Today was technically a sea day. I say technically, because our captain had decided to sail us through Arsuk Fjord on the southwest coast of Greenland, which meant this wasn’t going to be one of those sea days where you look out the window and see nothing but water. Far from it.
I was up at the rather ridiculous hour of 4:30am to secure my favourite seat beside the window in the Crow’s Nest. Laptop, phone, power socket, excellent view — all the important things in life. There were already a few people up there when I arrived, and by about 5am the front row was pretty much full. Apparently I wasn’t the only early riser.
Sunrise… Sort Of
Sunrise was officially around 6:28am, but with mountains on the horizon it took considerably longer before the sun actually appeared. When it finally did, it was beautiful.
By then we were approaching Arsuk Fjord and the landscape around us was becoming increasingly spectacular. Mountains, clear skies and calm water — Greenland had apparently decided to show off again.
Our scenic cruising through the fjord was due to begin later in the morning, so before that happened I ducked downstairs for breakfast. Yes, I willingly gave up my carefully guarded Crow’s Nest window seat. Risky behaviour.
Into Arsuk Fjord
By around 10:30am we were entering Arsuk Fjord, turning away from the Labrador Sea and heading inland. It was an absolutely beautiful clear day, which meant we could see for miles. Mountains surrounded us, some with rounded tops still covered in glaciers, while others rose sharply from the water.
The fjord itself is around 20–30 kilometres long, but what really struck me was how incredibly remote it all felt. There was almost nothing around us except mountains, water and the occasional tiny settlement.
This is one of the things Greenland does extraordinarily well — making you realise just how much nothing there still is in the world. And I mean that in the best possible way.
Arsuk – Population: Not Many
As we made our way deeper into the fjord we passed the settlement of Arsuk. Calling it a town might be stretching things. It has a population of only around 60–70 people these days, and from the ship it looked absolutely tiny against the surrounding landscape.
The houses were scattered along the shoreline with huge mountains rising behind them. There were no apartment towers, no traffic jams and I’m fairly confident nobody was worrying about finding a car park.
Our commentary explained that Arsuk was once considerably busier, particularly because of what lay farther inside the fjord. And that was where things became really interesting.
Welcome to Ivittuut
Eventually we reached Ivittuut, an abandoned mining settlement with a fascinating history. At first glance there isn’t much left — a collection of buildings sitting beside the water in the middle of nowhere — but this tiny place once had enormous strategic importance.
Ivittuut was home to the world’s major commercial source of cryolite, a mineral essential to aluminium production. Mining began here in the 1850s and, at its peak, hundreds of people lived and worked in this incredibly isolated little settlement.
During World War II, the mine became particularly important because aluminium was essential for aircraft production. After Denmark was occupied by Germany, the United States became involved in “protecting” Greenland and its strategically important resources. Which meant this tiny mine, tucked away inside a Greenland fjord, suddenly mattered on a global scale.
Not something I was expecting to learn on a Sunday morning cruise.
Musk Ox, Apparently
While we were looking towards the shore at Ivittuut, we were told there were musk oxen nearby. Excellent! Where? Well… somewhere over there.
Apparently they come down towards the shoreline to drink. I stared. I zoomed. I stared some more. Nothing. Apparently other people saw them. I did not.
So I’m adding musk oxen to the growing list of wildlife that apparently exists perfectly happily whenever I’m not looking directly at it.
One Very Interesting Little Village
Ivittuut no longer has permanent residents — other than a number of musk oxen… apparently — but quite a few of the buildings remain. The settlement once had homes, workshops and other facilities supporting the mine, and at one stage several hundred people were living here. The mine finally closed in 1987, and the permanent population eventually disappeared altogether by 2000.
What fascinated me was how nature is now slowly reclaiming the place. Seals were playing in and around the bay, while musk oxen apparently wander through an area that was once heavily industrialised.
Sitting aboard a cruise ship looking at this tiny abandoned settlement, it was difficult to imagine that something mined right here once helped supply the aluminium industry on the other side of the world.
Greenland keeps doing this. You look at somewhere that appears almost completely empty and then discover there’s an extraordinary story hiding underneath it.
And Back We Go
By around 1:40pm we turned around in the bay in front of Ivittuut and started making our way back through Arsuk Fjord towards the Labrador Sea.
After getting up at 4:30am and spending most of the morning watching Greenland glide past the windows, the afternoon could fairly accurately be described as snoozing. There are only so many mountains, glaciers, icebergs, abandoned mines and imaginary musk oxen one can process before a nap becomes necessary.
By around 4pm we started thinking about the evening. Tomorrow was another port day, so this wasn’t going to be a late one. We headed along to the early Billboard quiz, which Mike has really been enjoying, before making our way to the Dining Room.
We’ve now somehow established ourselves in “our” section of the Dining Room — the back port-side corner — with a lovely group of crew looking after us each night. After our slightly questionable Dining Room experiences earlier in the cruise, finding our little patch where everything seems to work has become quite the achievement.
We’re not moving.
And that was our “sea day”: a 4:30am start, sunrise over Greenland, hours cruising through Arsuk Fjord, a tiny settlement of only around 60–70 people, an abandoned mining town with no people at all, glaciers, icebergs, mountains and some musk oxen that everyone assures me were definitely there.
Not exactly your average day at sea.
Greenland, you really are rather good at this.
Oh we had one last surprise before bedtime! Our ship pulled up slowly alongside a huge iceberg, right next to our cabin, to allow us all to have a close look. We slowly turned 360 degrees around the iceberg before pickup up speed and continuing our journey. Our captain really does know how to look after his passengers.
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