we were already docked at aasiaat the night before, and today will be another pack-rafting day. a couple of folks did not join, probably still recovering from the 2-day torture. i wanted to go because i couldn't wait to get off the boat.
aasiaat seems to be a more tourist-visited area. i saw a hotel, and there were some tourists walking around. they were watching us as we prepared our rafts. not surprising as this is the fifth largest town in greenland. i also learned that aasiaat means "a place with spiders" (thanks, google!). i didn't see any though. just our same old giant mosquito friends.
when we headed out, we were paddling against the wind. supposedly that would be good on our way back, when we ride with the wind and it'll push us and make paddling easier. the area in aasiaat where we set off was relatively flat; the ridges don't peak as high as the other places we've been to. we also noticed that the houses there were bigger, and there were a lot of high-speed boats, or as the locals call them, inuit rockets.
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| no spiders, just birds |
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| cookie break! |
i remember that we should be back by noon before the wind picks up, but we decided to go around the ridge which is a 9km distance, and i was going slow. it was really tricky to paddle against the current. jan showed up in zodiac and talked to willem, but he was far away so we didn't know what was up. we suspected that jan was checking up on us to see if we're alright.
when we passed the bend and was heading back to moonlight, the wind was not on our backs. it was picking up and i was being pushed sideways, making it harder to move forward. olivier was there to give the usual words of encouragement, and i tried to channel his words to my arm muscles like some sort of a miracle. it didn't work. willem emerged and tied his raft to mine in a rescue attempt. then jan showed up finally and collected us.
back in moonlight i took a warm shower and curled up in my bed, shivering. my dear father in law came to check in on me to see if i'm alright. after i've recovered i went to join the rest for lunch. later on they were going to town for a walk. i skipped, fearing i'd be too tired and consequently not be well for my journey back home.
i slept through the afternoon and when i came back upstairs, they were already back from the walk. peter explained that there weren't so much to see around hence the short walk. as i mentioned, the area seemed flat, so i suppose there was no hiking opportunity.
post dinner we started to sail out. paps pointed out to the rainbow, bidding us farewell.
and now, onwards to ilulissat for our disembarkation :(
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| farewell rainbow |
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