Awaiting our flight
August 23, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Manchester Airport, at last, and waiting for our flight to Kevlavik Airport in Reykjavik
We’re in the Aspire Lounge and relaxing with a much deserved drink with out breakfast!
Not long now!
Kevlavik - Iceland
August 23, 2019 in Iceland ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
Arrived safe and sound, a quick Customs and now onto TheGrand Hotel, in Reykjavik
On leaving the airport you pass a really novel sculpture called ‘The Jet Nest’ at the entrance to theRead more
Grand Hotel in Reykjavik
August 23, 2019 in Iceland ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
We have arrived at the hotel and we’re in room 1343 but it’s down as P43 !
Fabulous view across Reykjavik and the room lovely with jacuzzi and balcony overlooking the town and harbour
Harpa Concert Hall
August 24, 2019 in Iceland ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
One of Reykjavik’s major landmarks built over 4 years, from 2007 to 2011
It’s truly amazing, inside and out, almost entirely created from glass and mirrored panels...I can see me
Solfar Sun Voyager
August 24, 2019 in Iceland ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
This fabulous sculpture, which looks like a Viking Ship, in the harbour is called The Sun Voyager (Solfar) which is in fact an ode to the sun
Perlan
August 24, 2019 in Iceland ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Preparing for onward trip
August 25, 2019 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 10 °C
Relaxed morning packing up ready for our flight to Kangerlussuaq Airport
Went to Sculpture Museum this morning really interesting but, sadly, not enough time. Lainey’s off now to the Art Museum andRead more
Kevlavik Airport
August 25, 2019 in Iceland ⋅ 🌧 11 °C
Back at the airport again and heading off to Greenland, at last, but where did all these strange and ‘reality challenged’ people come from...surely not American?
Oh, by the way it’s pouring down! 😳
Landed - Kangerlussuaq
August 25, 2019 in Greenland ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
Kangerlussuaq, which means ‘Big Fjord’ is tiny although they do have the military presence here
The buses, for our onward journey to pick up Explorer in Sondrestrom Port, includes an AmericanRead more
National Geographic Explorer
August 25, 2019 in Greenland ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
Arrived at Sondrestrom Port where Explorer is harboured, we have a 5 minute Zodiac ride to reach the ship, thankfully we’ve made it and enjoying a well deserved drink in the lounge...cheersRead more
On our way to Sisimiut
August 26, 2019, Davis Strait ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
Arrived in Sisimuit
August 26, 2019, Davis Strait ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C
17.15 and heading away from Sisimuit after a really interesting day with ‘Birdy’ a really lovely Inuit girl who gave us a tour of the Municipality.
It’s now 17.35 and we’re sailing through aRead more
Crossing Davis Strait
August 27, 2019, North Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C
...and into Baffin Bay very calm but quite a wind chill, we sighted our first iceberg this morning at breakfast and they’re showing up a little more frequently now
We’re entering Nunavut, CanadaRead more
Northern Bottlenose Whales
August 27, 2019, Baffin Bay ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C
Slight detour to close in on these magnificent creatures
Not often seen as they really only spend time on the surface to ‘recover’ after their long dives
Baffin Island
August 28, 2019 in Greenland ⋅ ⛅ -24 °C
Land, our first sight of Baffin Island, although it’s not a first sighting!
We’re back from dinner so missed a ‘first sight’ but earlier, during dinner, we saw icebergs drifting down fromRead more
Into Eclipse Sound
August 28, 2019, Northwest Passage ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C
Leaving Baffin Bay behind and heading into Eclipse Sound with Cape Graham Moore on our right, Cape MacCulloch to our left and Pond Inlet our destination ahead
The scenery is dramatic indeed withRead more
Arrival in Pond Inlet
August 28, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
We have arrived, officially, in Canada (Pond Inlet) and theres the usual Customs to be gone through but, thankfully, that doesn’t involve individual attendance
Mittimatalik in Inuktitut meansRead more
Heading North
August 29, 2019, Northwest Passage ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C
...toward Lancaster Sound
The cloud formations are amazing and there are three glaciers edging into the Sound along this stretch alone
Lancaster Sound
August 29, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ -2 °C
We sail West in Lancaster Sound (Tallurutiup Imanga), the weather is clear for about 50m then surrounded by mist so everything is a uniform grey with fine snow driven horizontally
And now, our firstRead more
Signs of Ice and Snow
August 29, 2019, Northwest Passage ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C
There’s certainly a nip in the air and the ice floes are getting more frequent, Seals have been spotted, as well as another expedition ship ahead, but nothing more so far. We’ll be entering a bitRead more
Here Be Bears...
August 29, 2019, Northwest Passage ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C
Mother and Cub out on the ice we crept up on them but they were quite far into the ice about 15 minutes later a Male Polar Bear was spotted paws down so we swept starboard toward him then he decidedRead more
Barrow Strait...
August 30, 2019, Northwest Passage ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
Sadly, this is the point where we turn away from Cornwallis Island, and Somerset Island, in the Barrow Strait, and head towards Terror Bay and Beechey Island, which we can see in the distance
It hasRead more
Entering Erebus and Terror Bay
August 30, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
Off Devon Island
August 30, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 3 °C
Leaving Terror Bay we hugged the coast heading West to Bradstock Bay
The fossil collected is some 400,000,000 years (400 million) moved by teutonic plate from a warm tropical sea to this ArcticRead more
Dundas Harbour
August 31, 2019 in Canada ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C
Site of an archeological Thule Dwelling at Morin Point which was hard to decipher, even with Linda’s guidance
After that we boarded the Zodiacs again to ? and walked over to Johnson Bay the site ofRead more