international telecommunications. In 1913, Seyðisfjörður was used as a base for the Allies during World War II.

With the closing of the local fish-processing plant, the village has shifted its economy to tourism. In December 2020, mud flows hit the town after days of heavy rain, destroying several houses and a complete evacuation of the town was ordered. Some 39 houses had been damaged, twelve of which being completely destroyed and five more significantly damaged. Residents were allowed to return to their homes (if not destroyed) in October 2021 after protections were installed.

 

The famous Blue Church.

Fjarðará is the river that flows through the center of town. Further up the river there are 25 waterfalls. The 2015 Icelandic television series Trapped (which we love) was partially filmed here. 

Viking provided a special entertainment with food and drink. This was held in the local community hall. We had sparkling water or prosecco with rhubarb syrup which was very tasty, and nibblies made from local produce They also put on a couple of local performers who were very good indeed.

 

A British oil tanker was bombed and sunk by long range German bombers during the war.

This beer is named after the ship.

If there was only a clue as to whether it was windy or not...

The top of a ship reconverted as a Kiosk.

You can see the strength of the wind on this waterfall. We were very happy to reboard the ship.

Day 24 21 August Djúpivogur (Iceland)

After yesterday’s brilliant sunshine, we were in for a wet and cold day with a 5ºC maximum. The wind chill made it much colder. However we were prepared and very rugged up. 

By the early Nineteenth Century, Djúpivogur was described as 'a tiny port with a Danish colonial trading base'.  It is still small with only 500 people living here. It is a very young population with 30% of the population primary school age or younger. Most people are employed in fishing or tourism.

The mountain called the Pyramid is meant be a perfectly formed pyramid shape. We couldn't confirm this as the mountain was obscured by cloud.

We had a bus tour to the Nykurhylsfoss waterfall.

The mountains were laid down in striations or layers of eruptions.

To fill in time between tours we visited Audunne's Stone and Mineral Collection. We paid to get in to only realise that we could get into it for free on our tour. His talk was interesting, and he is very passionate about his hobby/business. He did have some spectacular specimens.

One of the more unusual stories was about Hans Jonatan. He was an African man who had been a slave in Copenhagen brought out from the Caribbean. He fought as a sailor in the Battle of Copenhagen (1800) against the British but escaped and lived here and became one of Iceland's first people of colour. 

Until the Napoleonic Wars, the Danes controlled the Danish West Indies when they lost most of these. Their last possession, the Virgin Islands was sold to the US in 1916.
 

Monument to Hans Jonatan. It was a bit windy, so the camera strap got in the way.

We visited their local heritage museum and cafe. The building is the oldest in this part of the country and was built in 1790. We also stopped for a coffee to keep out of the rain. Happy to part with $27 for the privilege.

This is a converted fish oil tank which is now for cultural performances. In almost complete darkness this woman sang traditional songs for us and her voice and acoustics made it an extraordinary performance.

The Merry Bay Eggs sculptures. They are all individual eggs of 34 different bird species.

 

This egg is for a sea bird that nests on cliffs, so the shape of the egg means that it does not roll off the cliff. Clever birds!