The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other things.

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

More icebergs-

.

At 1700 we steamed out into the open sea.The swell was now down to about 2 metres.After a marvellous day tonight was the Captain's Welcome coughtail party.I have posted pictures on another thread but reposting this historic event for SS-

.

.

Then to dinner which we had with the newest Expedition member Travis.More of him later.The meal included Foie Gras and then lobster so we definitely approved.
After dinner it was upstairs havibg a few Amarula's with the music of Lou in the background.There were now some barrier islands so really smooth and we enjoyed the last of the sunset-

.

.

Saturday.A very good night's sleep and awake to another fine day.We are entering Prince Christian Sund and will view the sernet glacier.At first it is not as spectacular as yesterday but the further we go the better things become.I am able to go out on the back deck sheltered from the wind just in a short sleeved shirt and jeans.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

.

.

note Captain Maggi showing her skills.Taking us into a smaller off shoot of the fjord to get a great view of the glacier and then turning the ship on itself to continue our cruise.Lots of waterfalls,snow,ice and mountains-

.

.

.

Even Mrsdrron got out into the fresh air-

.

.

And lots of lovely old rocks as Juan kept telling us.

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

We had a very enjoyable lunch with a Canadian couple.The scenery just kept coming-

.

.

.

.

.

.

Forget the Amazon,here is the real meeting of the waters-

.

.

Caused by the run off from the glacier-

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

.

.

Just to prove I don't take all the photos-

.

.

.

.

.

As always the birds kept us company-

Next one of the cruise highlights.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

The Inuit village of Aappilattoq.Now about 100 residents.Was ~250 in the 60s and 70s.Founded in 1922.A beautiful place with great views and a protected little harbour-

.

.

.

.

.

.

But the modern world does intrude-

.

This however is a subsistence village.last year 2 polar bears were killed.The Inuit have been doing this for thousands of years.It is their culture and there is a quota system in place.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

The natural beauty though shines through-

.

.

.
It is obviously a hard place to live.The cemetery had many small graves-

.

And here a 24 yr old who died at childbirth-

.

I then visited the school-

The headmaster speaks both old and new Greenlandic,could speak to us passabli in English and was fluent in German.I felt humbled.But technology is catching up fast.The school has a Facebook page-

.

Though it must take some time on their computer-

.

It is amazing any work gets done especially with this view from the classroom-

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

Then I was off to church-

.

.

Some of the locals sang to us in their own language.If I closed my eyes I could imagine I was in A South Seas village listening to their singing.

.

After that I climbed a small hill overlooking the village-

.

.

It was also important for their communications-

.


Walking back to the zodiacs there was dancing in the streets-

.

There was evidence of past meals-

.

.

But a novel way of keeping future meals fresh-

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

When we arrived it was warm and there were lots of mozzies and midges.By the time I left there had been a change.It was cold but no more insects.The ride back was a little breezy-

.

.

We then cruised out of the fjord whilst the sun set amongst the icebergs.Dinner with 3 other Australians and another night of amarula and a singalong before a contented night's sleep.
Sunday.We were going to visit a town but it was cold,raining and miserable.But as well there was an insect plaque so the visit was then called off.
Instead we went to the scheduled afternoon activity at Unartoq Island which has a natural hot spring.It was still raining and cold so we passed.Lunch was really good with a nice spicy chicken korma.
The afternoon was then a zodiac ride amongst the icebergs.Having done this in the Arctic and Antarctic we sat this out as well.So only a few pictures from the day.

.

.

.

.

.

That night we had dinner with an English couple who were adamant they knew what Silverseas was going to do.As I have said before they also said SS will be announcing a new Expedition ship in September but they also added it would be an ex-Seabourne ship.Their Expedition ship though is a 400 pax vessel and that is not the sort of expedition cruising I want to do.
The meal also was average.

 

[jukebox333]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

.

This however is a subsistence village.last year 2 polar bears were killed.The Inuit have been doing this for thousands of years.It is their culture and there is a quota system in place.

.

.

.

Not a lot of room for a small percentage change to that quota, drron.

I would guess the flip side is that the two that do get caught could consider themselves rather unlucky!

Brilliantly spectacular images across this report - thanks for sharing.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

Monday morning and we awoke when docking at the town of Qaqortoq the largest town in Southern Greenland.Population 3200.The morning was spectacular-

.

.

.

We had breakfast in our suite.The morning's activity was a walk around the town.our guide was the son of the Deputy Mayor.He comes home for summer and works on container ships for the other 9 months of the year.He told us the largest ship to visit had 3200 pax.
In the 90s the town had a program to beautify the rocks-

.

.

Some in town definitely have a quirky sense of humour-

.

Back to the rocks-

.

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

And the view from part way up the hill.The first building being one of the oldest in town-

.

.

.

.

The road up the hill has an unusual name.According to our guide one of the houses on this street was for the Catholic priest.Many,many years ago one priest having consumed too much sacramental wine appeared on the balcony naked proclaiming himself to be Pope.Hence the street name-

.

Nearby was the home of a local artist-

.

The local newspaper office-

.

And of course the local Thai restaurant-

.

And the first church-

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

The town has the oldest fountain in Greenland-

.

And as Greenland is controlled by Denmark what statue would they have-

.

Then to the market-

.

.

.

Those that visited the market first were lucky enough to see a seal being cut up!But we saw the local lads actually catching a fish,no bait needed-

.

We next visited the church-

.

