Riddles in Orkney

Take the Norwegian flag, and just replace the white bits with yellow - voilà, you have the flag of the Orkney Islands. Says a lot, doesn't it? Indeed, if you ask an Orcadian on holiday for his nationality, he will say he is an Orkney Islander. Maybe, only maybe he might concede to be Scottish, but never, ever he will be British. The affinity to Norway has a long history, about a royal dowry that couldn't be paid, Islands being annexed and all the wild things in politics that make nice stories to tell today, but may have been very tough for the people.
Anyway, we are here to marvel at much older events: Our gentle overland drive leads us from Kirkwall to the other side of the "mainland", as the largest of the over 100 Islands is called. Here, in Skara Brae, a fierce storm in the later 19th century revealed the stunning ruins of an old culture, a village so well organised and built that we have no problem at all to relay to this lifestyle, a little bit rural, mayhap, but all there, solid beds around a fireplace, shelves as if delivered by some Neolithic Ikea, and corridors so well conceived that they barred out the wind and the cold while connecting all the houses very conveniently. A great deal of planning and skill was required to achieve this, and it's impossible to look at this site without reverence to the "project manager" of the old days.

Oh, did I mention that we see all this on the most beautiful of days…? Yes, again, sunshine and the green smells of lush pastures all around us, our luck seems infinite.
After a quick glance into Skaill House, the most luxurious manor of the Orkneys, even visited by the Queen Mother in 1983, we carry on to a true mystery site - Brodgar, the stonehenge of the Orkneys. Only here you can get close, here we are alone without ten thousands of people milling about, here we get the good views. The achievement - again - was huge: Not only had these giant rock slabs to be brought from the area of Skara Brae, 15 miles away, but they had to be planted deep into the ground, only two thirds emerging. And then there's the ditch which dwarfs even those efforts: Nine meters wide, three meters deep, half of it carved into the bedrock (!), it has been calculated a task which required about 80.000 man hours. Without taking care of the debris which also had been removed from the site.
What for? Why? Well, nobody really knows. There's a plethora of theories growing around these henges, were they astronomic devices, amphitheatres for religious services, meeting point, seat of governments - it remains dark, no document existing, no writing, no legacy except these marvellous structures. The few runic carvings were made much later, by the Vikings who had not much more to say than the average graffiti today (Bjørn was here), quite disappointing.
Just next door, well, next Loch there is another of these structures, smaller maybe, but the mystery is just as big.
Full of thoughts we return to the ship and off we go towards Edinburgh.

Of Wicks and Voes, Brochs and Lochs

According to the locals, only two days of the year have not seen sh…y weather. One of them is certainly today, and the other one was in May - when FRAM called Lerwick for the first time this year… So, our good weather engine seems to be running full speed, immaculate skies preside over a warm day in the green, green countryside of Lerwick, capital of the Shetland Islands. Wick meaning rectangular bay, by the way, as opposite to a Voe, which is V-shaped. Good to know.
The difference couldn't be more accentuated than by the architecture. Whereas on the Faroer Islands the Scandinavian wooden houses are ubiquitous, only in their own red and black coloration, we are running smack into the heavy, grey, but very charming Victorian style buildings here. Turrets, beautifully crafted masonry and the wonderfully inviting painted signs over shops and pubs, heralding the presence of the old traditions.

Like the Faroer Islands, Shetland is an accumulation of many Isles and Islets. Mousa has gained a lot of attraction for its large number of sea birds, is a well-known spot among birders. Only that at this time of the year most of the birds have migrated by now, further South to spend their time until the next breeding cycle. (If they only knew about the fine weather here…) But Mousa is at the same time a much frequented leisure place for many seals, so the excursion on this emerald green speck of land is a heaven for wildlife photographers.
History is at its best when you travel towards the southern tip of Shetland, passing the crystal clear Lochs (lakes) and spend some time in Jarlshof. Already people of the Neolithic discovered the benefits of this place and built their homestead there. So favourable are the conditions here, with access to fresh water, protection, fishing grounds and building material, that also much later, in the Bronze and Iron Age people would come and settle, partly reusing the dominant sandstone slabs for their - much more sophisticated - houses. So it is not surprising, too, that the place kept popular throughout the Viking and Medieval times. Fighting times these were, apparently - Shetland features more than 120 Brochs - ultra solid watchtowers.

