I love it when I can correct my first grade teacher, Mrs. King, even if it is almost three quarters of a century later. There ARE “Qs” not followed by “Us”. As in Qaqortoq, a city in Greenland. Mrs. King, of course, would argue that Qaqortoq is not an English word, quibble, quibble, quibble. (I suspect she did not approve of me. I insisted on using my left hand for writing. She was wary of that, but a new school policy directed her not to “correct” me. I could feel the disapproval.)
Qaqortoq, with a population of just over 3,000 is the major city in South Greenland, and it is about to become even more important. They are building an airport. Right now, the city is served by ship or by helicopter from Narsarsuaqairport. Narsarsuaqis about 37 miles from Qauortoq. There is no road connection. The airportwas built by the US military during World War II and a town of under 200 people grew up around the facility to service the it. There are no other airports in South Greenland. Narsarsuaq is a hub for a helicopter network serving the region. Greenland plans to close Narsarsuaq, and move the chopper hub to Qaqortoq, which has a hospital, a branch of the University, plus a trade school. This will solidify Qaqortoq as the regional center. They are so proud of this that their van tour takes you to airport site, about 5 KM from town, to look at the earth movers.
Qaqortoq, with the airport, expects a tourist boom. It is already no stranger to tourism. The town will host 44 cruise ship visits between late May and early September. The coastal ferry calls each Wednesday from the end of May until the middle of January. It stays for about 3 hours. When the airport is complete more adventure outfitters are planning to operate from here. I hope it is planning well for the boom, speaking from experience in Sitka, where our infrastructure was not prepared for the massive combination of post COVID demand and the advent of 4,000 passenger ships. (On a side note, in a special election yesterday Sitka rejected an initiative limiting cruise tourism with a 73% no vote. I am not sure what this really means. I think many more than 27% want to limit tourism but the specifics of this proposal were a problem.)
There is a lot for the visitor to do here (In Qaqortoq) already. The last time we were here we chartered a fishing boat to take us to Hvalsey, about 11 miles up the Fjord. It has the best preserved Norse ruins in Greenland, including the church where the last two recorded Norse events took place in the 15th century before the Norse packed up and departed, a witch burning and a wedding. (To see my post from 2017 click here,) Now you can take an organized tour there from Qauortoq. In 2017 you could not. There are also organized tours to hot springs, and boat tours to visit icebergs.
We opted to take a minibus tour. Our guide was a university student from one of the outlying communities. After the tour I had planned to walk around town looking for all the 40 “Stone and Man” carvings. Qaqortoq artist, Aka Høegh, recruited 18 artists from Greenland as well as Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland to carve 24 sculptures in the rockfaces and on boulders creating an outdoor gallery. Now there are 40 sculptures, all part of the Stone & Man exhibit. Fate intervened and I didn’t get to search for all the carvings. But I did see some of them.
To see more pictures from my posts 8 years ago please click here.
Why didn’t I get to see more? While waiting for the minibus I was talking with a local artist. He was interested in talking to an Alaskan because, as he said, “We all came from Alaska.” Which for Greenland natives is just about true. The Thule (Inuit) people started migrating eastward from Northwest Alaska in around 1000 AD. By the 12th century they had reached Greenland. In the 1200s they encountered the Norse. For a while they ignored each other but the Thule people were good walrus hunters, and they traded walrus tusks with the Norse for useful things. Archeologists have found some iron tools and nails in some Thule camp sites. The Lewis Chessman, (see earlier post) date from that period. By the end of the 15th century the Norse had left South Greenland to the Thule people.
I was deep into the conversation when Suzi called me away, it was time to get on the minibus. I had to cross an open drainage ditch along the road, bridged by a concrete slab. I stepped on the slab, it wobbled and I wibbled right into the ditch. Folks helped me up, and at first it didn’t bother me. We did the tour and then set out on foot to find stone carvings. I got as far as the old church (not the Norse Church but the Lutheran Missionary Church of Our Savior from 1832) and told Suzi I needed to get off the leg. We walked to the dock and got on the tender.
On the ship I put my leg up and iced it. The next day, a sea day, I spent some time soaking my muscles in the hot tub. Two days later I’m back walking around Norse ruins in Newfoundland. That story will wait for a later post.
Here is a photo gallery from Qaqortoq.
