Sunday - day 16 - Sea day

We were supposed to stop at Nanortalik on Sunday, but the captain had made the decision a couple of days before to skip this port due to weather in the area that would have impacted our ability to have much time (if any) in port. Instead, he scheduled a scenic cruise in Arsuk fjord -- and we had a gorgeous sunny day to enjoy the scenery.

Overnight, Carl got up to see if the northern lights were visible -- they were not, but he got a picture of the moon and its reflection on the sea.

Coffee with Jai on this Sunday morning included many of the female officers of Nieuw Statendam.

There were 7 of the ship's female officers, representing Beverage Manager, Shore Excursions Manager, Front Desk Manager, Bridge Manager, Learning and Development Manager, HR Manager (and the manager over housekeeping and other behind-the-scenes operations - I didn't get her precise title -- maybe Executive Housekeeper or maybe that is a role that reports to her?).

Take-aways that we got from this talk:

• Holland America prides itself on having satisfied / happy crew members -- examples that were given included providing opportunities for development to move up to higher levels if crew want that; social activities "below deck" (they mentioned that anything that included food was very popular with the crew); longevity -- they mentioned 40+ year employees; growth through the ranks; employees who leave Holland America often come back after they experience other cruise lines and realize the Holland America difference.
• The young lady who is currently bridge manager seems to be considered to be a prime candidate to be the first Holland American captain. She said the biggest barrier is that people need to retire to make positions available! We'll watch for the name of "Captain Brianna" in the future! 
• A question was asked about how many months in a row do members of the crew work -- the captain works 10 weeks on, 10 weeks off; technical officers work 3 months on, 3 months off; HR works 4 months on, 2 months off; bartenders 6-7 months on, 2-3 months off; entry level crew 8 months on, 3 months off. For the "on" time, they work 7 days a week; they may have a few hours off on a port day, but that's it.

Continuing our cruise... 

We were cruising down the east coast of Greenland - and it was a sunny day. This was a picture off our balcony.

When we were cruising the Arsuk fjord, travel director Gage was providing commentary in the Crow's Nest. We stopped by there for a short visit, but it was too crowded to stay for long.

Some views from deck 11 looking forward...

... and looking back.

Even though the temperatures were in the 40s, when we were in the sun and out of the wind, it was very comfortable.

There were a number of people playing pickleball up on the sports deck.

We came back inside through the pool area -- the roof was closed and many people were enjoying the pool and hot tubs.

We were by the gelato bar -- usually gelato is an extra charge, but today they had an Ice Cream Social where we could go crazy with flavors and toppings, included in our cruise fare!

In Arsuk fjord, we stopped for a little while off the coast looking at the ghost town of Ivittuut -- this had been the site of cryolite mining in 1800s up through WWII. The mine and the community were abandoned by 1987. 

An announcement from the bridge indicated that there had been a musk ox seen on shore, but we didn't have binoculars or a telescope to be able to locate and/or see it...

A couple of our fellow cruisers got pictures with, I suspect, a long lens on an SLR camera. The captain had told us to look for moving brown rocks... this looks like a family group...

... and a single one taken by another cruise passenger.

Some more views in Arsuk fjord

and more views.

When we left the fjord, we continued down the southwest coast -- 

...the captain identified an iceberg up ahead that he said that we would circumnavigate...

... so... lots of pictures of this iceberg!

Notice that it has water flowing over a part of it, like a mini lagoon.

Iceberg selfie

Is that enough pictures of the iceberg?

In case you'd like to see about a 1 minute video, I think this uploaded to YouTube correctly: https://youtu.be/fAnUJVO3uF4?is=xCMvxDMRq4RM2xCB  In the video, you can see the water splashing in the "lagoon" area of the iceberg. Our network connectivity is a bit wonky, so the video may not have uploaded correctly -- if it doesn't work, someone let me know, and I can try to fix it at the next port or after we get back to the US.

Saturday - day 15 - Nuuk, Greenland - part 2

Continuing our visit to Nuuk -- part 1 can be found here: https://journeyinamazinggrace.blogspot.com/2026/08/saturday-day-15-nuuk-greenland-part-1.html

We found the entrance to the Greenland National Museum and headed in.

An exhibit of a Greenlandic home...

... another room in the home...

... pump organ in the dining room.

