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The International Greenland Expedition (1997-1998)
Page No 3

Page 3 of 6 - Article appeared in Australian Geographic No62 Ap-June 2001, text and photography by John Hoelscher.

I REFLECTED BACK on the challenges of the past nine months the two of us travelling the west coast of this immense ice-capped island (almost a third the size of Australia) which lies mostly north of the arctic circle. On that quiet morning 16 May 1997, we pushed off the icy shore in our catamaraned kayaks at the west coast town of Paamiut, headed north, relieved to be somewhat free of the past weeks priorities, and able to commence concentrating on the task at hand…we had a long way to go, and this was only the first stage. During the 84 days and 2000 kms of kayak travel from our starting point we encountered difficult pack ice and arctic storms with huge windswept ocean waves, rain squalls and sleet pounding our small craft, as we hurried towards the safety of a lee shore. Many times over we were thankful to be in these two single kayaks joined together and rigged with sails. We would later realise that sailing in favourable southerly winds was rare - unless a storm was approaching. We had to sacrifice speed for a safe craft capable of carrying us across the stormy bays, protecting us from the frigid waters and the real danger of hypothermia. Not until a later stage could we realise the speed of paddling solo along the more sheltered northern reaches. In order to reach our destination during the short summer we needed to cover an average of 25 km each day. We had allowed several days for storms or rest days in villages along the way. It was best to break camp around 10:p.m. and journey during the glow of the midnight sun - the calmer period. This usually entailed 9 to 12 hours of paddling a day, though on two occasions we had to endure 17 hours before a suitable campsite was found to rest our exhausted bodies.

Several days were spent paddling whilst following our compass bearings through the grey fog which blended with the cold steel water causing us to be unable to see further than 10 metres. Lonnie exclaimed: "John this is like paddling inside a Ping Pong ball". I agreed as I bent forward facing the deck mounted compass and studied hard to direct our steerage through a labyrinth of tiny islets. Suddenly a dark grey leviathan - a minke whale - surfaced not 5 metres from our craft, blowing vapour into the already saturated air and ever so smoothly disappearing into the grey depths. We would see many more as well as various types of seals, either alone or in pods, feeding as we quietly paddled the waterways. It was amusing seeing them sound when they realised we were upon them. Seabirds such as guillemots, auks, eider fowl and fulmars often flew overhead and were seen nesting on the various small islands and cliffs enroute - usually seen with a backdrop of distant mountains, rugged glaciers and beautiful icebergs in the deep penetrating fjords. The scenery mostly comprising of rock and ice changed to hectares of green shrubs, moss and grass covered slopes in the more sheltered pockets of the fjords On 8 August we reached Kullorsuaq, a small village approaching the large exposed bight named Melville Bay. It was here that we learnt the sea ahead was almost solid pack ice. We had to end our first kayak journey and resort to travelling to Qaanaaq in an umiatsiaq, a six metre boat used by the local hunters.

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