13.09.14 Aalborghus DAY 10

Today we had a landing in Aalborghus. A former Danish trappers’ station at Gefion Havn on the south side of Godfred Hansen Ø. The first building erected on the site was a trappers hut built in 1933. But when a trapper team of two arrived in august 1938 they build a hut in three days. The name Aalborghus was given as the house was built with funds raised in Aalborg and Nørresund, by a company called Nanok. 

The station was then manned in from 1938-41 and 1945-52, were also a shed was built.

We had snow on the landing site. Winter has arrived in Northeast Greenland! It was windy and cold, but that did not stop the passengers in going out. A few people were sliding around on the icy areas on the site, but most people seemed to enjoy themselves and even though kayaking was cancelled, hiking and ice cruising was still on and that was a succes!   

During the evening the crew did karaoke in the observation lounge and with a little persuasion from Aka (one of the Greenlanders on board) a few passengers decided to sing and dance! Well well, let us say goodnight, and see you again tomorrow.

12.09.14 Dødmannsbukta / Daneborg DAY 9

In Dødemandsbugten at Clavering Ø we made a landing in the morning. Back in 1943 a station was built for the North-East Sledge Patrol (Sirius Patrol). In 1950 the station was moved to Daneborg. There is only one modernised cabin left in the former station. Just behind the cabin we saw old inuit-ruins and graves. Last time the Inuit were seen alive in North-East Greenland was back in the 1820th by Clavering

In the late afternoon the Fram anchored up in front of Daneborg, which is the headquarter of the Danish Sirius Patrol.

12 people, 6 dogsledges and 90 dogs patrolling 2000 km in one of the worlds most remote areas. The young men in the Patrol must be built out of something special. Imagine to be in these remote areas for two years only with one visit on Iceland for six days to see the dentist.

The members of the Sirius Patrol guided us through the station area. Told us about being a part of the Sirius Patrol. We met their big, but friendly dogs and the sweet puppies running around among the passengers. 

 
 

11.09.14 Myggbukta DAY 8

During the night the Fram took us through Nordfjorden and anchored up in front of the amazing Walterhausen Glacier. The glacier is connected to the Inland ice. The front is 12 kilometer wide and is up to 20 meter high. We had breakfast and left in the morning heading for the former Norwegian weatherstation Myggbukta.

Myggbukta was the first station to send wireless weatherforecasts from Greenland to the world outside.

Myggbukta is now used as cabin for the Danish Siriuspatrol.

Again we were met by several muskoxen. The expeditionteam went ashore, made a landing on the beach and opened the cabin. A hike group went up-hill and did a medium hike in the area.

Those passengers that went up-hill saw muskoxen and polar hares in the hills just behind the cabin. 

10.09.14 Ella Ø / Blomsterbukta DAY 7

In the most beautiful weather we arrived the station at Ella Ø early in the morning.

We were met by a muskox standing on the bridge between the red bulidings.

Ella Ø is placed in some of the North-Eastgreenlands most magnificent and breathtaking surroundings. The islands landmark ”Bastionen” is a vertical cliff that raises 1367 meters above the Kong Oscar Fiord.

After landing at the beach we visited the mainbuilding and continued hiking trough the station area (the muskox had left) and followed the ridges around the lake  - just above the station. At the westside of the lake four muskoxen showed up. A great opportunity to take good photoshots. In the lake the red-throated divers did not seem to be disturbed by the visitors.

 

In the afternoon we continued to Blomsterbugten at Ymer Ø. A hut ”Varghytten” was placed here back in 1929. ”Varg” means wolf in Scandinavian.  We sended a large group of hikers ahead. Just like at Ella Ø several muskoxen showed up, but the expedition team guided us through the area safe.

The kayakers went out padling along the shore.

In the night the Northern light gave us a show with its beautiful curtains.

09.09.14 Mestersvig / Alpefjord DAY 6

Today we visited two places, Alpefjord and Mestersvig. Mestersvig/Nyhavn is an airfield and a old mining town from the 1950s’ and 60’. This was more or less a ”normal landing” with kajakking haking and just enjoying the landscape and wildlife. 

Some were lucky and spotted musk oxen and some saw the snow hare and most of us saw tracks of a BIG polar bear. There has been two resent visits from polar bear in Mestersvik.

In the afternoon we sailed in to Alpefjord, a narrow fjord sorrounded by mountains over 2000 meters high. In the end two gaciers meet and goes all the way down to the water. Its not easy to go on land, so we go out in the ”polar circle boats” and cruice for a while. We went close to the icebergs, drove along  the 20 meter high wall of ice and we even saw some bearded seals relaxing on a piece of glacer ice.

