I was in my cabin this afternoon admiring the view. I don't have a window but the view is excellent. The ship has a bow camera which is broadcast live in all cabins. It is also broadcast on the internet. It's great. In some ways it's better than a real window. I don't even have to get out of bed to admire the view. I just grab the remote and turn on my "window". The first image is a photograph of my view.
And the view was fantastic as we plied our way through ice-laden waters on our way to Glacier Eqip Sermia.
I arrived on the bow deck just as King Neptune arrived. What a happy coincidence. Neptune was on board to baptize everyone that crossed the Arctic Circle on this voyage. In the photo my friend Ilja is being baptized by having ice-cold water poured down the back of his neck. Ilja is a member of the expedition team and lectures on the politics of Greenland. I believe that he is a bit of a masochist as he was baptized both last week and the week before. Or then again, maybe he's just a really good team member.
Last we week we were stymied by the ice. It was just too thick for us to push through. Today it was perfect. There was still way more ice than usual. In fact there hasn't been this much ice in this channel for about twenty-five years. The glaciers have been hyper-active and they have created a crystalline maze for us to cruise through. By 17:30 we had dropped anchor and revved up the Polar Cirkle boats.
I won't say another word about the weather as I'm sure you're bored with reading about it but look at the photos. I will mention though, that the black-flies were vicious. I waged chemical warfare against them. Others waved their arms vigourously. Still others chose mosquito netting (probably the best option). In the end I think the flies won as many people were chased back to the ship early.
I won't say another word about the weather as I'm sure you're bored with reading about it but look at the photos. I will mention though, that the black-flies were vicious. I waged chemical warfare against them. Others waved their arms vigourously. Still others chose mosquito netting (probably the best option). In the end I think the flies won as many people were chased back to the ship early.
Those poor miserable people that went back early. They had to sit and stare at a beautiful glacier and gorgeous sunset while suffering through a specially prepared, delicious barbeque. Perhaps they eased their pain with a cocktail or a glass of wine - all the while in a fly free zone.
It was so beautiful tonight I could hardly sit still to write this blog. I kept running outside to take more photographs. I put in my favourite just for you.
