Nature's Gallery

Painted Gold, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Slowly we glide through a living art gallery
the work of Mother Nature
Sky and sea seamlessly meeting
on the glassy waters
An impressionist painting by Monet

Sailing past the sculpture garden
with icy creations crafted by Henry Moore
Chiselled and smoothed into a myriad of forms
Constantly changing as they travel in the currents

A Japanese print hung behind the ship
The moon peered down on dark water
Ice floes instead of white caps
The sky painted with pastels

Now I know that Lauren Harris
Painted what I saw
Polished towers of ice
Sculpted by the ocean waters

The golden yellow sun
Drenched the hills on Devon Island
A surreal landscape by Dali
The moon hung overhead



The light paints this open canvas
With an Arctic palette
Ever changing
Ephemeral art of the moment.

Adventure Canada trip July 23 - Aug 2, 2010
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Iceberg near Bylot Island

Iceberg near Bylot Island, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Adventure Canada trip: July 23 - August 2

Icebergs

Icebergs loom
Glistening castles of the sea
Mountains meandering
along the currents

Woken from a long sleep on the land
Pushed from the ice field
With cracks and splashes
Set free to roam

What voyages lie ahead
As they bob and roll and twist
Breaking reshaping
Lapped by the waters

Light and shadows
Dance on their walls
Exquisite moments
Up Iceberg Alley

The icebergs calve from the glacier at Ilulisaat and slowly free themselves from the sea floor to start their journey through Disco Bay. They then catch the current up the coast of Greenland, swing across to Baffin Island and then catch the current south to Newfoundland and Labrador. It takes about three years during which they are constrantly resculpted by the sun the wind, by storms and by their rolling as their shapes change. By the time they reach Newfoundland they are considerably smaller.

As we sailed up the coast we passed iceberg after iceberg – each a marvel – a trip past a sculpture garden fashioned by Mother Nature. Iceberg Alley. Off Baffin Island we saw fewer icebergs, but each was a spectacular treat – sometimes looming mysteriously through mist, other times catching the sunshine. As the light changed so did the icebergs – a magical transformation

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New Icebergs

New Icebergs, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Adventure Canada trip July 23 - August 2

Ilulisaat

A walk around town - it felt deserted at 8:30 on a Sunday morning. We went into a gift shop but goods are very expensive – they had hats made of muskox wool that were hundreds of dollars. It is the softest wool I have ever felt – softer than angora.

Ilulisaat

At 10:00 we joined the hiking group – through town, past an area with many dogs tied up, some with puppies. There were sleds scattered around as well. Uphill some more and past a camp ground.

By now we were on a long boardwalk over terrain that was at times boggy and at times dry – with the same cushiony grass. We turned a corner and saw huge icebergs in the bay framed by hills with a grassy meadow leading up to it. Incredible! This is where the icebergs start – calving from the large glacier.

We saw more evidence of sod houses and were told that in a nearby bay people had lived in sod houses until the early 20th century.

We hiked up a rocky hill and were able to look over the edge of the glacier from which the icebergs calve. A hike back the way we came and then onto the ship where we ate our bag lunch on the deck.

Then onto the zodiacs for a trip through the icebergs – awe inspiring – no words as we slowly floated by ice towers shining in the brilliant sun.

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Day 199: Twillingate Icebergs

Day 199: Twillingate Icebergs, originally uploaded by susanvg.

As we drove to Twillingate the outside temperature kept dropping. A cold damp wind greeted us as we got out of the car. Too windy for boats to go out and see the icebergs, but there were icebergs in the cove. Apparently a strong storm the week before had driven a large iceberg into French cove and it was slowly breaking up. The wind was gusting up to 50 km per hour. We drove up to the Durrell Museum to get a view of the cove and the icebergs and after supper went down to French cove. Just in that time the change in the pieces was dramatic. Large chunks had broken off and now floated in the cove as separate bergs. I learned that icebergs come from glaciers that were formed over 10000 years ago. It was fascinating to see bright blue streaks in the ice – created by meltwater that thawed and refroze and seeped into cracks in the glacier.

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