At sea, crossing Baffin Bay and heading south to meet the Greenland coast.
Day 26 : Mon 31st August.
Uummannaq, our first port of call in Greenland.
Day 27 : Tue 1st September.
Uummannaq is a tiny island (pop. about 1,400) lying off the northern coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula.
It's size is about 4 miles long and up to 2 miles wide.
A walk across the island was organised, with a visit to Santa's summer residence.
The walk was up over rocky terrain and down to the coast on the far side of the island.
Santa (who looked like one of the ship's polar bear guards) was at home!
There were biscuits and drinks available to everyone around his hut.
This small town looked typically Greenland-ish, with red, yellow and blue painted buildings.
There was a helicopter landing pad and apparently there is a ferry too.
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The town of Uummannaq, situated on the southern tip of the island with the same name. |
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The town on the south coast of the island, with the high ground draped with clouds. |
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The bay where boats live, on the east facing side of the island.
The land mass visible across the water is Storøen Island. |
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The brightly coloured houses on the hillside almost look like they're made out of Lego. |
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We passed this building site on our walk to the other side of the island.
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The island's name is set out in Hollywood-style letters up on the high ground. |
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This looks like the lake in the middle of the island. |
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The massive rock formation made of Gneiss which dominates the small island. |
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Santa and his followers at the end point of the island walk. |
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Ilulissat and Disko Bay.
Day 28 : Wed 2nd September.
Ilulissat is Greenland's third largest town, with a population of over 5,500.
It's most impressive geographic feature is the ice fjord, which is within walking distance of the town centre.
When we landed, buses took us to the Icefjord Centre, from where a wooden boardwalk winds its way to the rocky ridges which oversee the huge ice fields of the fjord.
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Closer to the ice fjord, with part of the long board walk.
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Returning from the ice fjord.
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Part of the outskirts of Ilulissat. |
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The harbour, where we made a dry landing at a small jetty. |
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More of the multi-coloured housing stock in the town. |
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Our zodiac cruise in Disko Bay was definitely the coldest I've been on this entire Northwest Passage cruise.
I think we were out for about 90 minutes but I was somewhat relieved when we got back to the ship. |
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The outward journey to experience the icy waters around the island called Disko. |
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Icebergs galore, different shapes and shades of blue and white. |
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A bit like fresh plaster breaking off a breeze block wall. |
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The drone's view, you can see the ice beneath the water surface. |
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These icebergs weigh thousands of tons, you can see the fault lines and cracks which will break them up. |
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On this occasion, the hotel staff served up champagne instead of hot chocolate.
I and others thought why? It's effing freezing out here near the icy water and a hot drink would be a better choice. |
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This was my photo in our zodiac just after the champagne.
I am satisfied that I have seen enough icebergs on this trip to tick the life-experience box labelled 'See icebergs close up at sea level'.
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Sisimiut, Greenland.
Day 29 : Thurs 3rd September.
This was the Greenland visit I enjoyed the most.
Instead of an anchorage there was a wharf for the ship this time.
Buses were organised to take passengers to various points in the town.
I decided not to bother with museums and the sled dogs and just got off the bus in the town centre.
I found a nice lake with a path around it near a school and walked around the lake.
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Another view across the lake.
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A harbour view with mirror effect.
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Typical of Greenland towns is the large number of working dogs which are tied up during the summer outside of town.
They make a lot of noise and it is important not to treat them as pets so they can get used to being there to pull sleds in the winter when the roads are ice-bound.
I didn't take this photo myself, by the way.
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The church on a hill overlooking the harbour.
I went up there and looked inside, also took a few photos.
Below the church there is a nice cafe, where I had a coffee and cake. |
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Looking out over the harbour from the church.
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Sisimiut is apparently nicknamed 'Legoland' because of the multi-coloured houses. |
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There were three cruise ships at Sisimiut.
Initially we got the berth at the port, but later in the afternoon when most of the passengers were back on board, the captain moved the ship out into the bay to let the Silver Cloud take the berth.
Interestingly, that is the same ship I was on last May in the South Pacific!
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Northern Lights and Kangerlussaq, Greenland.
Day 30 : Fri 4th September.
The day started at just after midnight, with clear sky and the unexpected appearance of the Northern Lights.
This was a nice bonus for the last night of the cruise, the timing couldn't have been better.
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The last stretch of the cruise was the hundred miles along a deep fjord called Søndre Strømfjord, or Kangerlussuaq Fjord in Greenland's language.
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I pose for a photo as we sail northeast along the channel. |
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After about 5 hours we reach Kanngerlussuaq Havn, where we quickly disembark onto zodiacs as our luggage is taken ashore on a makeshift barge.
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To kill time before our night flight from the nearby airport, a couple of buses took us on a slightly uncomfortable road trip up a slope on the south side of the river which takes meltwater from the ice sheet down to Kangerlussuaq Fjord.
After a while we were dropped off at the Restaurant Roklubben which lies at the end of Lake Ferguson.
It has a large marquee where presumably passengers at the end of their cruise are fed before they are taken to the nearby airport for their flight back to Europe or North America.
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A view from higher ground whilst we were on the road trip.
The lake is probably Lake Ferguson, which is close to the international airport, formerly a USAF airbase during WW2.
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The kitchens building of the restaurant with the huge tent behind. This was our last experience on Greenland before we were bussed to the airport.
It took a long time to process all the passengers through the baggage check and subsequent passport control. There was a tiny refreshments kiosk where I bought a coffee too.
The aircraft was an Airbus A340 of the Swiss carrier Edelweiss. The flight to Zurich took about 5 hours. In Zurich there was a few hours to pass before the onward flight to Heathrow on an Air Baltic A220.
I had a Hull Trains reservation in first class and got back to Walkington in time for a beer or two.
Well, that was my last cruise.
At the age of 66 I'm not getting any younger and I've now seen both the top and bottom of our beautiful blue planet!
2024 Antarctica ✓
2026 The Arctic ✓
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