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Published: August 22nd 2015
The day started with a quick taxi ride to the Reykjavik domestic terminal, which is located very close to the city centre. It was interesting that we departed from the Domestic Terminal although we were changing countries and having to present our passports however as I am on holiday it dosn't pay to think too much about "why" things are the way they are and just go with the flow.
The flight was due to depart at 10:15am and we got away on time in a twin propeller aircraft - its been a while since I have been in one of them. The flight was around one hour and forty minutes and as we approached Greenland was when the excitement really started, as looking out the window of the aircraft there were already icebergs floating in the ocean. There were steep sided, snow covered mountains and very rough terrain and my little brain was thinking where is he going to land this aircraft. It was also a very longtime since I have landed on an unsealed runway, made of gravel. I heard later in the day that once the last plane leaves late afternoon the runway is used to play
football as currently they do not have a sports field. Today they were working with bull dozers at the local school creating a playing field and putting drainage pipes in as that area has always flooded, hence they had resorted to using the runway.
The time difference between Reykjavik and Kulusuk was two hours behind so suddenly we gained two hours. This all of a sudden made sense to the return flight details which up to then made no sense what so ever. The return flight was at 2:15pm but we were not arriving until around 7:00pm, but of course we had to lose the two hours again.
As we entered the terminal a 25 year old local man (looked like a boy) advised me he was the guide for the day and he just needed to work out who else was with us. It turned out that there were two groups, one of ten and one of twelve people, plus myself and a young American girl who had booked as separate.
As soon as he found all his group we were advised we are walking to the village - no shuttle busses here. There were a
number of people on the aircraft who were obviously staying over and would be tramping by the way they were dressed but it amused me to see them dragging their wheeled cases along a gravel road. After about a hundred metres they realised that was going to wreck their cases/bags so they began carrying them.
As we started walking it was at that time the visual senses kicked in and the camera started clicking. The scenery was just beautiful, and I immediately thought of the Pete Seeger song "Little Boxes on the hillside" about little boxes made of ticky tacky, little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same, there's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one and they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look the same. I just love those colourful little houses.
It took quite some time for the group to walk to the village, what with taking photographs very few seconds and I think some were not used to walking distances. As we walked we passed sled dog team tied up in lines, also patches of snow left from last Winter that has
not melted due to the poor Summer this year. I should say at this point that the temperature high for the day was 8°C, with no wind though it was not cold.
Once we arrived in the village by the post office and General Store we had time to wander around, get something to eat in the store or eat lunch if bought with you.
We later had a look through the very small museum, before heading to an area behind the Lutheran Church where we were to be entertained, so in anticipation we seated ourselves on the surrounding rocks facing a flat piece of ground near the edge of the harbour and waited.Our entertainer was a little late arriving, he was an older man and he sang as he played a drum made out of driftwood and the stomach of a polar bear. We of course did not know what he was singing about but part of it was bird-like noises (a raven) and he had a hilarious look on his face. Once he finished singing the guide explained what it was all about. As all other songs or reasons why something is named what it is
both here in Iceland and in Greenland, involves death, there never seems to be any happy endings and this song was no different. It was interesting to listen to and he was actually very good.
When it was time to return to the airport in time for the flight back to Reykjavik, it was decided as the group were mostly slow walkers, that for a small fee we would be taken closer to the airport by small local boats. This took a few minutes to organise and whistle up enough boats to take everybody. The ride back was amazing among the icebergs, and the reflections were wow, although the water was not perfectly still, to me it was just stunningly beautiful, and I was very happy clicking away at every iceberg and/or reflection I saw.
An uneventful flight back to Reykjavik, taxi back to the hotel, and just time to dash to my room, dump my gear, then back down to the bar for one drink before Happy Hour ended. during that time the one remaining couple not yet left for home, from the Iceland Complete Tour saw me and came over to ask how my day had
I am still wondering
at this point where will we land?been. They were about to walk along the road to have pizza for dinner and it did not talk much persuasion for me to join them. A perfect ending to a perfect day!
A rather overkill on the photos but hard to pick a few from the many icebergs and reflections.
Naming issues - I still think that Iceland should be called Greenland, and Greenland should be called Iceland.
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