Not every day – even in the Arctic

Close to the frozen ocean

Yesterday, on a normal though beautifully clear monday, we had yet another exotic animal event happen to us.

As I was picking up Christian from work we joined up with others and headed out on the ice where a small gathering of people kept getting bigger as the news spread.

The attraction of the day

A polar bear was shot just three kilometers North of town out on the ice and now the boat was coming in with the animal lying on the deck. The yellow-white mass was hauled ashore on the rim of the ice as we approached and even though it wasn’t moving and hadn’t been for some hours I felt my heart racing just by being close to something that dangerous.

Not a happy bear

People were poking it and taking photos of the lifeless bear while posing besides it and admiring its paws and fur.

It felt really strange to watch a dead animal that is otherwise treated as an ‘endagered species’ an a first class attractions in zoos – here shot and dragged across the ice with a little bloody streak behind him after being used as a photo-op.

One last journey

Cultural differences

Several times I had to stop myself from thinking that it was a shame to see such a creature die. But off corse the native people around me didn’t see it the same way, – it was a tasty treat that rarely comes to town. And I understand that this is the way that it must be knowing that the strongest survive, and this time it was the man with the gun, next time it may not be so.

(Sorry about the bad pictures, they are taken with a camera phone)

A few photos from the North

How it looks when the sky is clear and the mountains block the last little part before the sun shows itself

Redish clouds around mid day

Next day a snowstorm has raved thru the night and made the ice crack and now the wide open water is visible as a dark rim where the island stops and the water begins. The clouds cover the sky and everything is white (if only I had taken the picture right, but is was so cold that my fingers didn’t like being outside the gloves)

How it sometimes looks when clouds are blocking the sun and snow is falling all around

Walking past one of the neighbours houses I got this next picture, that isn’t something you see everyday even in Greenland. But we are in polar bear territory and when the spring comes the bears come as well. – So we will stay inside the borders of town where the dogs will alarm us if any big animals come close.

A reminder that we are in rough nature where the strongest survive

Two Arctic Toddlers in the wild North

Later a video will be publicised showing the light returning day by day.

The Hoover Dam seen from above

They grow very slow ant the talest ones can be more than 100 years old

Tobi in the cactus shadow

The two travellers

Enjoy the video:

Hoover Dam and other things

Hotel or Museum?

The second last day in California Christian booked this special hotel. It is the RMS Queen Mary, an old ocean liner that first sailed in 1936 and since then became part of World War II when she ferried allied troops back and forth.

Later she was bought by Long Beach, LA and is now lying next to the cruise ships and an old submarine and is visited by many WW2 fanatics and tourists.

The inside of this rustic hotel/museum

It was a little bit like sleeping in a museum because everything was a little bit dusty and too old and used to be a super hotel, but there was a lot of history in the wood and we felt like it was a very nice way of ending the whole super yacht-thing we had been doing for 1½ years

This shot was taken standing on a bridge in between cars driving by

We had the time to make a few live shots of the stay

Guests of Queen Mary’s

Some recipes have to be reinvented because the ingredients aren’t in the shop, but so far everything has been okay. – I even survived the pizza with ‘Jaka bov’ instead of fresh ham. And the spice shelf is acceptable now that we got a special delivery from Christians dad with his own homemade chili powder.

A walk in the snow

Friday there was a wild snowstorm and all the snow on the roofs and on the ground seemed to find new places to lie.

Saturday the sky was so clear and everything was light and bright. We took a long trip to the airport that lies on top of a big hill just behind town and got the chance to take a few pictures of us in our polar-outfits;

Christian enjoying the view

AM on a large pile of snow

The Arctic Toddlers

A hunter returning over the ice with todays prey

A snowstorm sculpture

Even when we are inside we get the chance to look at what the weather does:

Ice-crystals on the inside of our windows

Just a quick Hi from the far North – hope your weekends are nice and calm as well

Upernavik and the houses that surround our house

In Denmark we are used to long twilight compared to for instans Thailand where it is very short but the Greenlandic twilight is even longer. Yesterday, remember the sun is still not visible above the horizon, the sky towards East was lighter than the day before and the redness from the suns rays were coloring the sky from around 11.3o – 14.00.

I took a long walk in the cold and took this photo

Looking over the frozen ocean

The picture is taken in front of Christian’s workplace were all the smokers usually have their fresh air, – it’s probably the best and most unspoiled view over the ocean.

Finally I also got a picture of our little house in the beautiful sunlight

Our cozy Arctic hut

From there we have a lovely view out over most of the city and the vast frozen ocean.

Proper citizens

Officially we are now inhabitants of this little town where we are some of the only non-inuit citizens. Everything on signs and paper is Greenlandic, so hopefully I will be able to find a course that can teach me the language soon.

Every day I try to learn a little bit more, which is not easy when I don’t speak to people a lot. But the road we live on is called Qaqeqqaafik (Q sounds like R and the double AA has an s-sound and it’s is not really for our toungs to say this) – it means ‘finally up’ because it is on a hill.

Christian has found us some aids for walking on the icy roads; some external rubber slip-ons with metal studs that make us look less like Bambi and more like the little greenlandic children who run around on smooth shoes and never seem to loose their balance.

A little sneak peek

Around New Years evening we made a little video from different places in Upernavik so you can all get a feeling of the Arctic darkness

Check our the video:

New Year 11/12 in Upernavik

Like being in a fairytale

Still after having been to many national parks and forests it is amazing how much wildlife there is in the North American nature. Everywhere sounds reveal creatures living all around and animals gazing at the funny looking intruders that walk about on two legs. And this visit is no different; after entering the park we spot a hungry black bear in between the oak trees looking for acorn. He is well aware of our presence but continues and lets us observe him for as long as we want to.

