Exploring Qaqortoq, Greenland
This is blog post #22 from our tour of northern Europe. On Wednesday, July 16th, we arrived at our second Greenland port stop, Qaqortoq (formerly known as Julianehåb), and started tendering ashore at 08:00. We didn’t have any plans, but the ports where that’s been the case have worked out very well for us, so I had no doubt that would happen here.
Qaqortoq has a population of just over 3,000 people (Paamiut, yesterday’s stop, has about 1,300). It’s located near the southern tip of Greenland, at 60°43’20″N 46°02’25″W.
We had been in high winds and heavy seas for much of the overnight voyage south from Paamiut, then when it calmed down we were in heavy fog. At 05:15, though, we had left the fog – I shot the first photo at 05:28 looking back at the fog bank.
The view ahead at the same time.
By 07:30 our tenders were getting ready for the short shuttles to shore.
Colourful buildings on a rocky coast are a winning combination for photographers – add a large iceberg to knock it out of the park 🙂
A boat taking some of our passengers out looking for whales at 08:40.
I shot many photos of the community from the ship before going ashore just before 09:00.
Qaqortoq is well set up for cruise ship tendering, and things went quickly.
In 2018, young local artist Kaaka Kielsen Olsens was one of two winners in a competition for art to decorate the buildings of Great Greenland, a company which processes furs and sells clothing other products made of Greenland fur. It is a portrait of a woman who is also reminiscent of the mythical figure Sedna, the Mother of the Sea.
Although I shot this image in the rain later in the day, as a record of the town it belongs here.
An arts and crafts market was set right beside the visitor information centre, and other independent tables were nearby.
Qaqortoq has a famous “whale wall,” and that was my first photography destination – it’s located right above the visitor information centre. Throughout the day I found more wonderful carvings and sculptures all around the community, but there was no information about any. I now know that it is a project called “Stone and Man,” started in 1993 by local artist Aka Høegh – initially, 18 artists from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the Faroe Islands worked with her.
The painting of Sedna as a welcome, and now the whale wall, made me sure I was going to like this place a lot.
From the whales, a transition to human faces and other creatures began…
…and the dirt path along the base of the cliff became a park of laid natural stone, with a large walrus sculpture as its anchor.
Starting our tour of the community beyond, we next came to “Rockhouse Qaqortoq,” which appears to be a happenin’ place at night! It promises “Amazing Nights on Fridays!” 🙂
Next, the Qaqortoq detachment of the Greenlandic Police.
Akiki is one of several grocery stores.
The flowers around town are wonderful!
When we saw this sign, I told Cathy that it was an Inuit fashion. I see a comment now that “Making her hair up in a topknot for the first time marked the beginning of adulthood for a woman, meaning that she was ready to look for a life-partner.” We would see the topknot again in Qaqortoq art.
The Hotel Qaqortoq.
In front of the hotel is a huge mukluk (kamik) that appears to be a popular place for selfies 🙂
Tusass, Greenlandic slang for “talk to you later”, is the new name of TELE POST, the country’s largest telecommunications company, also handling mail.
Most walking in Qaqortoq involves going steeply up, or steeply down!
We never did make it over to the cemetery. That’s very unusual for me, but there was a lot to see.
The Nieuw Statendam was looking really fine from up there.
Cats are as rare as dogs.
A preschool group out for a walk.
While Cathy and I were pondering what this sculpture was, a local woman came along and said it was a mammoth. Well of course!
Looking back as we continued to climb.
This was as high as Cathy and I went.
On the map I saw stairs that might offer a shortcut back to the dock. I went off to the side for a look, and when I showed Cathy this photo she said “Uh, NO!” 🙂
Some photos create themselves and I just have to push the shutter.
Most of the stone houses have the natural stone covered by some coating, but luckily this one has kept it open.
Back in the lower town, we had a look at the Qaqortoq Museum (Kalaallit Nunaanni Katersugaasiviit), but had no energy left for a proper visit. Although several websites talk about the museum being in a black building that dates to 1804, it is also in these two.
The Lutheran Freslers Kirke (Church of Our Saviour) was built in 1832. This was as far as we went in this direction – it was time to head back to the ship.
Back at the tender dock, where you got on the next one.
Heading home.
Back at the ship, I couldn’t settle. I knew that, tired or not, if I didn’t go back into town I’d regret it. At 1:45 I was back up where Cathy and I had turned around – I needed to see what was on the other side of that ridge.
The flowers in the ditch along the road as I climbed seemed to get more and more brilliant.
As I neared the top of the ridge, I could feel winter approaching, and when I saw the fjord, I could see the storm coming. The wind was howling and it was raining lightly.
I climbed up above the road, and there were some great rocks 🙂
There are some very nice homes on the crest of the ridge, and more are under construction. I wanted to go for a long hike cross-country, and I wanted to check out those homes, but when the rain started to turn to snow, I quit!
A young woman saw me thinking about heading down on this route, and told me (in Danish, I think) to stay on the road. I thanked her (not in Danish) but said I liked this way better 🙂
That rocky gully led to these stairs – much more interesting than the road had been.
While I continued down, a fellow called out and asked if I was from the ship. When I said I was, we got into a great conversation. He’s local, Inuit, probably in his early 60s, and very well spoken – I expect he’s an important guy in Qaqortoq. He started by asking how many people were on the ship. I said 2,300 – 3,500 with crew (my guess was a bit low – she carries 2,666 passengers). He said the Grand Princess had been in recently – her capacity is similar. He was, not surprisingly, concerned about the impact of the ships, but apologized for giving us poor weather after Paamiut being so good to us. I said that everyone on board was excited to be here, and thanked him for sharing his community with us. We didn’t come up with any solid thoughts, I suppose, but it was a really nice conversation anyway.
Just below the Rockhouse, I saw another carved boulder, and had a closer look. On the lower side are three seats…
…while a couple of figures were carved into the upper sides.
I was just wandering at that point. I came to this statue again (note the topknot), and a very friendly local fellow, so drunk he could barely stand, was quite emphatic (in Danish or Greenlandic) about how pleased he would be to take my photo with the statue. I declined a few times and we eventually parted company still best friends 🙂
A bit tattered and no water, but still a lovely fountain. Perhaps odd in a subarctic town, but… 🙂
From there I walked back to the harbour to look at two particular boats. This is the 15-meter Greenlandic Police patrol vessel Nukik.
The 37.7-meter general cargo vessel Arpaarti Arctica is operated by Royal Arctic Line. She was built in Marin, Spain, in 2022 by Nodosa Shipyards.
I walked further out into the industrial but the main photography subjects I found were floral.
It was raining harder, so I took one last photo at 3:15 then headed for the tenders. Having a large bell at the head of these stairs intrigues me.
From my verandah on the ship, I watched a medevac in progress. OY-HUN is a Eurocopter EC 155B1 Dauphin operated by Air Greenland.
At 4:00 pm, Arctic Umiak Line’s ferry Sarfak Ittuk arrived. She runs service to many ports in West Greenland.
The final photo from Qaqortoq is the tshirt I bought there.
On Thursday and Friday, July 17th and 18th, we were at sea. On Saturday, July 20th, we arrived at Grundarfjörður, Iceland, where we had a major scenic excursion booked.
About The Author
