DAY 3: THE BLACK CROWBERRIES

TRAVEL LOG ENTRY 3: LANDNAMSGAARD

For this leg of the journey, we flew to Narsassuaq airport and met our guide, Captain Storch Lund. Ex-Airport Director; helicopter pilot and motorboat captain, he is one of the island’s most respected citizens. He drove us directly down to his vessel; we sorted ourselves out, then he sailed us directly to Narsaq to film a Landnamsgaard.

The word ‘Landnam’ means ‘Land claim’. Eager to find farmland, hungry settlers fleeing famine-struck Iceland rode from sunup to sundown to stake their claims. And gradually they founded the Norse settlements. Their descendants – the Norse Greenlanders - lived in this region for around 500 years.

Landnamgaarden in Narsaq a former Danish trading station. The footprint of the original building was just about visible

Happy to get going, we found the farm on the other side of the harbour. It’s a beautiful location, on a plateau at the edge of a fjord, bordered by impressive cliffs. There are small clusters of wooden houses here in the bright and cheerful colours that are so characteristic of Greenland.

At the site of the farm, the footprint of the original building was just about visible – but at this time of year the rows of stones are almost throttled by rough grass. The stone floor was clearly visible though. The farmers who lived here are likely to have slept in one end of the building and kept livestock at the other end, to benefit from each other’s body heat.

A bright idea?

I thought about the housing arrangement, and imagined another possible advantage: if a smart farmer got thirsty in the middle of the night, he could pull a goat-on-a-rope right up to his bedroom and milk it quite easily without having to move many muscles. What a bright idea!

Actions like these (imaginary of course) would support the notion that Greenlanders have a reputation for being extremely practical.  Right now, lots of locals were out gathering berries while the weather was good – sweet black crowberries that would be turned into yummy jam...

Storch’s grandfather, Henrik Lund’s house - home to a true artist and priest

Having completed our film of the farm and its surroundings, we spent the night in Narsaq. The next day, Storch kindly showed us around, stopping at a house that now belongs to the national museum. This building used to belong to his grandfather, Henrik.

More than ordinary

Storch’s grandfather wasn’t just anyone; he was a well-known poet, painter and priest. He even wrote Greenland’s national anthem. Roughly translated, the first two lines mean: “You, our ancient land, the head on your hair has turned white” (meaning the ice sheet). “You have always held us, your children, in your bosom, and given us the riches of your coasts…”

At the opposite end of the scale – in a city where life can be tough - we went to a Wi-Fi café to check how things were going at home. And while we were eating, Storch got a phone call, telling him that his boat was about to slip its mooring. So, he hurried away to fix the problem.

Just gone

When we finished answering the call of business, we walked down to the harbour, only to find that the boat was nowhere in sight! Time- and filming-wise we needed to get going, so we pushed on with our own agenda, climbing up to the remains of the Landnamsgård while the weather was still on our side. Later we learned that Storch had fixed the problem by moving the boat across the harbour to a safer, more permanent berth between a couple of bigger boats.

And gone again!

After the filming, we joined Lotte in her cabin, for a super-fresh Cod dinner.  When we finally made our way back to the harbour it was dark and - wait for it - the boat had disappeared once again! But this time it was due to the tidal shift. The water level was around two meters lower than when we arrived, which is pretty impressive, but I’m told that the maximum difference in tidal activity can be more than three metres.

A wobbly ending

Re-boarding Storch’s boat was now a balancing act; we jumped down onto the roof of the first big boat, then crawled down onto his vessel. Then we crawled into bed, satisfied with the day’s results, and the curtains went down on another great day in Greenland!