The infamous Arctic weather nearly scuppered my visit to Greenland.
I was one of about 900 passengers on the Viking Neptune, a passenger ship that sailed from New York up the east coast of Canada, on to Greenland, circumnavigated Iceland, swung up to Svalbard, and stopped at six places on the west coast of Norway.
A scheduled stop at L’Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada, had to be cancelled because of rough seas. So we sailed on towards Greenland, only to learn sea currents were driving melting ice into the two harbours we were heading for at the southern tip.
Two Danish "ice pilots" boarded the ship and talked with the captain about alternatives.
I was delighted when we were told we would berth in the capital, Nuuk, instead — that’s where I wanted to go all along.
It is home to about 20,000 people. That’s more than a third of Greenland’s total and makes Nuuk one of the smallest capital cities in the world by population.
Pulling back the curtains of my cabin, I could see patches of snow on the ground and big mountains in the background.
Like most ports it had a busy, industrial element. When we went ashore it was impossible not to note how incongruous and flashy the ship looked.
We’d been advised to dress for extreme cold, but it was OK — about 0°C.
One of the first things we saw was a pop-up kiosk at the dock, selling T-shirts emblazoned with the message "Greenland is not for sale".
We were divided into busloads for a panoramic tour of the city. The guide for my bus was a 17-year-old local girl on her first day in the job. She was wearing trousers and a jacket, but had several inches of bare midriff in between — clearly seasoned to the conditions.
Her commentary was charming and disarming. She told us which residential area was known as "the ghetto" and where the wealthier people lived.
There were lots of outdoor play areas for children, many being used, while a number of walkers and joggers took advantage of the clear day. It was the midnight sun time of year, approaching summer.
Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark, which provides funding for welfare and infrastructure.
There are independence groups seeking full self-rule, but residents are concerned about losing Denmark’s money.
A smart new airport has been installed, with a bizarre approach to the runway. A flattened piece of land overlooking the city has a steel structure attached over thin air like a viaduct. Runway lights along the steel show pilots where to line up their landing.
The shopping area in the city centre looked quite shabby, possibly because snow was melting to leave patchy, gravelly surfaces.
There were several nice clothing shops, plus a glassmaker’s studio and an adjoining shop selling goods made from pretty much every part of the musk ox.
Nearby was a scruffy supermarket doing a good trade.
Most of the buildings looked like they had been thrown at the shore from a great distance and landed any-old-how. Everything was higgledy-piggledy.
After stopping at a few vantage points to take photographs, we headed back to the ship. Our guide told us she loves living in Greenland and is proud to be from there. We applauded her.
The short visit to one of the most out-of-the-way places in the world was a privilege. I will watch what happens there with great interest from now on.
