By Dave Paddon
Greetings fellow members.
I recently had occasion to travel from Kangerlussuaq Greenland to St.John’s Newfoundland aboard the M.V. Ocean Endeavour as part of the resource staff for Adventure Canada, a family owned company which has been in the adventure tourism business for about 30 years. In this role I found myself driving a Zodiac as well as telling stories and giving a talk on pioneer medicine in Labrador through the prism of some family history. With the exception of the Covid years I have been doing this annually since 2011 and I thought readers might be interested in the nature of the trip. It should be on your bucket list!
On September 26th your correspondent found himself on an Air Canada flight from home (St.John’s) to Toronto along with his brother Tom and a couple of other NL based resource staffers. We got in late in the evening and the next day was spent meeting the 175 or so passengers who we would be accompanying over the course of the next 16 days. Briefings were held and introductions made under the excellent supervision of Expedition Leader Jason Edmunds. Jason is an Inuk from Nain, Labrador so this trip is very special to him as it includes a stop in that town. Alas for Jason he was unable to travel this year due to a sudden case of kidney stones suffered by his wife (and Adventure Canada President) Cedar Swan. With two small children at home Jason and Cedar handed the torch to Matthew-James Swan, Cedar’s brother and another extremely capable E.L.
September 28th saw us up bright and early for the 4 hour flight to Greenland aboard a chartered Airbus 340 belonging to a Portuguese company who operate that very large aircraft on the Antarctic ice cap! Your correspondent was once an Airbus Captain but his offers to take a turn at the wheel (stick) were politely refused.
About 4 hours later we touched down at the former U.S. military base at Kangerlussuaq (formerly Sondestrom). A short bus ride took us to the port where we were ferried to the Endeavour aboard the aforementioned Zodiacs. This is always a time of great joy for the resource staffers as we are reunited with marvelous friends we haven’t seen for a year. The ship usually gets underway very quickly but this time we were in no hurry. Winds of 65 knots were forecasted in the Davis Strait and your correspondent can verify that that isn’t much fun. Sondrstromfjiord is 90 miles long so it was entirely possible to steam along at a leisurely pace and wait for things to settle down “outside”.
The west coast of Greenland gets 300 days of sunshine a year and this year was no exception. Early morning of the 29th found us steaming down the extremely scenic fjord and your correspondent found himself asking various passengers if they had noticed a slight bump as we crossed the Arctic Circle. They hadn’t.
Our first stop was the appropriately named Eternity Fjord (Evighedsfjord in Greenlandic). It is beyond spectacular and we deployed immediately into Zodiacs for a two hour cruise in and around the face of the glacier of the same name. There were a number of calvings as well as a beautiful blue bergy bit which looked like a large jewel specially placed for our enjoyment. MANY photos taken!
The cruise over, we reboarded the mother ship for the run down to Nuuk. Nuuk is the rapidly expanding capital of Greenland and has a very rich history which is very well preserved in the local museum. There are even mummies! There are also very good eateries and a muskox sausage dog is a must have. Or maybe a reindeer burger. Your correspondent is always torn and can’t really manage both. Last year we were stuck in Nuuk for a night and had a wonderful time at a local brew pub. The Greenlanders certainly know their beer!
In the late afternoon we took our leave of Nuuk and took on a very unusual passenger. A Peregrine falcon established itself somewhere on the ship and disappeared somewhere off the coast of Labrador. This happens most years and once inspired a bit of foolishness in your correspondent entitled “The peregrinations of Perry the peripatetic Peregrine”.
It takes a day and a half to steam across to Labrador and the seas were fairly civil although some Gravol was consumed. Your correspondent is lucky to have a cast iron stomach. Various talks were given on various subjects as diverse as geology, anthropology, archaeology and various other ologies. Adventure Canada maintains a full stable of enthusiastic experts and their lectures are always well given and well received. You will come back knowing a lot!
