Two weeks out of Nome, we arrived at Dundas Harbour. In 1924 a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) outpost was established here. Their role was two-fold. They were trying to prevent foreign whaling and also stopping Inuit travelling over from Greenland. After many hard days of dog sled travel across sea ice in fierce some conditions, the Inuit were being asked to produce identity documents and other bits of paper. It caused a lot of problems. The Inuit, who had been doing this for generations were not too keen on being told where they could and could not hunt. The Hudson’s Bay Company leased the building from 1933 and later a group of Inuit were relocated there. Today there are a few ruining huts and the graves of two RCMP officers. One of these committed suicide just a few days before the relief for his two years stint arrived. The other shot himself in the leg while hunting walrus and died, rather miserably, sometime later. Diane is still barred from the RHIBs but I went ashore and enjoyed wandering around for a while. In the bay, to one side, was a beluga whale. For the whole hour I was ashore, it was swimming round the in the bay. Although it was quite easy to spot, it was near on impossible to photograph. I tried, and tried, but they mostly stay underwater. Best I could manage was the occasional glimpse of the back of its head. While I was busy with the camera, I was also chatting with one of the Inuit Cultural Ambassadors. Hurtigruten had invited several Inuit to travel through the NWP with us to help explain Inuit life, their traditions and customs. Her view on this wonderful whale swimming round the bay was to tell me how good they taste.
Leaving Dundas Harbour, we began the long-haul south-east across Baffin Bay to Greenland. Late afternoon we arrived at Pond Inlet where we paused briefly to collect a Danish pilot. As night fell, we headed out into the big ocean. The weather was good and the seas were calm. Next day was a sea day and the following morning we arrived at Ilulissat. The wind had picked up a bit and the rain had arrived. Landing was just by RHIB so Diane was stuck on the ship again. I got ashore long enough to collect a few essential meds. The rain was relentless. I did not hang around too much.
Next stop was Greenland’s second largest city, Sisimiut, population 5,500. Fortunately, it has a good pier where the ship could tie up and also a good hospital. Diane and I took this as an opportunity to get her arm checked out. It all went well. The very nice Danish doctor x-rayed her arm through the pot. Everything looked good. Simple break. No need for further reduction (aligning the bones). Nothing more to do. Just wait a bit longer and hopefully, when the pot comes off, the arm and wrist will be fine. We reported back to ship’s doctor and he was happy with this. No further need to involved specialists. No missing the ship in Halifax waiting for an appointment.
As the ship left Sisimiut, and Greenland, we were feeling much happier. My legs seemed to be responding well to some common steroids. The rest of the trip was still on. To cap off a good day, I saw a pair of Humpback whales and in the evening there was the most fabulous aurora.
Another sea day as we sailed down the coast of Labrador brought us to the little fishing village of Red Bay. Lovely sunny day and a pretty village. The captain decided the sea was calm enough to use the tender for ferrying people ashore. Diane and I went ashore. There was nothing very exciting but it was nice to have a walk around. We looked at the church. We looked at a museum. We bought some coffee in the coffee shop. Nothing exciting but still very pleasant.
