Tuesday 19th May

The weather has changed! Its rained through most of the night and it looks set to remain for the day. We force ourselves out of bed knowing that this is the last day in the fjord and we need to get west along the valley to the Norse ruin and to check out the glacier as a possible site for the glaciology fire. As usual it sounds worse than it is. Getting ourselves organised we have one person outside the tent in waterproofs and two inside packing kit. Having all kit in coloured stuff sacks makes life much easier.

We head west and notice how there is fresh snow on the mountains – we must be just below the freezing level at base camp. There is plenty of willow scrub to work our way through and it takes longer than anticipated. Gaiters are essential kit and in the summer we imagine there will be no shortage of mozzies too! After about three hours of walking we get to a Norse ruin overlooking a marsh and in view of the glacier. It’s a dramatic location with a 360 vista – we pause and contemplate what life must have been like in times gone by and how people survived living here in such a hostile environment.

The rain has eased off and we stride back to the fjord side knowing that we have a pick up scheduled in a boat and can’t be late. Three days away and it feels like three weeks – we are refreshed from the time but definitely not smelling fresh! With regret we leave the fjord but there is some comfort in knowing we will be back in two months – fabulous. The journey back is dominated by conversation of what it will be like when the whole expedition arrive at base camp and how the science sites will be ideal. Returning to Nanortalik feels like returning to a metropolis – what will it be like to be back in Heathrow in 2 days time?!