DAY 1: THE SNOW HARE

TRAVEL LOG ENTRY 1: THE QUEST TO GREENLAND

Norse Theme Parks recently embarked on an intrepid quest to the world’s largest island - a trip that was sponsored by Air Greenland. Our mission was to film nine different sites of interest for a 2020 exhibition on the lives of the Norse settlers - and this how we did it…

Who and where

Our small team of explorers consisted of me (team manager); Daniel (a wizard art director), and Theis and Ole, (project partners from Trida Media, 360° film and audio experts). We were also lucky enough to have the support of Lotte Brøns Symes, an expert in Greenland affairs, who would be managing the logistics side of the trip.

Time flies

The 4½-hour flight from Copenhagen took us to Kangerlussuaq Airport (Sønder Strømfjord), a former US Airforce base located at the base of a fjord. Denmark's Airforce - known as the Arctic Command - plays a prominent role here, monitoring the area around the Faroe Islands and Greenland. They’re also involved in air rescue missions.

Pick a place. Any place.

So many choices

Outside the airport, there’s a famous signpost showing how long it takes to fly to the North Pole, Copenhagen, Los Angeles, New York, Rome, Moscow, Paris, Tokyo. Here we are in one of the most silent places on the planet, yet some of the noisiest over-populated places are well within reach!

While waiting for our next connection, we took a walk along the valley where the views of the fjord gave us a hint of what was to come. Before too long, we'd be testing our city-boy endurance levels, hiking along rocky trails, carrying some pretty expensive equipment.

Food on four paws

At some stage, Ole – who turned out to be quite fearless – disappeared up a rockface, and when he came back (which was more difficult than he thought), he said he’d seen a huge rabbit. He filmed it, and when he showed it to Lotte, she told him it was just an ordinary snow hare. “They taste great – they’re my favourite food,” she said, bursting Ole's bubble.

Above and below

The flight down south to Nuuk hugged a rugged coastline. The inland ice sheet reared its head in the distance, bone-white and breathtaking. This blanket covers around 80% of Greenland (the world's largest island) and is the biggest ice mass in the Northern Hemisphere.

As we flew along the coast, my imagination took flight. I pictured myself under a parachute, soaring over life-giving waters and clean, milky sand. Then I'd land in an open boat and float for a while, in a sunny, turquoise embrace. And as the evening drew in, I’d relax with a gin and tonic, cooled by 100,000-year-old ice cubes. And come night-time, I’d drift under an infinite ocean of stars...

Peter taking ‘one last look’ at the airport