Only a few short moments after the first wonderful encounter we meet the next amazing animal; a brown bear crossing the road slowly 10 meters ahead of us. He sniffs our way but decides to find something better to chew on.

Later at lunch we find a viewpoint where we can overlook much of the forest and out over the cloud-layer that embeds the whole forest and shields it from the rest of the world.

Stretching our legs

The 12 km hike up and down and in between the Sequoia’s is totally undisturbed and we can quietly follow prints from deer and other animals. It is also in the backyard of cougars but they rarely show themselves and are a little bit too dangerous to look for.

We made a video with our visit to the land of the giant trees;

Revisiting the beautiful Sequoia’s

And this year we got to celebrate two New Year-bangs; the Danish one at 20 O’clock local time(midnight in Denmark) which was nice and subtle and the Greenlandic New Year at our midnight which light up the whole sky for a long time showing the whole town in fast changing colors. Next morning all the huskies in town cried when the church bells rang, – they really don’t seem to like religion much.

From  7°52′N 98°24′E  to 72°47′N 56°08′W

Many things have happened in the past year, and it’s nearly impossible to tell everything. Some things have been told in photos and stories on SummerAllYearRound but some are still to come. So in the coming time, many stories from hotter climates will appear as we organize photos and edit video material. There is still quite a few things left from the US and other places we went with the super yachts

And this blog will be renamed: Chasing SummerAllYearRound since it is no longer summer in any way.

The view from our living room

This photo is taken on the 2nd january 2012 at 11.30 and this is how light it gets. For those who think that it is really dark I can tell you that it seems darker in real life, the camera makes it looks lighter. The little christmas-village looks very cute and magical with all the soft lights from the windows on to the snow (some windows are completely full of colored lights flickering in all sorts of crazy patterns which makes you wonder how the people can fall asleep)

The view from our living room

Bottom right hand corner  shows a tall pole with a light on top and to the left of this is a ‘big’ building with lots of lights on; this is Christian’s workplace, and when I stand in the living room and use the binoculars I can see him sitting in his office in the left side of the building – so it’s not far away.

Totally new and scary?

The transfer hasn’t been hard at all. Our flight up here (stopping in Kangerlussuaq and Ilulissat on the way) was beautiful and we were eased into the darkness because it is much lighter in the South of Greenland. We both got to see a snow covered Greenland for the first time (I have only been in the South in fall time when there is very little snow and cold and you actually understand why is was called ‘Green’land) and it is grand and breath-taking over and over again and we look forward to seeing more of everything. – Especially when the sun comes up in the middle of February.

We were also received well, first by a lovely flight attendant who asked if we were going on some kind of crazy weird new years holiday to the north and the day after arriving by most of Christian’s colleagues who gathered at the head quarter and shoot of a few rockets in celebration of the ending of one year and beginning of another.

So everything is well up here; bags are unpacked, the whole town was explored on the 1st of january as you will see in a video soon and Christian is settled in at work.

So for a while the two constant nomads will settle down in a remote and extremely special place and enjoy solitude together and probably be known as the two arctic toddlers because there is quite a lot to learn about walking in these conditions, every single step is a test in balance and boldness.

Home and away

The past three months we have loved living in the amazing southern California with the beautiful and vast scenic nature; from deep green luscious forests to lonely bare scolding hot deserts and everything in between to the loud shimmering Metropolis of LA, SD and SF where you can find anything as long as you have shinning dollars.
Our plan was to relax, find our selves again and maybe stay over here for good, but it proved more difficult than expected.

The new challenge

The new job is probably situated in one of the most remote areas of the World. The city is called Upernavik (‘the place of spring’ in the native language)  and lies north of the polar boundary and around 1000 km North of Nuuk. So very far away from civilization.

When we arrive on one of the last days in 2011 there is no sun visible, and this will go on until medio February. The temperature will be extremely cold, something we are not used to, but then again does anyone get used to it?

Christians position is as team leader in the company Nukissoirfiit that is in charge of water, electricity and heat to the ten villages in the Worlds largest and most northern county with around 18.000 inhabitants scattered all over a vast area. His everyday task will be to supervise 19 men, some in the local villages and some in Upernavik to make everything work.

It will be a different nature and many new challenges will arise, but I know Christian is up for the challenge as he was with all the many unforseen things that happened in the super yacht industry.

Nature

Right now we are in California, where everything is big; the cities, the roads, people’s houses and the same with the nature; the Sequoia and Redwood trees, the mountains and the deep divides such as Grand Canyon.

Greenland will also be extremely large, but other things will be the opposite; the amount of things to but in the shops and supermarkets, the amount of places to visit (since there are no roads between any of the Greenlandic towns and villages and all travel is by ship, airplane or snowmobile)

Leaving nothing behind

We are saying our goodbyes to America these days (well Greenland lies on the American plate, but is culturally European) and therefore we have said goodby to our best friend over here; Tobi the Truck

We gave him a good farewell and hope that a new family will take good care of him, but it was very hard saying goodbye

Tobi got his final shower just before we sold him

So now our van is an ugly rental, that in no way makes us forget Tobi. He will be greatly missed along with the rest of this wonderful state. But we hope to return some day for good.

Our alarm clock

Even though there were two wide and perfectly good lanes on either side of the road divider.

Well it made a lot of noise and we had a good laugh looking at him as he tried to drive himself off the divider, while all four wheels just spun because the car was totally stuck and sitting on its underside.

The police didn’t find him very funny when they arrived.