Greenland

On Thursday we arrived in Qaqortoq (three q’s in one word). Nippy, but sunny and we were tendering ashore. Qaqortoq is Greenland’s largest southern town and has a population of a little over 3,000. I took the tender about eleven and decided on a nature hike. Along the way I met a family from Nuuk, who were on vacation here. It answered the question, where do people from Greenland go on vacation. Somewhere else in Greenland. The trek was steep, but once at the top, very rewarding, (aside from the flies). I got bitten to buggery. The hike lasted a few hours and one of the best in ages.

Once back in town I mooched around and purchased two magnets. Then the Qaqortoq Museum which used to be a boarding house where Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne stayed in 1933 when he was surveying potential commercial routes.

I was back on board by 4 pm after a thoroughly enjoyable adventure around Qatortoq which means “White”.

I had some pictures taken with some Greenlanders. Inuits, who speak Danish. 90% of the people are Inuit.

Some Greenland facts for those wanting more than just weather updates. Greenland is the second biggest island in the world after Australia. It’s a dependency of Denmark (no one else wanted it). All of the settlements, towns, villages, etc, lie on coastal areas. The centre of Greenland is one big glacier – one of the largest in the world. The total population is only 56,000 with 18,000 living in the capital, Nuuk.

We left early and sailed past icebergs heading for Greenland’s 11th largest town, Nanortalik with about 1200 people.

We arrived in Nanortalik at some ungodly hour and the announcements woke us all up. I decided to get off early and beat the rush. I ran and was the last on a relatively empty tender which is rare indeed. Normally people are packed in like sardines. It was bloody chilly, but at least the sun was out.

Nanortalik means “Place of polar bears” so I was on full alert. I spent a few hours taking in the limited delights of Nanortalik. The natural beauty of the place is all around, but the town itself doesn’t have much wealth, and it shows. One thing I did notice on both stops in Greenland is that there were no trees. I didn’t see a single one.

I bumped into my ship buddies Paula and Stuart. Extremely nice couple from London who I have done some trivia games with. Very easy company.

It’s curious how they say Icelandic and Greenlandic when describing the languages, because we don’t say Scotlandic, Finlandic or Irelandic. I suppose Icish and Greenish would sound a little odd.

Heading south now to Canada for warmer weather. That’s not something you hear very often.