Voyage of the Vikings Cruise - Cruise Day 8 – Qaqortoq, Greenland

Val opted to get up before 8:00 this morning as she wanted to watch us arrive in Greenland, but I didn’t sleep very well so I stayed in bed until 9:00. We couldn't leave the ship until they announced the ship had been cleared by the local authorities, which is the way it works at every port.  We hung around the room for a while and then finally the announcement came that we could leave the ship and we were off to the tenders as this was a tender port.

We saw more icebergs as we sailed into Qaqortoq.

 

Our first look at the town of Qaqortoq.

 

As we came into Qaqortoq, Val and I looked at each other and couldn’t believe we were actually in Greenland – it’s a place we never thought we’d get a chance to visit.  The temperature was in the 50’s, but it was sunny and clear and felt very comfortable.  Greenland is the largest island in the world and is considered part of North America.  It covers 836,000 square miles and has a population of only 56,500.  It is mostly uninhabited in the north and the interior, and is mostly covered in ice. In fact, it is second only to Antarctica in the size of its ice sheet.  Qaqortoq is the largest town in Greenland with a population of just over 3,000.  Although Greenland is self-ruled, it is actually part of Denmark and the currency is Danish kroners.

Qaqortoq is mostly rocky and hilly, only the area around the harbor is flat.  Homes dotted the hillsides and were painted in very bright colors.  There is not much to do in town so we wandered around for a while exploring the town.  

Those are fish drying, not clothes.

 

Can you pronounce the street name?  You may have to enlarge it to read.

 

This seemed like a handy way to dry your clothes without having to leave your house, especially in the winter.

We found the people to be very friendly, and they even let some of the school children out to see what was going on in town.

Val bought this drawing done by this lady's father who was in the hospital.

 

We visited the local museum and bought some postcards to send home and then located the post office to buy some stamps and send our cards.  Unfortunately, Val had left an address on the ship so we couldn’t send one of the cards.  We decided to return to the ship, eat and then catch the tender back and mail our last card.  There are only two places to eat in Qaqortoq and we only found one of them so it seemed easier just to eat on the ship.

Val writing postcards behind the museum.

 

 Qaqortoq in known for its rock sculptures and carvings.

After lunch it was back to shore to mail our postcard and then we spent some more time exploring the town.

On our way to the post office.

 

Finally by late-afternoon we had seen as much as we could see and returned to the ship.  Today has turned out to be a perfect day with beautiful weather and a fascinating place to visit, what a wonderful place Greenland is.

A couple of last looks at Qaqortoq as we sail away.

 

We spent the time before dinner relaxing and I downloaded the many pictures we took today.  We have added a trip to the Crow’s Nest for our unleaded margaritas and appetizers to our evening routine.  After our drinks, it was off to our usual dinner and casino before calling it a day, but it didn’t feel like the end of the day as it was still light outside.  The days have been getting longer and longer as we have sailed north with sunset today around 10:00 PM and sunrise tomorrow being at 4:00 AM.  It never really does get totally dark and looks like twilight all night long.  Tomorrow will be a sea day, but we will be cruising Prince Christian Sund which is supposed to be very beautiful.

Voyage of the Vikings Cruise - Cruise Day 7: At Sea

Although we look forward to the ports, we have had four in the first five days so sea days are a welcome change to let us recharge our batteries.  We slept in this morning and then had our usual breakfast at the Neptune Lounge.  By the time we ate and got things together it was time for a port talk on Greenland and Iceland by the location guide Barbara so we made our way to the showroom.

The talk was very interesting and we are really looking forward to our visit to Greenland tomorrow.  When the talk ended it was time for lunch so we were off to the Lido.  Val had her trivia today so after lunch she was off to the Crow’s Nest and I returned to our room to prepare some photos for the blog.  At 2:00 we had a Cruise Critic Roll Call event called a cabin crawl.  A cabin crawl is where various people volunteer to open up their cabins and allow other roll call members to look at them.  It was organized so that groups of five or six would leave at different intervals and visit the various cabins.  This is an opportunity to visit the various cabin types that people may not have seen.  Val and I got to see an inside cabin, an ocean view cabin and a verandah cabin, which are types we have never seen.  Every cabin type was represented so we know now what to expect if we ever book another type.

