Monday 1 September 2014

Day 5, 25.08, Danmarkshavn and Hvalrossodden

This morning we finally reached land. But unfortunately the fog and rain from the previous sea days had followed us, and this was the weather we met on our first landing in Danmarkshavn. It was set up in 1948 and has between 5-10 workers today. This place is also visited by the Sirius Patrol and the passengers went to the trappers hut Danmarks Minde. Though it was a bit cold, rainy and foggy most of the passengers were very excited to away from the ship again. We flagged a route for them to follow throughout the place and they went on their own small adventures. Since Danmarkshavn is used as a weather station today, we also watched the weather balloon being sent on its way. Some of the biggest attractions today was of course the trappers hut, but also the three Greenlandic dogs moved to the station from Ittoqqortoormiit (Scoresbysund). Very friendly and they even came down to the landing sight to great the passengers. A little past noon we went on our way again and next stop was Hvalrosodden in the afternoon. This time Greenland showed herself from a much better point of view as the weather had cleared up.

A beautiful sandy beach in the middle of… Well, pretty much nowhere? Hvalrossodden is a former Danish trapper station built in 1920. It was used for this purpose until the 1960’s. Today it is being maintained by the Sirius Patrol. Smaller icebergs had been stranded here because of the tide, so they were very popular amongst the passengers. So was the variety of different colored rocks and the huts nearby the beach. Not everyone went out this time, but that is also understandable. You get a lot of fresh air. Especially up here in the north where there was fresh new snow on all the mountaintops and a steady breeze from the water.