Ilulissat & Uummannaq: icebergs galore, whales & heli rides

It’s been a wonderfully busy couple of days with amazing sites and activities – hence a longish post.

I woke early on Thursday, saw the sun shining, and headed straight to the bow. The sun was still low in the almost clear sky, and small white icebergs dotted the water as we sailed towards Ilulissat. They appeared to form a ring as they hugged the coast ahead and on either side of us.

The low light and dotted clouds made photography great fun. The bow is rapidly becoming a meeting place for 4 or 5 photographers (probably more will come) who enjoy the early morning light, particularly while the weather is so nice and seas very calm.

After breakfast, our group of 12 people (groups are used to manage loading onto zodiacs & helicopters) headed away from the ship to zodiac amongst the icebergs. The glacier at Ilulissat is one of the largest producers of icebergs in the world, so there were plenty to be seen. Large, small, smooth and heavily textured icebergs were all around us. Cameras were clicking, videos “whirring” & from time to time we were crunching across a slurry of crushed ice that was flowing away from various icebergs. The textures of the icebergs really grabbed my attention – more black & white photos are underway!

Just as we were starting to make our way into a different area, we heard that another zodiac had spotted 3 humpback whales – fantastic! Over we went, keeping our distance as they swam, shallow dived, and blew – one had a nasty looking wound on its back, probably the result of a ship strike. While it’s always a joy to see humpbacks, seeing them injured like this is not so nice – but they provided a wonderful welcome to this part of the Arctic!

During the afternoon we took the zodiacs into the very busy Ilulissat fishing port so that we could walk to see the Ilulissat glacial front. Unfortunately, the planning unravelled a little from there. After a long 45 min walk up and down the town’s steep hills (it was supposed be much shorter), we reached the boardwalk that would take us to the view. Given that this would be another 2.5km round trip, I opted for a shorter walk, and managed to get a good view of this massive glacier across the beautiful Arctic tundra.

By evening we were all tired, tired, tired! But before bed there were welcome drinks from the crew (gluhwein on the fly bridge), where we chatted with passengers & crew as the sun slowly set. It was a wonderful end to a long day – and time for a very good night’s sleep.

This morning the sky was bright at around 3:30am – in fact I woke up (very briefly) thinking it was around 6am. Soon it was – and what magnificent morning light we enjoyed on the bow– just beautiful!

By now the unprocessed photo count was getting high and we had two excursions planned. I opted to go into Uummannaq for the morning and to then stay on board through the afternoon so I could get up to date. Uummannaq is a lovely little town with a small port and a smallish population. It is on an island with two large peaks, and with a nearby very small island where there dogs are kept – they won’t swim across the cold water. It was so nice wandering around chatting to locals, fielding questions from tourists from a German cruise ship who were curious about our ship (as you know it doesn’t look very pretty), and taking pics from time to time.

And this afternoon I did manage to work through 500 or so photos, culling them by half. Now I need to practice looking, waiting and taking the photos I really want, twice maybe, but not 4 or more times!

But then …… over the Captain’s welcome cocktail party this evening, and as we headed towards the Store Glacier, Cheli, our Expedition Leader, told us that they were hoping to have a surprise in store. Our group (#2) & group 3 were told to have dinner in one section of the dining room so that we could be served first. We wondered if maybe, just maybe they were planning helicopter flights over the glacier?

Yes indeed!! At around 8pm we were in the first heli to take to the sky on this trip. What a treat! As for thinking about what to shoot before taking the photo, well, that one went away even before we lifted off!

Amazing, amazing – we flew low across the front of the glacier, seeing the tall “spires” of ice. We flew high so that we could see the immensity of the glacier, and its surrounds. And after about 15 minutes or so, we were heading back to the ship, watching flocks of birds taking off from the water far below us. I haven’t even looked at the number of photos I took – that will wait until tomorrow!

Tomorrow is a “sea day” as we head north. We’ll have lectures from our glaciologist, Colin, and our ornithologist, Fabrice – lots of good information. And in the afternoon Chris Hadfield will tell us about his Generator show, and will introduce his team!

For now it's time for bed, and as we make our way back amongst the icebergs being shed by the glacier, we have the familiar sound and feel of the KK pushing them away from our path!