Bren: We have just arrived in Iceland. After we shower and unpack, we are off to explore the restaurants and night life a bit. We'll be here for two or three days, and hope to go trekking on Icelandic ponies, as well as getting out to see the geysers and hot springs Iceland is famous for. However, we've not yet told you about the most wonderful place we visited today, Kulusuk Greenland.
Kulusuk is a small stop over on the East Coast of Greenland. No one had mentioned it's beauty to us before we arrived there, and as we approached, we were in complete awe. We flew over the icepack, and on the edge of the giant glacier, where it meets the sea, are the most stunning moutains and clear artic blue water. There are icebergs everywhere. These are the first icebergs we've seen on the trip, and they were shockingly beautiful in the variety of shapes and sizes they took. Some were as large as football fields, others the size of Eli's smart car. After an impressive "vietnam style" landing on the gravel runway, we parked MDS with a gas attendant and walked to the fjord at the end of the runway to have a picnic amongst the icebergs. It is truly the most beautiful place I have been, and I felt both in awe and greatly priveledged to be there. I took 200 photos today, and of those I hope a few will capture at least some of this unique and pristine scenery.
As we were eating our sandwich and gatorade, I stared to consider the liklihood that a polar bear could be in the area. It was a perfect setting for one - he could swim from iceberg to iceberg hunting seals, or perhaps the rare tourist picnicing on the edge of the fjord. That thought ended our picnic rather abruptly, as we decided to make our way, swiftly, back to the airport.
The flight to Iceland was without incident.
Yes, aren't those icebergs AMAZING? We wish you continued good luck on your weather conditions! Tell us about your tailwinds vs. headwinds. What have you encountered?
ReplyDeleteHi Mel and Tom,
ReplyDeleteThe winds have been very neutral, generally less than a ten knot wind in either direction. We have had a slight tail wind more often than vice versa. The most notable tailwind was Fort McMurray to Stony Rapids. The most notable headwind was Sondrestrom to Kulusuk. We've been filing 130kts TAS and our best has been about 147kts groundspeed, our worst about 122kts.