We awoke in fog and slowly made our way into Grise Fjord; the immigration officials were collected - they were two young Canadians from Ottawa pleased to have a different assignment. They would be a Grise Fjord for another week awaiting another ship so would have time to explore the hinterland. Free to go ashore we had tricky surf landings onto a slippery rocky shore which meant the guides got quite wet receiving the boats and helping people off them. We were met by a Mountie in full dress uniform as the landing site was right by the RCMP post - he was a young man from British Columbia who was just starting a 3 year secondment.
The community were very proud of their two year old sports hall and new health centre. We had a cultural fashion show in the gym - slightly delayed while the young people got up from their Sunday morning slumbers. They also offered the chance to taste the vitamin C rich narwhal skin - in mini chunks - I didn't try it but watched others trying to chew the fatty supplement! The health centre was first class and one any community anywhere would be proud to have. The only member of staff was one, very experienced, nurse practitioner who does everything as its a 3 hour plane ride to the nearest hospital so they are a minimum 7 hours away from hospital care. Doctors and dentists visit every 3 months otherwise all discussions are via teleconferences, email, telephone calls.
The noticeable difference between Greenland and Arctic Canada was the more subdued colours of the houses....the whole settlement looked duller - there were also less dogs and more skidoos.
The departure from Grise Fjord was as tricky as the arrival so lunch was delayed until 2pm. We then slowly set off as the fog came down again this precluded another zodiac trip. The day ended with us visiting the bird cliffs on Coburg island - we saw black legged kittiwakes, little auk and guillemots and a large white blob on the cliff face turned out not to be snow but two polar bears - a mum and a cub - so in the bright light of the evening (10-11pm) we watched arctic life at its hand cooling best!
(Today's photo is the half inch polar bear!)