.

.

.

The life ring was from a ship which disappeared in the late 1950s bound for Denmark.Many politicians and other important people were onboard.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

Outside the church was this little place-

.

We all wondered what it was-dog house?for the kids?
What we were told it was for storing the bodies of those who died in winter to be buried in spring.
Now a hymn in the local language-

.

More of the town-

.

How would you like writing this address down everytime you filled out a form-

.

Then the little museum with a traditional house in front-

.

.

Inside traditional dress-

.

We then headed back to the ship buying a few little trinkets along the way and sending postcards to our grandkids.The plan was after lunch the ship was to leave for the next destination.However thanks to the Expedition team and Captain Maggi we were able to stay for the afternoon for the first day of school.A community celebration.

.

Parents and children come along in traditional dress.More to come of this fantastic afternoon

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

First the Headmistress gives a speech.Then each child's name is called out and they go over to their teachers and given a Greenland flag-

.

as the name is called out a relative throws handfuls of coins or sweets into the air-

.

.

.

If you have a big enough screen you may see the coins in the air on that last shot.
A young Thai girl was starting school.This is her older sister-they were dressed the same-

.

The best part of the afternoon was that the community was very happy to share this day with us.I had parents offering to pose with their children.At one point I found myself next to this fellow-

.

I thought he was a mariner but it turns out he is the town's fire chief.His grandson was starting school.We had a talk as grandfathers.He told of his pride with tears in his eyes.We were truly honoured to be where we were that day.
And the final shots of our visit to Qaqortoq.Going back to the ship I went to the supermarket.A good selection of fresh fruit but at a price-

.

.

A good selection of wines with French wines alongside Australian-

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

The afternoon activity was delayed but not a problem as the sun was setting late.We were at Hvalsey.This was an old Norse settlement.The Norse were here before the Inuit.It has the best Norse remains in Southern Greenland.The church here is at least 800 years old.So our first sighting-

.

The water was full of Lion's Mane jellyfish-

.

So on land we see the church from close up whilst Juan stands guard to protect us from the sheep-

.

.

There are more ruins than the church though-

.

And evidence of the fierce sheep-

.

So more of the ruins of Hvalsey-

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

.

.

The last recorded use of the church was a wedding in 1408.The Norse settlers then just disappeared.Probably the victims of Climate Change with the coming of the mini Ice Age.
But the last of Hvalsey.A beautiful spot.No wonder it was selected for settlement-

.

.

.

.

Back onboard and I enjoyed a mojito with tapas.Then to dinner-my beef was very good and Mrsdrron's stuffed quail was excellent.Finally to the bar and almost the last to leave.
Tuesday.We had slept soundly and were awoken by our butler Catalino bringing us coffee.Breakfast in the restaurant and then it was time to get in the zodiacs for the settlement of Qassiausuk.

.

.

.

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

This settlement was established early last century but we are here because it was the site of the Norse settlement Brattahlid established by Eric the Red-

.

.

---

One of the youth hostels though is named after Eric's son,Leif the Lucky,who stands guard over it-

.

.

Leif was probably the first European to set foot on the North American continent.
We then walked through the settlement with a local guide.The place exists on sheep farming but incredibly they don't use the wool.Said it is just to expensive to process.The lambs are all processed in a period of 3 weeks in October.
So one of the first houses at time of resettlement and one of the first barns-

.

.

We passed the school-

.

I am sure though that I would not survive camping here-

.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

The kids come from all over the district so they board here-

.

.

Then we visited the first church at resettlement-

.

.

Whilst the farmers went about moving their hay-

.

Whilst the direct flight from Copenhagen arrived-

.

.

.

The Youth Hostel is run by a Spaniard so many young Spaniards come and stay.

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

We then headed off to the ruins of Brattahlid where an interesting local lass told us the story of Eric-

.

.

She told us how Eric's wife got him to build the first Christian church in Greenland hence North America.She just locked the bedroom door.It was however quite small-

.

.

The recreated longhouse though was anything but small inside though not looking it from the outside-

.

Around the settlement these little blue boxes are the water supply-

The local shop was open.I am not too sure how well ice creams sell here though-

.

And I wondered what they were saying about Corn Flakes-

 

[drron]

Re: The time has come the walrus said to talk of planes and ships and many other thin

Back on board a nice Russian themed buffet lunch.The afternoon was to be a hike of 4.5Km to more ruins and of course 4.5KM back.I was in 2 minds as to going but it began to rain so I decided on a nanny nap.
Dinner was with 2 of the bear guards including the "Chick with a Gun"we had met on our Arctic cruise.The carpaccio of asparagus and sun dried tomato was very nice though mis named.The smoked pork and red cabbage was also good.Very tired so it was only left to admire the sunset before retiring-

.

.

. Wednesday and a sea day.Had breakfast and then needed a nap.The day was overcast but the sea was calm.Awoke in time for lunch.Had a very interesting conversation with the others on the table and I think we solved most of the world's problems.
Did get to the post lunch lecture by Uli on life under the sea in the Arctic.And I stayed awake the whole time!Then the sun came out.Noticed more sea birds and then a large iceberg-

.

.

.

We decided to have dinner in our suite in a desperate effort to reduce our food intake.We had just gone to bed when the PA crackled to life announcing the Northern lights were putting on a show.Now I strictly take pictures in point and shoot mode so these are fairly grainy but hopefully give an idea of the spectacle-

.

.