Greenland – the world’s largest island is part of Denmark along with the Faroe Islands. Few people live in Greenland island because 80% of the island is covered by a permanent ice sheet that is uninhabitable. None of the settlements are linked by road or rail so it’s not easy to get around.
Today was a day of getting all the ducks in line as people joining the expedition straggled into Reykjavik. We loaded into buses and visited the Golden Circle. Stops along our route included Thingvellir National Park, the site of Iceland’s first parliament, where the Eurasia and North American tectonic plates meet as an open fissure. The pathway we walked was boarded over as a deep fissure had opened up underneath the path – one is constantly reminded that this is a land of cracks and deep fissures as well as volcanoes and ice caps.
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| looking out over the rift area - here much of it water filled. |
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| Reykjavik gets its name from these steam vents. Bay of smoke (in fact steam) |
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| It is truly a beautiful gentle country - apart from the violent volcanoes. |
That was all well and good but we were keen to embark for Greenland; again we were traveling on the Greg Mortimer. We had moved to another cabin on a different deck – and were close to the stern of the ship with a marvellous small back deck to watching the world slip by. It was great to see our friends from our last Arctic journey and catch up over drinks. First evening on board we met the Expedition team many of whom had been on the Iceland voyage but we had a new Expedition Leader, Florence Kuyper who has sailed the icy polar regions as well as crossing 1,200 km of Mongolian desert on foot. Then it was time for the Captain’s Welcome Dinner.
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| The soups were always delicious small servings - tasty morsels a perfect size. |
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