We are taken by bus to the harbour, and there, sure enough, M/S Tugdlik is waiting for us, as well as the students who have been here for a week. They are tanned and happy and very talkative. Some of them have walked to the ice cap and camped there. Very cold it was, but quite fantastic. Some of the girls have bought seal skin mittens (at 375 kroner) which they exhibit - they are lovely.

The time is now 9.30 , and we are crossing the Bay of Disko to Qeqertarssuaq. Right away, we come across lots of icebergs of all possible shapes and sizes. Personally, it is the first time I've seen anything like it. The water is filled with gigantic drifting icebergs. Floating crystal palaces, one more beautiful than the other, it's difficult to describe. The ship is rolling, and everybody is taking photographs and exclaiming "Oh" and "Look at that". We marvel, and cannot stop looking. A fairy tale in white.

The trip takes 6 to 7 hours, and it's cold. Some people have gone downstairs to sleep on the seats in the saloon. But it's still light outside. The midnight sun has stopped shining, but it's far from dark. I just stand and look.

At 4 the next morning we arrive in the harbour of Qeqertarssuaq, very tired. We have been "cheated" of 4 hours, in Denmark, the time is now 8 am.

At the quayside, a living rock is waiting for us, that is, the master of the Arctic Station, Leif Skytte. A tall, kind, blue-eyed Greenlander, a man of few words, as time will show. Leif loads our bags into the four-wheel drive truck, and Arne commands the KNI car to take the rest of our luggage.Then we troop in a body through the sleeping town to our quarters: the youth hostel NAJA (6 persons), the Arctic Station (20 persons), the Ionosphere Station (19 persons). Marianne Kirkegaard is at the youth hostel SIORARSUIT.

It's straight to bed for all of us.

Next picture:Qeqertarssuaq 

---

Back to Logbook Index