When we woke up the weather not god, it was foggy, rainy and cold. Just as we set foot in Mestervig we saw the sun, and after that it just got better. 

08.09.14 Ittoqqortoormiit (Scoresbysund) DAY 5

Finally we came to Greenland, and the crossing could not be smoother, and we were met by icebergs, sun and the biggest fjord in the world. 

In north east Greenland there is no harbors, which means we have to do “wet landings.” 

Scoresbysund is also a settlement, the second biggest in east Greenland and the Greenlandic name is Ittoqqortoormiit. 

This is the village where Martin on the expedition team lived for 9 years, working as a professional hunter. 

Now there is about 450 people living there. They were expecting us and had prepared an “open town” for us. We could visit the church, museum, local grocery store, buy souvenirs and meet some of the local dogs. 

It was very interesting to 

see how people live this far north, isolated from the rest of the world. 

The sun was shining from a blue sky, almost no wind, but nothing to ruin our day! A Great first day in Greenland!

07.09 Ísafjörður DAY 4

After spending the night in the harbor of Ísafjörður, with the first northern lights of the season we had a day packed with activities. 

Today we could choose between horseback riding, hiking to the famous troll’s throne and a guided bus trip to a nearby fishing village.

I was on the excursion to Suðureyri (fishing village.) They claim to be the most sustainable fishery in Iceland and also have a lot of interesting history. The trip is called savour the flavour, so it involved tasting of different fish dishes. The most interesting was maybe the “hard-fish,” dried in the wind for 6 weeks and nothing else. You need a hammer to soften in up to make it eatable and also surprisingly tasty, and believed to be the reason for the high life expectancy in the area of 95-107 years.  

    

We left Iceland at 16.00. and started a 24 hour crossing over the notorious Denmark-strait to Greenland and Scoresbysund. The rest of the day was spent on the ship, with lectures and the spectacular fashion show performed by the expedition team. 

Flateyri 06.09 DAY 3

For the first time in a while we actually had some sun! We started our day in the small town Flateyri, close to Ísafjörður. It was windy… But for some reason it was only really windy at the pier next to Fram. About an hour after we arrived we got to see the sun. This meant no rain and no fog! So you could also see the mountains. Amazing scenery.

 

We started an excursion going to see the fjords and flowers. A bus ride with several small stops around the area. The guests got to see the Botanical Garden and really enjoyed themselves Other than that, we also had a hike where guests did not have to sign up. This was also a success. Walking around in the beautiful nature… I mean, how bad can that be? And then in sunshine as well!

We left Flateyri in the afternoon and went on to a small Island called Vigur. Here we were going to look for Eider Ducks… But instead we got to see whales! The entire front of the ship was filled with blue jackets, cameras all pointed the same way and we just enjoyed it while the whales were playing around in front of Fram.

In the evening we arrived in Ísafjörður and some guests went out exploring the city by night. Because now it actually gets dark again, this is nice… Fram doesn’t get to see a lot of darkness during this season, because of the midnight sun.   

Grundarfjordur 05.09 DAY 2

Today we started the day in Grundarfjordur, a really nice small town. Most passengers went out on different excursions, one of them started early; at 8:30 we took off to Snæfellsnes.

Great scenery, beautiful nature and a lot of smaller stops during the 5 hour long trip. The weather was okay up until the afternoon, rain started pouring from the sky and the wind was a little harsh. We all wished for sun at that moment.

The other excursion to the Shark farm went smoothly as well and again passengers enjoyed their time.

In the afternoon we also had a hike, but because of the wind and the rain it was a bit harder than expected. Especially up hill. But everyone on it survived and came back on the ship in time. Then we went on our way again, now we are heading to Isafjordur, so goodnight for now, see you again tomorrow!

Reykjavik 04.09 DAY 15 & DAY 1

We had a very quiet night, let’s just say that everyone could feel they were going home early the next morning… The bar was empty, no one in the gym, no people sitting in reception, none in the Jacuzzi… It almost felt like our dear passengers had already left!

At breakfast the passengers started their goodbyes to the crew and us in the expedition team, we then had to tell them that we would be waving them goodbye outside ten minutes later. A smile then appeared on their faces. This was nice to see.

Outside we went, we shook hands and when the busses took off, we stood there waving… Goodbye is always a little sad, but we had new passengers coming on board that afternoon and we had to prepare everything for them. Around 15.30 passengers started arriving; we handed out their blue jackets. (Fram passengers always wear these by the way) 

Dinner was served in the evening and we also had the mandatory safety drill.