A true historian's delight, and everybody checks hundreds of images on the way back to Lerwick. Pardon me - Ler-Wick.

Welcome to the "Sheep Islands"!

The morning we spent aboard listening to the different kind of lectures which have been so nicely prepared by our lecturer team. We could choose between lecturers with different topics in English, German and Norwegian; so everybody could find the right talk for himself.
Around lunchtime we reached the Faroe Islands our destination for the afternoon. The busses were waiting for us at the pier already so that we could start our different excursions on the islands directly after the authorities have given the ship free.  
The Faroe Islands are a group of islands under the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark; app. half way between Norway and Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean. 50 000 (in 2010) people are living on these Islands, nearly in the middle of nowhere. The volcanic islands are rugged and rocky, the coasts are mostly cliffs. In these cliffs you can find an enormous amount of seabirds during spring and summer time.
That´s the reason why so many tourists - many of them are birders - are coming to the Faroe Island. The economy is still based on the fishing industry and we could see the first fishing boats when we were going alongside with FRAM in the harbor.
After dinner many passengers went up to the bar for a last cocktail and to listen to some crew members that were singing for us.

From Iceland to Islands

Well, aren’t we just lucky?? The passage between Iceland and the lands toward the East has a reputation that could scare the living daylight out of the faint of heart, the North Atlantic waters can be as fierce as the infamous Drake Passage. But no, the skies are mild and blue, only some faint shades of clouds, the sea seems unfiltered by air or distance, the horizon being a crisp line behind a quicksilver ocean. The temperatures easily allow for a stroll or a tea on deck without twenty layers of clothing.  So the spirits are high, as is the curiosity about the lectures on board that are held in large numbers.
Since the waves are tiny-ish, nearly everybody’s condition allows to attend the presentations about sea birds, the development of the Arctic climate, Earth History, North Pole conquering, and Volcanoes, be it in German, English or Scandinavian. FRAM really lives up to its reputation as a floating university.
And the food!! Besides the regular meals there is always time for a little more, especially as a wonderful smell of waffles wafts through the decks in the afternoon. So, sitting high above the scenery, feasting on some delicacy, sipping a good Cappuccino – if this doesn’t free your mind, what does?
So let it wander, think about the marvelous place we just left, the home of Sagas, Trolls, housing the entry to the center of the Earth, being the source of enormous and cheap power as well as a peephole to Earth’s restless interior and, last but not least, an island of stunning beauty. Go through your pictures, sigh a little about the memories that lie behind you, and smile at the things that are supposed to come. The Faroe Islands are certainly one of the rarest destinations in Europe, they are simply hard to get to. Being more or less half way between Iceland and the British Isles, they are a weird mix, belonging to Denmark, but having their own currency, and the idiom rather being a sort of ancient Norwegian, supposedly the rarest European language spoken. The old ways are alive there, too, the most disputed of them the yearly mass hunt of the Pilot Whales, a violent tradition, meekly explained with the need for food. 
So, yes, a lot to think about while we are busy with our coffee upstairs. Faroers, here we come!

It's Changeover Day again!

In the early morning we reached Reykjavik. The weather was still wonderful but most of us felt a little bit sad as we had to leave the vessel today. A trip that started 14 days ago in Longyearbyen ended here in Island. It has been an unbelievable nice cruise. The weather has been always nice; mostly blue sky and nearly no wind. We saw so much wildlife, like Arctic Hares, Ermines and Polar foxes. But one of our highlights had been the Polar bear with three nearly grown up cups on an ice flow in North East Greenland National park. We still remember our long hikes in the tundra vegetation and even in snow; that means altogether – a perfect trip came to its end. We were looking forward to this trip for a long time, now it belongs to the past already, but it will always be unforgettable.
In the afternoon the new guests arrived. Now they were looking forward to a new cruise. Some of them a little bit nervous as it will be their first cruise ever; others were travelling with us before and felt home directly. After the check in and a first coffee or tea everybody had to participate in our important rescue drill. After dinner we have been invited by our Captain and his officers. Our expedition leader introduced us to her team. After all these new experiences we have been very tired and nearly everybody wanted to go to bed. But our first highlight of this cruise should wait for us already during the first night; the northern light – the Aurora borealis. Latest now we recognized that we are on an expedition cruise and not on a normal cruise liner as there was an announcement going into all cabins in the middle of the night. But of course nobody should have missed this very special nature experience.  It looked like that we shouldn´t get a lot of sleep on this cruise; but instead of sleep we could expect various new experiences and that was what we wished and paid for.  

