Above the Arctic Circle
We crossed the Arctic Circle at 66.33’00”N around 6am unremarked: no ship’s announcement, nor visible landmark, not even on the ship’s map; unlike the large fjord-side globe to be seen on the Norwegian coast.
We arrived in Sisimiut, a conurbation of about 6000 people and 1500 sled dogs – no matter how cute the pups look, they resemble wolves in their attitude to persons other than their owners.
We had signed up for a Mountain Discovery Hike, which involved transport by Zodiac to the harbour and a bus to the outskirts of the town. In Sweden, there is a saying that ‘Det finns inte dåligt väder – bara dåligt klädda människor” – there is no such thing as bad weather, only being badly dressed! We took this to heart as we climbed up to a viewpoint overlooking Sisimiut in driving rain, stormy winds and even hailstones!
Memories of trekking on New Zealand’s South Island came flooding (sic) back! We were glad of our flask of hot coffee and chocolate Lion bars at the half-way stage. At times the clouds cleared sufficiently for us to see the mountains. The water in the lake is so clear that it is piped to the town for use.
We walked along part of the Arctic Circle Trail, which runs 160km from Sisimiut to Kangerlussuaq. Although we prided ourselves on wearing caps under the hoods of our rain jackets, to keep the rain off our glasses, one gust of wind caught Peter’s cap and blew it into the lake, where Mats, one of our Norwegian guides couldn’t resist the challenge to retrieve it.
Back to the ship after a 3-hour hike, a snatched lunch and a bone-warming sauna while our cabin is full of wet clothes. Even if we wanted to venture out to wander round the town, we couldn’t rustle up enough dry outer-gear!
Indeed – we use a similar expression when hillwalking – No such thing as bad weather only inappropriate clothing. Loved the bit about Peter’s cap blowing off – been there!