Characteristic attire for dog sledding

Information about the farms in Greenland

Depiction of farm layout

Another depiction of farm layout

Depiction of farm layout

Depiction of farm layout

Depiction of farm layout

Information about cattle farming

depiction of cattle farming

Information about cattle farming

Information about cattle farming

Depiction of cattle farming

In the front of the museum was this art piece -- it seemed to have been cut from metal maybe from the side of a ship (it was about 1" thick metal)

Plaque about the art piece in front of the museum

I had read about this art piece online before we went into town -- it is a memorial for Arnarulunnguaq... The English words say "Without you the journey will not end" -- but I used Google translate on the local language and it indicated, "Without you, the journey could not have completed."

The side facing the sea was hard to see because the sun was behind it...

Closer up you can see the carving of the face and a needle

There was not much information at the memorial, but here is some of the information I found online (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnarulunnguaq):

Arnarulunnguaq (AR-nar-oo-LUUNG-oo-ahk); 1896 – 2 October 1933), a Native Greenlander, was a key member of Knud Rasmussen's Fifth Thule Expedition (1921–1924) which crossed the Northwest Passage by dog sled. She was one of the two who accompanied Rasmussen from the Hudson Bay to Alaska, preparing meals and keeping skins and furs in order throughout the two-year journey. As a result, she was the first woman to complete the long Arctic journey from Greenland to the Pacific.

Biography
Early life
Born in Thule in 1896, Arnarulunnguaq (meaning "little girl") was the daughter of the Greenlandic hunter Uumaaq and his wife Aleqasersuaq. After her father died when she was only seven years old, as the youngest child she experienced a difficult childhood, helping to provide for the family.

According to Rasmussen, her family had initially decided to murder her, a practice among the Inuit when resources were insufficient to support everyone: she was required to put a rope around her own neck to show her acquiescence; but her brother Ajako began to cry and her mother decided not to go through with the killing.

Arnarulunnguaq saw this event as a kind of rebirth.

Fifth Thule Expedition
Among the Arctic Inuit chosen by Knud Rasmussen to participate in his Fifth Expedition were the hunter Iggiannguaq and his wife Arnarulunnguaq. Shortly before their departure, Iggiannguaq died of pneumonia but Arnarulunnguaq insisted on continuing, explaining to Rasmussen: "Before it was you who needed me, now it's me who needs you."

After the first stage of the expedition had reached the Hudson Bay, most of the party returned home. Rasmussen, Arnarulunnguaq and her cousin Qaavigarsuaq Miteq, a hunter, continued by dog sled for the next two years, proceeding under extreme conditions over unexplored Arctic territory all the way to the Bering Strait.

Arnarulunnguaq proved to be a vital member of the group; brought up as a hunter's wife and companion, she not only took care of preparing meals but created and maintained skins for clothing and helped build shelters of peat. During the journey, Arnarulunnguaq produced a number of drawings, including detailed images of Inuit women's tattoos.

Summing up her positive influence, Rasmussen tells us that Arnarulunnguaq had "that good humour about her that only a woman can instil [and was as] entertaining and courageous as any man when we were out on our journey."

Later life and death

Rasmussen, Arnarulunnguaq and Miteq, 1924
In late 1924, Rasmussen, Arnarulunnguaq and Miteq embarked on their return journey to Denmark via the United States.

On arriving in Copenhagen, Arnarulunnguaq was diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis and was hospitalized but she never fully recovered. Rasmussen visited her in hospital, honouring her with the Silver Medal of Merit which she had difficulty accepting, although she was said to deserve it as much as anyone.

In 1925, Arnarulunnguaq returned to Thule where she died on 2 October 1933, aged about 36 or 37.

Legacy
She will appear on a 2028 Danish krone banknote (the krone is also used in Greenland). In 2026, a bacterium isolated from permafrost from the Kap København Formation in Northern Greenland was named after her. 

Isn't that a neat story? 

While near the memorial, we saw a young person out in the water doing spins over in their kayak... upright...

... upside down...

... coming back up. Remember, there are icebergs in that water, so it is *cold*!

We decided to walk on the Nuuk boardwalk to make our way back toward the ship; this was a photo back toward the colonial harbor...

and another picture showing the motorboats that were speeding around -- it was a beautiful Saturday, and it appeared many locals were out enjoying the day, or maybe giving tourists rides.

Back on the ship, leaving Nuuk -- a view back toward the east...

... and one of many icebergs in the water as we were passing some of the islands on our way out to sea.

It was a beautiful day in Nuuk -- the first sunny day we've had in a long time!