Tag: Sue Stockdale

Iconic Iceland, Greenland & Canada Day 10 & Day 11

Friday, August 23rd, 2024

Today was a “Day at Sea”. We had a chance to read. So it was a quiet day. There were three lectures that we attended in the afternoon and evening.

The first lecture was by Rear Admiral John Lippiett. His presentation was called “Sailors Discover the Unknown World 500 Years Ago”. He explained how early maps revealed information about the European explorers who tried to find “riches in the East”.

Not long after Lippiett’s lecture, we attended Dr. Ronald Orenstein’s presentation called “What to See at Sea- Seabirds and Other Creatures”. He presented on the birds we have seen or might see as we sailed on our cruise.

The last presentation we attended today was Sue Stockdale’s talk on her “Crossing the Greenland Ice Cap- A Lesson in Teamwork”. This was another epic adventure that she did with a team of other adventurers. Her trek was quite fascinating as the team crossed the Greenland Ice Cap.

Saturday, August 24th, 2024

We didn’t arrive in Nanortalik, Greenland until 2:00 PM but this morning from 7:00 AM until 11:00ish we sailed in Greenland’s Prince Christian Sound. Sue Stockdale, a guest lecturer on our ship who skied the Greenland Ice Cap, gave a commentary about what we were seeing as we sailed.

The sun was rising over the fjord of Prince Christian Sound.

The sun was relecting off the mountains and the icebergs. It was stunning!

Prince Christian Sound was approximately 60 miles long and located in Greenland’s southern edge and was a narrow passage. Below was a map that illustrated the sound as we sailed through it.

map of the Prince Christian Sound and it showed where some of our pictures were taken!

Prince Christian Sound was named after the prince, later he became king Christian VII of Denmark.

We watched from our deck for part of the time and then went to the front of the ship so we could see both sides of the Sound.

The view was absolutely breathtaking. We saw many waterfalls, icebergs of all sizes, glaciers, and some glaciers that reached the sea!

We had so many fabulous pictures it was very difficult to choose a few for this post. The icebergs we saw reminded us a little of Antarctica. Of course, Antarctica had more.

We saw glaciers as we sailed. They were magnificent.

The terrain was filled with steep mountains and a rugged terrain.

The snow melted and we saw many waterfalls that flowed all the way down the mountains.

We saw snow-covered mountains.

There was one settlement in Prince Christian Sound called Aappilattoq. The name meant “red” after the red mountain. There were 100 inhabitants living there. Aappilattoq people fish and hunt and were isolated except for when a boat stopped by or a helicopter flew into the settlement.

Approaching Aappilattoq

The settlement had colorful houses. One can see how isolated this town was along the Sound.

Aappilattoq

We still saw icebergs when we left the sound into the North Atlantic ocean.

Sailing up to Nanortalik, Greenland.

When we arrived at the island of Nanortalik we tendered in to the town. The sky was clear but the air was windy and chillly. Nanortalik was Greenland’s southernmost town. Its name meant a “place of polar bears”.

Some of the boats tied up in the Nanortalik harbor.

The town’s main industries were seal hunting, hunting crabs, fishing and service and administration with about 1,000 inhabitants. As we walked around, a celebration was happening.

Locals celebrating and enjoying food and drink.

The homes were painted bright colors. We loved walking among the town’s homes.

We had a self-guided tour of the town and its open air museum. Locals were out selling their handcrafted items. We purchased a Christmas ornament from a woman who had maded it from beads. She told us she had made the ornament along with six more!

A street sign along the gravel road and rocky terrain in town.

The Nanortalik Open Air Museum had buildings that housed different aspects of the history of the area with nine historic buildings. One building showed the Viking way of life.

One building had Inuit fishing and hunting tools, kayaks and more.

The former blubber house had displays.

Another building was the former train oil factory.

Another building was filled with medical equipment.

Dave climbed up the narrow stairway for a panoramic view of the area!

Dave looking out at the town of Nanortalik

There was one lutheran church in town. It was wooden and built in 1916.

The church from a distance.
the Lutheran Church
Inside the church

Many of the locals were out enjoying the day.

The tide was out when we tendered back to the ship.

Boats grounded because the tide was out.

When we looked out at the ocean from town, we could see icebergs floating.

Tomorrow we will make another stop in Greenland.

Iconic Iceland, Greenland & Canada Day 6

Monday, August August 19th, 2024

This morning we arrived in the town of Djúpivogur.

Arriving to Djúpivogur

Our excursion was a full day and was called “Fjallsárión Ice Lagoon by Zodiac”. Our guide pointed out the sights as we traveled by bus.

Passing through Djúpivogur

He pointed out the Icelandic horses. A lot of these horses were along the road. They were smaller than most horse breeds in the world. These horses could survive the harsh Iceland weather. Icelandic horses had five gaits where other horses have three: walk, trot, and gallop. The two that these horses had was tölt and flugskeið. Tölt was a 4-beat ambling gait. The horse always had one or two feet touching the ground at equal intervals. Flugskeið had been nicknamed the fifth gear. It was very fast and a horse could reach speeds up to 30 mph on it. Not all Icelandic horses could do the flugskeið.

Icelandic Horses

We saw swans that migrated from England and spent the summer along the East coast of Iceland. Some bird watchers had counted up to 30,000!

Swans in the bay

The geology of the area was quite interesting. The layers of lava flows were apparent. The jagged steep cliffs were imposing.

A view of the landscape

As we rode along the “Ring Road”,which was an 820 mile loop that connected most towns and villages. We saw spring water flowing that was clear and glacier runoff that was murky.

A Glacier river
A Spring river

We saw potato farms and sheep along the road. The sheep had the right of way. Our bus had to stop and wait for the sheep to cross the road. We also crossed over one lane bridges.

As we approached our destination, Fjallsárlón, we saw glaciers in the distance.

Fjallsárlón was a glacier lagoon that’s about 20 years old when the glacier started to recede up the mountain. Fjallsárlón was an outlet glacier of Vatnajökull, the largest glacier in Europe.

We were fitted with a heavy duty parka that would keep us warm and dry when we were on the water.

Dave in his parka and life jacket

After getting our parka and life jacket, we hiked down to the lagoon where we boarded a zodiac boat. It was nice to be in small groups with a guide.

Zodiac Boats at the lagoon!
Our zodiac guide holding ice

It was an overcast day so the glacier and the icebergs weren’t glistening but we enjoyed our time on the lagoon.

Water fall from the melting glacier
The glacier face
Close up of the face
In front of the Fjallsárlón Glacier

After our zodiac ride on the lagoon we hiked up to the equipment shelter and turned in our parkas and life jackets. Lunch was served in the restaurant at the site and it was good.

On our drive back to the ship we drove along the North Atlantic shore.

N. Atlantic Ocean shoreline

We returned from our day excursion in time to hear Sue Stockdale a guest lecturer on board. This talk was called “Magnetic Attraction”. She discussed what motivated her to go on her adventure to the North Pole. In 1996 she was the first British woman to ski to the Magnetic North Pole. She was very interesting and she included videos and pictures of her experience. She was quite an adventurer!

Sue Stockdale’s Adventure

It was another busy day exploring!