Indian Summer in Iceland's West Fjords

In the morning we reached Grundafjordur, a little tiny village in Iceland´s West fjords. It looks like that we have more than one angel aboard as the weather is still more than fine. That meant we had still the best weather conditions for our planned excursions – and there have been quite a lot of them again.  
Iceland is a very special Island. Some regions are only covered with real green grass; here you will find the Icelandic sheep and Icelandic horses. Please, you should never ever call these horses ponies; the Icelanders are very sensitive in this point. Other areas are covered with vegetation that is similar to the tundra vegetation. In these areas you could get the feeling of Indian summer as the vegetation changed already to autumn color. Some areas are covered with huge glaciers. Here in the West fjords you can see the Snaefellsnes, Iceland´s smallest but more than nice glacier on top of a vulcaniv. Today we could see it even without clouds. Then of course we have the real volcanic areas. These surroundings give you sometimes the feeling to drive in a landscape you know only from pictures from the moon. And you should also never forget, that Iceland is a part of the middle ocean ridge system what means, that you are here on the ocean floor and not on the continental crust anymore.  

After a long excursion day we have been invited by our Captain Rune Andreassen to the Farwell Cocktail. Just before our last dinner we joined a Charity Auction. The proceeds went to the Association for Greenlandic Children. All together we collected more than 2500 € for the children – A good feeling after all our good experiences we had in Greenland. 

Iceland - here we come!

Our crossing to Iceland was calm and beautiful. Even through the night we had to be outside as we had a wonderful Northern Light again.

But we could sleep a little bit longer in the morning because we should reach our first destination, Isafjordur, around lunch time. The morning was filled up with lectures, so that we could start our Iceland adventure well prepared.
The sun was shining out of a clear blue sky. There have been different kinds of excursions offered to us. See at the blog pictures and you will understand how wonderful our time has been.
The evening ended with the very famous crew show. Thanks’ to the crew for this nice experience.

Scoresbysound and Denmark Strait

Today we visited the Greenlandic settlement of Scoresbysund. The town was established in 1924 by Ejnar Mikkelsen. Approximately 460 people live in this settlement, most of them Greenlandic. The weather was not the best, low clouds with a few rain drops. During the morning the wind picked up but everyone seemed to be enjouying a stroll on land and to sea all that the town had to offer. For a Sunday morning there was an impressive amount of people out-doors to give us a good day in Scoresbysund. Several puppies were also loose, roaming around trying to get some attention, which was not difficult!
Mid day we lifted anchour for the last time in East Greenland and set a course southbound for the Denmark Strait and Iceland...

Alpefjord and Mestersvig

Early this morning the FRAM dropped anchour in the bottom of Alpefjorden. This fjord is a part of the Staunings Alps, a very alpine and mountainous area. Some of the peaks are over 2800 m and the landscape is impressive! We lowered our polarcirkel boats and the passengers got a cruise a long on of the glaciers terminating in the fjord. The glacier actually two glaciers mergin together. The names are the Gully Gletcher and the Sefstrøms Gletcher. The weather was a bit cloudy with light snow showers on the summits. As we sailed out of the fjord and into Segelselskapets fjord the sun broke through the cloud cover and a spectacular rock face with many different layers of rocks in different colours were visible to everyone. 

We dropped anchour in Nyhavn, the harbour facilities of the Mestersvig area at1600 hrs. After landing at the pier with our polarcirkels we were greeted by three of people living at the Danish Naval Guard at Mestersvig. Mestersvig was built when a lead and zinc mine was opened in 1950s‘. They needed a harbour to ship the ore to Europe and an air-field. The mine closed in 1961 but the air-field continued to operate for the people in Scoresbysund. In 1985 the air-field was closed down as Scoresbysund got their own air-field in Constable Pynt. The military then took over the air-field in Mestersvig and has since „guarded“ the air-field with normaly two former members of the SIRIUS patrol, Station Nord or the other branches of the Danish Military.