holland america line – Higman Travels

Iceland and Lava Rocks

Day 2 got us out of Reykjavik and into beautiful landscapes. We drove around the south west of the island through some interesting landscape. It’s basically all lava fields. We went to some hot springs and I wish I could have jumped in because it was really cold outside. We ended the tour with a “taste of Iceland” of what they call lobster but I think it was too small to be lobster. The gentleman next to me thought they were crawfish. “Lobsters” were thrown away until very recently. They used to get caught in the fish nets and the fishermen though they were such a nuisance. It wasn’t until recently they started eating it. But, it’s really not everyday food…more for special occasions. It was good but there was no dessert!!!

Jev up on lava rocks

Hot springs

Restaurant where we ate lunch

The yurt room

Jevy had the lamb

lagostas!

Church of Mary

Little houses built into the ground for elves (I made that up)

Sea outside the church

Cold outside

Pretty landscape near the hot springs

Glaciers, Icebergs, and Rocks, OH MY!

Today is a ship day. Notice how I’m finally catching up and am in present tense? We cruised for about 7 hours through Prince Christian Sound. The first couple of pictures will show where we were. The most amazing scenes. I cannot imagine being here in the winter. We also saw a little village of about 150 people, only accessible by boat or helicopter. Justin and I always wonder about sanitation in these towns. They are settled on rocks so there cannot be a septic system, right? Hmmmmm. Where does their trash go?

There are way too many pictures to share here and I will update some later but here’s the beginning. Justin and I were glued to the views for hours. I’m grateful that I can be on the elliptical machine while enjoying the views.

Jevyn also joined the Viking Polar Bear Plunge. It was a little anti-climatic because the water was about 85 degrees, they dropped 2 buckets of ice in, then said it was cold. Haha. Not quite cold enough for the Jevster.

Southern tip of Greenland

Prince Christian Sound

Beautiful Reflections in the water

Beautiful peaks

Amazing Glacier

Beautiful Ripples in the water

different ripples

more ripples

Blue face Viking

Ice to cool the 85 degree pool. Not quite enough, folks.

Pre-plunge

Post-plunge

Thai food in Greenland

We finally made it to land today … Greenland!!! Yaaaayyy. The water was smooth and it was a beautiful day. Qaqortoq is a small village on the western side of Greenland. They use Danish Kroners and speak Greenlandic. It’s a place where they still hunt seals and sell seal fur. It’s a little weird for us Californians to experience all this but we have to respect that this has been their way of life for thousands of years. (note: if you click on the photos you can read the captions.) On the ship’s visitor information for the ports they listed a Thai restaurant called Bon Thai. We thought it would be fun to have Thai food in Greenland so after walking around town we followed the map to find the restaurant. As we were walking Justin sees 3 Thai ladies and he says “follow them.” We gave him a hard time because we thought it was very insensitive of him to think that every Thai person would work at the Thai restaurant. So, we walked in circles for about 20 minutes and asked several pedestrians and no one could understand us. We finally get back to the center of town and asked a store owner. He tells us that the restaurant moved and it’s now called “In Box.” We go to the other side of town (which is a 5 minute walk) and go into a building. We tried 2 doors in the building and no luck. We get out of the building and see there are 2 Thai ladies and ask them. Apparently, lunch doesn’t start til 2 pm (it was 12:15). Hmmm. Very weird business model – ship is in town, lots of visitors including a lot of Thai workers on the ship, and they don’t open while we are in town???? So, the lady was very nice, we thanked her. Justin was right, one of the ladies was a woman we saw earlier. Moral of the story is that we should have followed the Thai people.

This is where we were

Port of Qaqortoq

Port

art made from seal skin

Higmans in Greenland

Oldest fountain in Greenland.

Dog picture

Crabs at the fish market

Beautiful stream behind the church

Colorful homes

Longest name of a street

Beautiful hillside homes

Fish carved into rocks

More colorful homes

Fluffy….

Iceberg on the shore

Village of Qaqortoq

Newfoundland and missed ports

Today is Wednesday, July 25. We’ve been on the ship for a week. Last night was a rough one for Justyne. She got really sick as the waters were very very rough. We could not make it into either Red Bay, Labrador or Paamiut, Greenland due to rough seas. We hope to make it to Qaqortoq, Greenland tomorrow. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Just so you know, many of these ports are not big and the ships cannot dock. We have to get tendered into port – meaning the ship is out in the water and we are basically “ferried” to the port. If the waters are too rough they will cancel the tender. That happened twice so we’ve been on board for 3 days without hitting land. It’s been OK for me but I think the kids are getting a little stir crazy!!!

Sunday, July 15, 2018 – Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, CANADA. Today was the best day of the trip so far. We landed in Cornerbrook and was whisked off to a restaurant for a Taste of Newfoundland. We were surprised with a singing trio who entertained us with songs and folklore of the region. Did you know Newfoundland and Labrador was its own country until the 1940s? They barely made the cut to join Canada. But, they are now proud Canadians. Newfoundland is also the 7th largest island that is not a continent. Population – 250,000.

This is where we are – Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, Canada.

They found a dog!! It’s a Newfoundland in Newfoundland. It was waiting for us at port.

The Sharecroppers. They sang folk songs. 3 former school teachers. They were funny and amazing to listen to.

Pea soup. A staple. Yellow vs. our green.

Moose and salad with mandarin oranges. Really good!

Pies of 2 local berries – yellow is bake apple berry (or cloudberry), and the red is partridge (or lingonberry). Both were yummy.

Iceberg ahead!!! Did you know that 90% of an iceberg is below water??

The sunsets have been amazing…and very late, like around 11 pm.