GREENLAND - WILD LABRADOR – NEWFOUNDLAND

Finding safety in a Greenland fjord let us explore the shoreline

Voyaging with Adventure Canada on the Clipper Adventurer was a different experience from other ship trips I've done before. The focus was mainly cultural, with many different experience both on and off the ship. On the staff there were folk from Greenland, Labrador, Newfoundland and mainly Canada in general, who were there to give information about the land, and the people of the land, and to guide us on different sites. There were two authors and a painter, several musicians (very proficient) and a Greenlandic woman, Ayju, who seemed to be able to turn her hand to just about anything. There were also 'expedition' staff, whose extensive experience in the Arctic helped with understanding the conditions and maintaining safety, mainly when we were on land eg taking rifles in case of sightings of polar bears and making sure that everyone was kept together.. There were also some experts in geology, Arctic travel and photography.

Some excitement when the glacier calved

There weren't many empty berths, so there were many passengers to be fed, and to be ferried to and from in the zodiacs. I think that there were 125 passengers, so it was impossible to get to know everyone, but there was a lot of camaraderie and fun. There was much entertainment from the staff too, particularly in the evening at the daily 'recap', some of it interesting and informative, and other times ribald humour and hilarity.

I had a lovely cabin-mate Marion, who lives in the NW of Vancouver city, and who I hope to see again before I leave Vancouver for NZ at the end of the month. We didn't live in each other's pockets the whole time, but did enjoy some good tête-à-têtes in our cabin, as well as making the most of the walks in the wild places, some of them quite long and steep.

Glowing autumn colours

Polar bears? Yes, some, but usually quite distant. Some birds, the occasional breaching minke whale and a couple of seals, and that was about it for wildlife. It was fascinating to go ashore and visit little villages, and meet some locals, and see their handwork and the way they have lived for years. The scenery was stunning as you'll see from the pics. The autumn colours on the low lying slopes were vibrant, almost glowing – no longer north of the Arctic circle, but still very constrained in size by the climate. We had to rug up well when we were ashore, but with the right clothing it was all fine – although our first few days were very wet and stormy. So stormy in fact that we holed up at the top end of a fjord for 24 hours before crossing the Davis Strait from Greenland to the very northern tip of Labrador. The whole voyage was dictated by the weather, and there were a couple of destinations that we just couldn't get to, because of a persistent following low pressure system. It got quite rough a couple of times too.

Our final destination was St. John's in Newfoundland, the capital city of Newfoundland and Labrador province. It was a shame to have to part from so many lovely people – after a fortnight you really do get to know some people quite well!

The Vikings landed in northern Newfoundland,
 at l'Anse aux Meadows - this is
 a replica sod dwelling