Day 7: Boat tour & whales & arctic swimming!

(Tue 26/6/2012)

Nordkurs (aka probably mostly Karen) had organized a lovely half-day boat tour in the nearby fjords. We started in the Atlanthavnen (Atlantic Harbor), went along the cape of Nuuk, past Kolonihavnen and out in the fjords*.

We stopped at Björnö (not sure? means 'Bear Island') for lunch and to admire the mosquitos!!!!!

Naah. The mosquitos weren't the main attraction, but they were there in HUGE CLOUDS.

I was curious to see what Mareike was up to. I found her figuring out how to surf on a block of ice, a small iceberg if you will. I needed some convincing, but a Finnish word "yllytyshullu" describes me in that moment quite well. Me and Mareike ended up being trend setters as we went and swam in the icy water! 

There were literally blocks of ice floating next to me! On the first try we were alone, but when the others heard us scream in SHOCK they came to see what was going on. Hence we had some extra hands to take photos and provide the evidence, that we actually swam with ice blocks!:) It was very cold and there was not so much swimming but now I can say that I did it. The spontaneity of the moment left little choice in what dry clothes to wear afterwards: I swam in my panties and a top and just took them off and pulled dry clothes on (while mosquitos were having a FEAST with my pale Finnish blood!). After us Oda, Olga, Marie and Maria (in total three courageous Finns, one brave German, one feisty Norwegian, one confident Swedish girl) also went swimming!:) 

Everyone was awfully proud of having this exotic experience, but were in a hurry to leave so that Mareike forgot her wet clothes on the Island as a memento for polar bears, seals and birds!:)

The boat tour continued on the sea in the fjords WITH NO MOSQUITOES. Nice.

We also got to see some whales! They were small ones, Karen and Per were guessing that they were  common mink whales (swe. 'vikval'), but nobody could really tell. I didn't really manage to get a good shot with my camera… The surroundings were magnificent and light surrounding us and the sea and the mountains was a pale blue light… Beautiful.

Later in the evening we had been invited to dinner at Karen's (and Per's) house. The menu consisted of - entré: seal soup ('suaasat' in GRL) and seal meat + mustard on the side; main course: fish, rice, vegetables and curry sauce. White wine to go with, and GRL music playing in the background.

The dessert coffee was then served at the university, where we still late that same evening(!) saw a GRL musical telling the classic Inuit saga about how the Norsemen and Inuit became separated and the Norsemen left the island.

Links:

Fjord

Whales

Polar bear swimming
Yllytyshullu

Boats in the harbor. Royal Greenland fish/shrimp factory in the background.

"This is where the magic happens." Or.. wait! That's on MTV :)

My first pictures of a slightly bigger iceberg.

Maria in the sun.

Marc in the sun! 

The watery trail of M/S Immanuel.

Gunhild & Anne.

Nuuk seen from the sea

Yup. That's me!

Auto correct in Lightroom..

Detail of blue ice.

Scenery I.

Anne (and Anne in the back).

Sofie taking in the sun in her soul!

Maria.

Auto correct in Lightroom does funny things, but I kinda like it.

Phenomena I.

Phenomena II.

Scenery II.

Scenery III.

Scenery IV.

Ice I.

Ice II.

Getting on Bear Island.

Suopursu = Rhododendron tomentosum

Olga & her treasures ("come here my precioussssss...";)

"How should I do this?"

Yoga on ice! Probably a genuinely first-original-idea-in-a-long-time!

I WILL SWIM IN ICY WATER.

Totally worth it! I

Totally worth it! II

First whale spotted - check!

I couldn't get enough of the scenery!
(This is also auto correct and the color were not like this, they were more blue.
But I like the retro feel of the colors in these!)

More scenery.

Seal soup = suaasat

Unsharp, but this is nevertheless seal meat with bread and mustard.
Better than the soup. Don't be fooled by the beefy look,
the dark meat tasted like fish!