The Torngat Mountains of northern Labrador are what the trip is all about and they never disappoint. We made landfall at Ryan Bay which is only a few miles from the northernmost tip of Labrador and the site of a secret WW2 weather station installed by the crew of U537 in 1943. It was only discovered in the 1980s so they did a good job and it is now in the National War Museum in Ottawa. There’s nothing to see there but we did venture ashore nearby at a site other than the one we had planned. A mother polar bear and 2 cubs were at that one and this happens fairly often. The original sail plan is just that, a plan, and alternate landing sites often turn out to be just as interesting if not moreso. Thule and Dorset tent rings are everywhere and some are seen for the first time in the modern era. An archaeologist’s candy store! (I will interject at this point to say that every landing is preceded by a scouting trip by our bear guards. Most are Inuks from the north coast of Labrador and very experienced. They set up a perimeter and if you venture outside it they will send me after you. I will be polite but insistent. There are polar bears and black bears all over the Torngats and it is debatable which is more aggressive/dangerous. Both are VERY large. A man was killed by bears earlier this year. Enough said).
After Ryan Bay we steamed south for a landing at Eclipse Harbour. The name comes from an expedition to view the eclipse many years ago and it must have taken a huge effort. Hopefully the weather was good. Various hikes are available at every stop and they range from easy up to extreme. Your correspondent was on the moderate one and enjoyed it immensely. The visit also included a zodiac ride up the spectacular gorge which ends in a thundering waterfall. There’s just enough room for two zodiacs to pass and the whole experience is very enjoyable.
Back on board the Endeavour we gathered for the evening…gathering. All passengers and resource staff attend every evening to talk about the day’s experience and the plans for next day. There are drinks and finger foods and lots of good conversation.
(As an aside, about half our passengers were American and half Canadian with a sprinkling of Australians, South Americans, Asians and others. All were enthusiastic and interested in everything and this is typical every year.)
From Eclipse we proceeded south for a landing in Nachvak Bay. Nachvak may be the most majestic of all the deep bays in the Torngats but not by much and your head is on constant swivel trying to take it all in. We landed at a Thule site on one end of which were a number of tombs which consisted of small boulders piled against the vertical face of a very large one. The place has a supernatural feel to it and this applies throughout the Torngats. Some passengers took zodiac rides around the nearby area and bears of both colours were seen.
Our next stop was Ramah where the Moravians ran a mission from 1871 to 1908. Most Moravian stations were established on rocky ground but Ramah had the great advantage of being on a large glacial moraine and gardens were used for vegetables. There is lots of evidence of sod houses and it’s a beautiful place to wander. Within the perimeter of course, and your correspondent was dispatched numerous times to fetch back overly adventurous guests.
Now occurred an annual phenomenon which your correspondent annually skips (having once fallen off the float of a Twin Otter into Hopedale harbour). The Polar Plunge. Large numbers of (apparently sane) guests partake in this and it has to wondered what the locals make of it. Perhaps this is a good guess.
The lemmings were gathered up row upon row
Waiting for the start of their favourite show.
They’d waited all year for the visual bonanza
Of the annual hypothermia extravaganza.
The ship sailed up on a nice sunny morn
Said a lemming called Lenny “I got the popcorn!”
As the ship dropped her anchor the lemmings hopes soared
Sunglasses were donned, and margaritas were poured.
Then a hole opened up in the ship on its side
To reveal the quivering bodies inside.
And then one by one the bodies jumped in
They yelled and they screeched, oh my what a din.
And then it was over and the lemmings went back
To their jobs storing seeds for their long winter snacks.
“It’s a funny old thing,” Lenny said with a sigh.
“They do it every year and no one knows why”.
Indeed.
Leaving Ramah (with the same number of bodies with which we had arrived) we now made our way south to Saglek for a ship’s cruise along the full length of this amazing bay. The neck will start to ache after a while because the eyes are always scanning upwards trying to see the tops of hills that rise 3 and 4 thousand vertically. A delicious barbeque on the back deck in sunshine and 12 degree temperatures made for a great afternoon.