In the late evening the captain welcomed the new passengers in the Panorama lounge, a speech, a toast, presentations of all officers, other staff, expedition team and the hotel manager gave out important information. During the night we experienced northern lights for the first time this trip.

Only a few passengers were awake to see it, though it was not strong and did not fill the entire sky, we saw it! It was there and it was green! So now we say goodnight and see you again tomorrow!

Day 14, 03.09, Grundarfjörður

Today we were in Grundarfjörður, a very beautiful small Icelandic town. We also had some very nice weather here… For the first time since we came to Iceland actually. Most passengers went out on excursions today, only a few stayed on board, so the ship was quiet. We had an excursion in the morning, watching and walking in the beautiful Icelandic nature with waterfalls, animal life and so on. In the afternoon we had some passengers going to a shark farm. This was also a very interesting excursion with some very…. Let’s say interesting food tasting…

We also had a very good lecture by Steffen. He told us about the “Volcanoes of the World.” This was very appropriate since Iceland is having some problems with the volcano Bardarbunga. On Fram we have also feared this thing a bit… What would happen if it would melt the glacier on top of it and create a huge ash cloud like in 2011? This would mean no passengers – no changing in staff – no work?? We are crossing our fingers that it will not affect us!

We had an auction in the late afternoon, when all passengers were onboard again. This went extremely well. Two items were up for auction and believe it or not… One passenger bought both items! The money will go to an association helping Greenlandic children, so we are very pleased with this. After the first dinner seating we had our Captains Farewell in the panorama lounge. A speech, a toast and a song. Now we are preparing for the big goodbye in the morning in Reykjavik. So goodnight to our blog followers out there!   

Day 13, 02.09, Flateyri

Fram arrived Flateyri as most of us ate breakfast. The village is situated in Iceland’s Westfjords. With a population of approximately 237, it is the largest settlement in Önundarfjördur. The town has been trading post since 1792, and temporarily became a major whaling center in the 19^th century. In 1995 an avalanche hit the village, destroying 29 homes and killing 20 people. Since then a deflecting dam has been built to protect the village from any further avalanches. In the 1990s, Flateyri prospered as a fishing village and after recession hit its main fishing companies shut down and many people left.

Some left for an excursion, Fjords and Flowers, already in the morning, while the rest of the guests used there day on hiking or enjoying the town. As the weather got better more and more people strolled around town to go to the coffee shop, Non Sense museum, an peculiar old bookshop/museum, an small expedition about the town and finally an outlook point on the deflecting dam.

Steffen and Tessa also offered great lectures about Volcanos (German) and Expeditions (English).

We finished of the night with a bar quiz up at deck 7, with Steffen playing the piano. It was an even thigh between the teams, but we finally managed to find the evenings winner =) 

Day 12, 01.09, Ísafjörður

After a rough night with a lot of waves we woke up to calmer seas and land it sight. We had reached the north west coast of Island. As we had not yet reached our final destination of the day, we started the day with a nice breakfast and four lectures.

At 12 o’clock we reached the port of Ísafjörður (ice fjord in Iceland), the largest town in the peninsula of Vestfirðir with its 4000 inhabitants. We had almost twelve hours to be able to see the town, buy souvenirs, go to the museum, go hiking, taste the flavors of Island and to ride on the famous Islandic horses. It was a great first day on Island.

Today the crew had made Philipin food for us and they finished of the night with a spectacular show at the bar. The show made us sing, dance (even if it was only in the chair) and laugh a lot. Thank you for that =) As the show  finished, so did our stay in Ísafjörður. As we all went to bed the ship sailed of to our next destination: Flateyri.

Day 11, 31.08, Scoresbysund and heading for Iceland

Early this morning we suddenly got a new signal on our cell phones. It said Tele Greenland. This could only mean one thing… We were very close to the only town in Greenland we were going to visit. Scoresbysund (Ittoqqortoormiit). This is considered one of the most isolated places in Greenland, with 450 people living there. This small town is for many not even considered a town, more like a tribe of people. But in Greenland it is real, it is not a tribe. We got a program and map delivered by the landing site and after that we went out to explore – even though it was a bit windy and rainy, it did not stop anyone. It was nice to see people again, visit the stores, being able to buy souvenirs for once, seeing the East Greenlandic nationalsuit, the church… Well. It was a good landing.

At noon we departed Ittoqqortoormiit heading for Iceland and the afternoon was spent on lectures in both English and German. This was nice, the Denmark Strait was still pretty calm. But around dinner time the storm hit us. Between 20-30 m/s and waves between 4-6 meters high. A quiz was arranged in the panorama lounge, but this we had to cancel due to lack of guests (And staff for that matter). Seasickness took over most of the ship late evening and it was extremely quiet in the hallways.