Last night was the point were the separation occurred between a cruise and a voyage. We were informed yesterday that cruising through the Prince Christian sund was not a guarantee route as there may be ice flows blocking our exit. This channel is a scenic short cut for not only us but for some cargo ships and is being monitored constantly, we should hear later today on this passage. This news was then followed by an announcement of having to speed up a bit in order to ensure that we will have enough time to navigate the passage through the fiord into Qaqortoq. At about midnight is when the space mountain roller coaster began, let’s just say we were glad to be in bed as we were being rocked and rolled during the next many hours, kind of like hitting speed bumps at full speed and turning at the same time, shake, shake, shake…
We woke this morning to beautiful ice bergs floating by our window, some very large indeed. Our anchorage also included a very large, call it a 3 story apartment complex size, ice berg, very picturesque to have this parked right in front of our port of call today, Qaqortoq.
Qaqortoq, is the largest town in Southern Greenland with just over 3,000 inhabitants. The name itself means “White”, which accurately describes the landscape of the white granite seen here. The history dates back to the Vikings settlements, but the present day town was founded in 1775 by Danish and Norwegian colonists. The Norwegian influence can be seen in all the colourful homes that scatter the otherwise stark landscape. That said, the Inuit culture is equally prominent here in Southern Greenland. This is highlighted through the “stone and man” project which enables visitors to wander through town to find all the different designs etched and chiseled into the cliffs by Scandinavian and Nordic artists.
We were again very fortunate with the time we decided to leave the mother ship, about 10:30am, we basically walked straight onto the waiting tender and ashore a good hour before I thought we were going to be. We did a nice walk within the town and then headed to a high point to get a great overall view. Although the hike was a bit more than anticipated it was well worth the effort. Yes, despite Jan’s recent injuries and checking in to ensure all was good, this hike was not extreme at all, it was a matter of distance and terrain which after the main road to the starting point was not really that far. So all good, especially the reward at the end. We visited the local grocery store and souvenir centre on the way back before, again, walking straight onto the waiting tender. Lunch at about 2:30ish before some relaxing and getting ready for our amazing ice berg extravaganza sail away.
Dinner tonight was at the Pinnacle converted restaurant to the Rudi’s, sel de Mer, this was just fantastic, special shout out to our waiter, Dylan, great job tonight. We had a nice night cap in the ocean bar before turning in for the night. Yes, we did receive the announcement regarding, Prince Christian Sund, and we are good to go, so exciting. Unfortunately though, another hour forward tonight, so this is it for today, hopefully all my pics will be uploaded in one part but there may be two or more today. Hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”. - St. Agustine
Nice pictures. M&S
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