On the morning of July 24th we anchored off Hvalsey, the most extensive and best-preserved Norse ruins in Greenland. There was some ice to admire on the way up the fjord.
The sun was shining into the bridge.
The morning fog/clouds were burning off as we arrived.
Here is our first look at the ruins, from the ship.
The farmstead was established by Eric the Red's uncle, Þorkell (Thorkel) Farserkur, in the late 10th Century. It is also the site of the last documented Norse presence in Greenland, a wedding that occurred in 1408. While there are many theories about the disappearance of the Norse settlements, consider that the Norse managed to live here for over 400 years.
The land is now part of a sheep ranch; in fact, click on the above photo to enlarge and you can just make out three sheep in the shadow of the old church (the largest building). An eagle and a fox were spotted working on a sheep carcass at the shoreline.
Assisting our landing was a small wooden dock; we wouldn't need to get our boots wet.
There was a weather-beaten sign that included this map of the site (click to enlarge). The legend is repeated in Greenlandic, English, Danish, and German.
It was a short walk up to the area of the ruins.
If you had the oomph to walk around and on top of a small bluff, there was a good overview of the farmstead. The church is to the left and the main dwelling complex is to the right.
This is the footprint of the barn, further to the right than the above photo.
Here we have what is left of the Great Hall.
Approaching the church.
Almost everybody investigated the interior of the church ruins.
On the sunny slopes wildflowers of the low-growing arctic or alpine sort were blooming in profusion, including this alpine or snow gentian.
Which explains what expedition staff member Steve Maclean is doing.
Some took time to admire the view.
Merewyn decided to cool off (?!) with a swim. She's from Canada, but still ...
Then it was all aboard for lunch while the Explorer sailed to Qaqortok.
You had such a nice day for your Hvalsey visit ... unfortunately ours was overcast and it drizzled the whole time we were there.
ReplyDeleteIt's all luck, of course, but we had a good portion of weather luck on this trip. We did miss a couple of landings later on due to high winds.
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