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The coastal ferry took us from Qaqortoq in Greenland to Aassiat in four days. Every day we stopped at small settlements of multu-coloured houses where the ferry's arrival once a week means children coming home from school, husbands returning from work, wives returning with new born babies. The ship has a canteen where, three times a day, most of us meet to eat, drink and chat. We meet a small group of tourists from Italy, a pair of German tourists complaining that their guidebook is ten years out-of-date and two Austrians who are worried about flight cancellations.
Most of the people on board were Greenlanders, often just making short hops between one town and the next. There were groups of school children on their way home, all sleeping in dormitories low down in the ship. Children in Greenland often have to go away to complete their education, settlements only having infant schools.
Eventually, at six on a Sunday morning, we arrive in Aassiat. We're staying in the Soma, once a Seaman's home. The hotel ploughs its profits into its charitable work - caring for elderly seamen and the sick of the town; it is an
interesting model. We're soon back out on the water, this time in an open boat and a lot of warm clothing. There are impressive icebergs and some small bays are still full of sea ice. In one, we spot an Arctic fox running across the ice - it is an odd sight. We travel on around the islands to visit a tiny settlement where all the families are hunters and fishermen; they are busy bringing in their cod, halibut and seal. We wander up through the houses to get to the top of the island from where there is a huge view across snowy islands and icey waterways. And then we spot whales.
We're quickly back into the boat and heading out after them. We find two humpbacks travelling fast across the bay. For a while we keep up but they are just too fast; we head back to town and some hot chocolate.
After a couple of days in Aassiat, our plan is to travel to Qasigiannguit, but the weather is against us. Our helicopter flight is grounded due to wind, low cloud and snow; we decide to jump Qasigiannguit and go further
north to Ilulissat early. There is no point in trying to fight the weather here.
Ilulissat is the most touristy town in all of Greenland and the clue is in the name; Ilulissat means icebergs. Just up the fjord, a glacier carves huge icebergs which then float out to sea. Because the icebergs are so huge, they run aground on the seabed and get stuck. It usually takes a couple of years for one of these giants to get out to sea. The view from the town is extraordinary; gigantic icebergs, blue and white, tall like towerblocks or flat as pancakes - they are all here. Our hotel room, in fact practically every hotel room in town, has the view of the bay and the icebergs.
We found some good, rocky hiking along the icefjord - it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site - the views of the fjord and the bay are stunning. We had a little snow last night and it sometimes hides puddles of icy water or sheets of ice, so walking along the coast requires care even in good boots and with walking poles.
The next day it's
another 6 am start and we're heading south once more - Ilulissat, at over 69 degrees north, is the furthest north we've ever been. Our flight south is on time, a first for us in Greenland. We land in Kangerlussuaq and head to our hostel. It's a minute away and, after breakfast, we're off to explore.
Kangerlussuaq is just an airport and a small town. On the outskirts, we climb a high ridge to get the view - to the west a long fjord, still frozen, and, to the east and just visible beyond the hills, the ice cap. We head east and immediately spot small groups of musk ox. They're large, solid and very hairy; they look like thick brown rugs with legs and big horns!
Soon we see more wildlife, reindeer - big ones and young ones, reindeer with antlers and some without. They are all molting, their coats partly summer brown and partly winter white. They look at us short-sightedly, sniff the air and walk off.
We pass many frozen lakes, flat white sheets of snow, before we head off across the tundra to visit the Russell Glacier.
We can't go onto the glacier as it is unstable and may carve at any moment. Sitting on a cliff beside the glacier's face, we enjoy a picnic. The sheer size of the glacier is awe-inspiring. Some of the ice is deep blue, other parts white or even grey with moraine embedded in it.
On our second day, we venture out to the ice sheet; 80% of Greenland is covered in this ice sheet but it is not easy to reach. Luckily, Volkswagen built a gravel road to it to test their cars - a long abandoned project - so we are able to drive the 37km to the terminal moraine. From here, we climb over great heaps of gravel to get to the edge of the ice sheet.This is where we have to put on crampons and put bags onto sleds for the walk to our ice camp. The ice sheet is very white and bumpy but it is pretty easy walking, even pulling a sled. We are starting at the spot where expedition teams begin their attempts to cross the ice sheet - it's 500km (330 miles) to the other side and, in between, there
is nothing but ice.
The air is still and it is utterly silent here, just the odd sound of cracking ice; the ice sheet is up to 3 kms thick. After setting up a large dome tent, we take an ice axe to the nearest slope and chip some ice off into a big pan to boil; we need hot water for our dehydrated stew and to make hot chocolate (the hot chocolate was better than the stew). All around us, nothing but ice; this ice cap is larger than most countries. It's mind boggling. So there we are, eating reindeer stew on the ice sheet in the middle of Greenland!
Tomorrow we are back at the airport hoping to fly to Sisimiut on the west coast. Fingers crossed.
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