Purple Saxifrage

Purple Saxifrage, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Adventure Canada trip July 23 - August 2 / Purple Saxifrage is the flower of Nunavut

Arctic Flowers

Brilliant colours
On a barren landscape
Ever sparser
As we travel north

Tenacious growth
In harsh conditions
On rocks
and sandy soil

Adaptation
to defy defeat
They clump together
holding warmth

Bathing in the midnight sun
Of the short summer months
Slowly they spread
Year after year after year

Time moves differently
in the north
Tiny trees are decades old
Growth is gradual

Arctic Flowers
of evey hue
persistent,
tiny surprises



Growth in the Arctic is slow. Plants find ways to adapt to the harsh conditions, finding micro-climates in the shelter of a rock, growing in clumps to preserve warmth, having small leaves and leaving the growing energy for the flowers. Some flowers have hairy leaves and stems to keep warm; some take more than one year to flower.

In most of the Arctic there is little precipitation, a short period of light, permafrost and poor soil. As bacteria doesn't survive easily, decomposition can take seven years. The farther north, the longer it takes. Lichens take hold on some rocks – black, bright orange, green.



Despite the harsh conditions there are beautiful flowers – small but bright.
For more photographs: click here

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

More photos: click here

Clipper Adventurer

Clipper Adventurer, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Adventure Canada and the Clipper Adventurer

Our trip was run by Adventure Canada. They do a great job of organizing and providing experts who greatly enhance the trip. Our leader had to be flexible as ice conditions, winds and other obstacles sometimes precipitated changes in plans. Instead of going to Clyde Inlet we went to Qikiqtarjuak. When we couldn't land in one bay, we continued to the next. On our ship we had a geologist, archeologist, environmental scientist, an Inuit artist, an expert in Inuit art, a film maker whose film on birdlife was shown, a team of interns from Nunatsiavut (the Inuit part of Newfoundland and Labrador). So much to learn. Walking on the tundra, we learned about Inuit history, the plant and animal life, life of today's Inuit...

Our ship, the Clipper Adventurer, has a hull built for ice conditions. As our captain picked his course through sea ice, which at times was quite a challenge, we heard grinding and crashing when we hit the edge. At first unnerving, it just became part of the sounds of our environment. The ship would occasionally shudder when we hit a thicker piece, but we sailed on safely, as times seeming to inch through. We had mostly calm seas, though crossing the Davis Straight sent many of us for motion sickness medication, and even then we spent most of one evening prone. But we woke to calm seas and incredible scenery.

The food on the ship was wonderful, as was the staff. We were sometimes offered fresh fish, picked up in the villages we stopped at. Arctic char does not get much better than this. We also had reindeer, muskox and fish from Greenland. And there is nothing like hot chocolate laced with Bailey's served on the beach on Baffin Island after a hike.

Our daily outings on the zodiacs, sometimes to shore, sometimes to see what the sea had to offer – close views of bird colonies on the cliffs of Bylot Island, searches for marine wildlife, and of course, our trip among the icebergs. So much now to assimilate.

More photos: click here

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.

More photos - click here

Arctic Island

Arctic Island, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Adventure Canada Trip: July 23 - August 2

Assaqutaq

The air feels wonderful to breathe – big lungfuls of fresh clean air.

We got into zodiacs and headed for Assaqutaq, a mainly abandonned island community. This village was vacated in the 1960s when there was a voluntary program to relocate people to larger settlements, in this case - Sisimiut, where there were more services. Part of the island is used for a summer fishing camp. One house had solar panels and a wind turbine on top. It was fascinating to roam the island – many arctic flowers, the ground soft and resilient. The island was covered with soft cushiony grass – it feels as if you are walking on a very thick spongy carpet. There is evidence here of sod houses from the Thule period– houses built into the earth. It seems there was some wood in the arctic – driftwood that travelled on ocean currents. They may have used it for building. But whale bones were also used as timber – holding up the roof of the house.

Some of the European style houses from earlier days have sod insulation. There was a wonderful feel about the island. - bits of history and culture to try to understand. And the scenery is at the same time barren and rich. The dark skies and mist added to the mystery of the place. There are rocky cliffs/mountains. An old graveyard sits up the hill with fenced in mounds as graves.

Many arctic flowers and trees no higher than 6 inches. Berry bushes creep along the ground. On the top of hills you could see cairns – used by the Inuit for navigation or to designate a cache of food. This is a mystical place.

For more photos, click here

Travelling On

Although I am back from my Arctic Adventure, I'm still travelling - currently in Banff, Alberta in the Canadian Rockies. Wifi connection is slow (as is the netbook I have with me). Uploading photos is frustrating, though I will keep trying. I have lots to share - the icebergs, the flowers, the scenery, the people - all incredibly beautiful.

And each day now is another adventure - after days of the Arctic in a ship where every bit of space is used economically it felt odd to be in a large motel room on our first night back, where the bathroom was about the size of the area of our cabin where our beds were (and the rest of our cabin was not large). The lush green and the presence of trees was noticeable - as was the advertising and the many people. It is amazing to be in an area where the land and water are all there is - but what splendours!

Stay posted - I'll be writing and posting photos as often as I can - there are many stories to tell.

With the bandwidth I have - I just can't visit your blogs - I'll be catching up later in August - looking forward to visiting your parts of the world again.

You can see photos here.

Kangerlussuaq Fjord

Kangerlussuaq Fiord, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Adventure Canada Trip July 23 - August 2

Intro to Greenland

It is something to fly north on a clear day. We saw icebergs, Baffin Island – with snow capped mountains and then crossed Davis Strait. Flying over Greenland was amazing. Closest to the coast it was quite barren. Rocky ranges of mountains plunged down to fjords. In some the water was blue, others a turquoise green. As we got closer to the airport we saw some green on the hills.


Not a tree in sight. We followed the fiord to the airport at Kangerlussuaq. What a thrill to land there. Our plane was so big we stopped fairly far from the terminal and had to be bused to it.

Once we went through immigration we drove up a winding and at times steep dirt road to go to the area where muskoxen graze. We passed over a river heavy with silt. The water rushed through a narrowing and plummeted down to a lower part. A raven sat on a post surveying the land below. There is nowhere to hide – even bushes are barely 6 inches high. We stopped fairly high up with a view that went on forever – no trees to block it. The main sound was a light wind. The air was so clear – a pleasure to breathe. We hiked for over an hour – leisurely – stopping for photos and just to admire the view. In the distance we could see the edge of the glacier, shining in the sun (it was about 16C). Someone spotted a muskox and we were able to look at it through a scope. As some people hiked nearer it suddenly bolted. I didn't know it could move so fast. They look large, but apparently weigh only about 300-350 kg. The herd here was introduced from northern Greenland. 27 animals were brought here in the 1960s. There are now about 25000 in the herd which is scattered over a wide area.

Everywhere you look you see rock. It is actually part of the Canadian Shield – the same rock we will see in Baffin Island – some of the oldest in the world. Some of it is polished by the glacier's retreat – amazingly smooth – polished by the silt the glacier pulled with it. Some of the surface is smoother in one direction – the polishing happening in the direction the glacier was moving.

A bumpy bus ride through the terrain – with some wild flowers and many boulders, and then our first view of the ship – the took us to the dock where we put on our life jackets and got on the zodiacs – lovely to be on the water. And then onto the Clipper Adventurer.

We sailed out the fjord with towering cliffs, rocky landscapes (see photo at the top).
Here's a view from our porthole.



More photos at: Flickr