We then steamed south to Hebron, site of a Moravian mission from 1830 to 1959 and one of two communities that were almost wiped out by the Spanish Flu in 1918-19. Along with Okak, Hebron suffered more than any other locale from the epidemic and it is estimated that 70% of the combined population of the two towns perished. I highly recommend Anne Budgell’s excellent book “We all expected to die” if you’re interested. That’s a quote from one of the missionaries, who were much less affected than the Inuit. At one point they were putting bodies through holes in the ice, there being not enough soil to bury them in and not enough healthy people to bury them. Your correspondent was stationed at the Inuit cemetery to interpret for passengers and it is sobering to point out what appears to be a mass grave outlined by stones and with a single marker.
The mission was closed in 1959 and a poorly executed resettlement plan put into place, the ramifications of which are still being felt today.
This was our last stop in Torngat Mountains National Park and I can say that 5 days there isn’t enough but that you would need a helicopter to enjoy it any more than you will with Adventure Canada. There is a large contingent of Inuit staffers as well as non-Inuit Labradorians (including yours truly and brother Tom) who intensely enjoy sharing the place with visitors.
The next stop was Nain and here we said goodbye to some staffers who are residents of that town. Our usual Expedition Leader (Jason Edmunds) is from Nain and he and Cedar love getting to spend a bit of time with family. By the way, Jason’s father Randy Edmunds is a staffer also and a wonderful guy to spend time with.
The visit featured an Inuit games demonstration at the school gym and this was enjoyed by all. Your correspondent got to spend time with some old friends and reminisce about his early career as a pilot flying Twin Otters and helicopters along the coast.
Our next stop south was very special for your correspondent. Also for brother Tom and sister Liz (who was a regular passenger). Indian Harbour was the site of Wilfred Grenfell’s second hospital, built in 1894. (Battle Harbour being first in 1893). Our grandparents, Harry Paddon and Mina Gilchrist, were assigned there in 1912 and operated a summer medical outpost until Harry’s death in 1939 at the young age of 58. The station was then closed for this reason as well as the fact that the schooner fishery (the outpost’s reason for being) had declined precipitously. I got to deliver a talk with slides the night before we arrived and it was wonderful to be able to stand in the foundation of Harry and Mina’s little house and point out the ring bolts in the granite. Steel cables had been attached to these to hold the house down in heavy gales and the bolts are still there. Dad was born in that house and the three of us were understandably affected by the experience. Tom and I get to do this every year on the trip but Liz had never been there. This is the kind of experience that Adventure Canada is able to deliver due to local connections and I am reliably informed that no other cruise line can say that.
After departing Indian Harbour we were informed by Expedition leader M.J. Swan that stops at Lanse-aux-Meadows and Terra Nova park would not take place due to high winds predicted for the day of our arrival. We would be getting in a day early rather than risk a day late and mangled airline reservations.
So it was full ahead for St.John’s with a couple of sea days. These were filled with interesting talks and workshops as well as lots of deck time in the pre-storm calm. A perennial favourite is a game called Newfoundland and Labrador bluff in which 3 of us staffers come up with misleading definitions of words you may or may not find in the Dictionary of Newfoundland English. You wouldn’t want to try and glutch a bit of flummy smeared in smatchy butter or it might get caught in your kingcorn. That kind of thing. Passengers love it and the 3 of us bluffers have a great time.
I can say with a good deal of satisfaction that “59 Steps to the Crow’s Nest” was shown on the in-cabin TV service and that many passengers decided they had to have a visit. I’m guessing Margaret was a little busier than usual on our arrival in St.John’s.
I have been doing this trip annually since 2012 (Covid years excepted) and can tell you that A. This was the best one ever. B. I say that every year. It’s a wonderful experience and if you’re interested check out adventurecanada.com. Or just ask me.
Next year’s Greenland and Wild Labrador voyage departs September 17th and I will be aboard if at all possible. There is also a Newfoundland circumnavigation starting October 1. I’ve done two of those and they are great fun with a wonderful bunch of NL staffers.