That took almost an hour and by then it was type for a presentation on Iceland by one of the guest lecturers.  It was very interesting and gave us a lot more insight on the geology, the history, the people and the politics of Iceland.  After the lecture it was 4:00 and we returned to our cabin to relax a bit.  I went back to work on the photos and Val watched a movie until she got bored and took a walk around the ship.

It was getting near time for dinner so Val and I decided to go up to the Crow’s Nest and have a couple of unleaded margaritas.  We couldn’t see very much as it was very foggy, but it was quiet so we sat and relaxed until dinnertime.  We had a good dinner and conversation with Ken and Mary Beth and then ended the night as usual in the casino.  Tomorrow we will be in Greenland, but we don’t arrive until 10:00 so we don’t have to get up early.

Voyage of the Vikings Cruise - Cruise Day 6: Red Bay, Labrador

We had to be up early this morning to catch an early excursion so the alarm went off at 6:20 which seemed way too early.  We got dressed, had our usual quick breakfast in the Neptune Lounge and then headed to the showroom to wait to be called for our excursion.  Red Bay is a tender port so that always slows things down, but this morning things went quickly and we were off the ship, into the tender and onto the bus before 8:00 AM.

We cruise into Red Bay in the early morning.

Our excursion today was a coastal drive through Labrador that would end at the Quebec border.  The weather was cloudy, but there were patches of blue sky, although it was pretty cold, especially when the wind blew.  Our guide was a local woman who had lived here all her life and we gained a real feel for life in this remote area.  Labrador is 113,000 square miles in size, but only has a population of 29,000.  The population of Red Bay is only 600 and all of the towns we visited today had populations that number in the 10’s or 100’s.  As we have traveled north, the places we have visited are becoming more and more remote.  When the people in the area need to shop or visit the “big city”, they take the ferry to Corner Brook.

Pictures from the bus.

 

Our tour was quite interesting and we visited some scenic sites and some museums.  Most of the towns and villages rely on fishing to make a living, but there is a new hydro-electric project which has provided new jobs, but doesn’t seem to be very popular with the locals.  In one small town we stopped at, Val and I were walking around and met an older gentleman named Barney who told us he had lived in this town for all of his 78 years.  He had a thick accent and was pretty hard to understand, but we had a very interesting conversation with him and really enjoyed meeting him.  When Val asked him if he liked living here he said, "I belong here".  I don't think the thought of leaving had ever entered his mind.

Val and Barney

The bus took us all the way to the Quebec border where we posed for pictures in front of the welcoming sign.

This area is known as the Gateway to Labrador so we stopped at the visitor's center and explored the area for a little while.

The visitor's center is an old church.

 

This is an old vehicle that they used to drive people around in Banff and Jasper National Parks.

 

Lunch was included with our tour and we didn’t expect much as most meals on excursions are pretty ordinary, but today’s was excellent.  It was served at a local restaurant and had a real Labradorian flavor to it.
 

Not much to look at, but the food was excellent.

 

After lunch it was time to head back towards Red Bay where we would visit a whaling museum and a local history museum.  

Val got a picture of the Rotterdam anchored in the bay as we returned to Red Bay.

After visiting the whaling museum, Val and I decided to forgo the last museum and walk the rest of the way back to the dock and take some pictures of Red Bay.

The town of Red Bay.

 

The ship was sailing at 3:00 so we caught the tender at 2:00 and headed back to the ship.  Today’s excursion turned out to be a good one.  It’s always a little frustrating being on a bus and seeing many places you’d like to stop go by, but that’s the nature of the limited time that is available on an excursion.

The Rotterdam from the tender as we returned to the ship.

The tender is just about to dock alongside the ship.

As the ship sailed away from Red Bay and towards Greenland we began to see icebergs off in the distance.  They weren’t huge, but they were definitely icebergs.  It was very scenic cruising until the fog set in and then there was no more view of icebergs or the shoreline; hopefully the ship’s radar does a good job of spotting icebergs.

We say goodbye to Red Bay as we sail away.

Our first iceberg sighting.

I spent the rest of the afternoon downloading our pictures.  We also went to the Neptune Lounge and got an afternoon snack which we didn’t need, but the temptation is hard to resist.  Later we regretted that snack as we didn’t really feel hungry so we decided to skip dinner in the dining room tonight and just get a snack in the Lido.  We did wander up to the Crow’s Nest for a couple of our favorite onboard drinks, an unleaded (non-alcoholic) margarita.  After our drinks we paid an early visit to the casino and then called it a night.  We were very tired from our early morning so we were both looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow as it is a sea day.