As we make our way back home the weather continues to get nicer. Almost all of the Icelandic portion and most of Greenland was foggy and cloudy. Now the sun is shining and it is much warmer.
Another tender port. We boarded about 8:30 am and headed into the long harbor of St. Anthony. The population is under 2,000 here and there isn’t a lot to see other than nature. Fishing is still a source of income here and I could smell the fish plant on the way into the harbor. A smell I just can’t get used to.
Tourists visit St. Anthony to see icebergs or whales. I was surprised not to see stalls of things for sale when we left the tender. A ship with over a 1,000 tourists with money to spend could really help the economy here. We did pass a small table with a mother and daughter selling some kind of muffins. Good for them. Most of the passengers were crammed into the one souvenir shop at the port.
There was a local craft brewery near the port. It was early but we went to check it out. Closed. Permanently. Probably another pandemic victim.
Signs of the pandemic still remain on the ship, too. The handwashing station installed on the lido that never gets used. The many hand sanitizer devices. Staff wearing the disposable blue gloves. These make me nervous. If you watch a person with gloves on, they seem to think that the glove gives magical protection to anything touched. Since they have on the blue gloves, they can handle a broom, slice some meat, clear dishes from a table, arrange cheese on a platter. They can do each of these things, one right after another because of the magical blue gloves. They and everyone else is protected. Dirty broom handle? Blue gloves protection. No germs can be picked up here. I’d would rather see someone with no gloves that washed their hands. I know. Crazy idea.
Very few masks around but one thing that does remain are the gym equipment wipers. None of the people in the ship gym work hard enough to sweat. I am referring to the Niles Crain wipers. (Fraser fans anyone?) Someone will sit at a workout station but not before getting a disposable wipe soaked with some kind of pandemic eliminator spray and coat the entire machine with this product (did anyone read the ingredients?). All of the parts of the machine have to be coated. The seat. Where the feet go. Where the hands rest. If there is a screen on the machine, the entire screen needs to be disinfected. I am guessing that the only immunity we are building here is to the pandemic eliminator spray. Probably a cancer causing agent that we will learn about from the government in 20 years or so.
We decided to do a hike in the woods today. Nice day and well marked trail we found close to the port.
It was nice to walk with the sun shining. The trail was about 6 miles long and afforded some great views.
We finished the hike and headed back to the tender to have lunch back on the ship. Not a lot to see in St. Anthony.
Trivia
What is the deepest point on planet earth? Challenger Deep Mariana Trench
What is the geographical area encompassing Australia, New Zealand and thousands of other islands? Oceania
Who is the father of SCUBA diving? Jacques Cousteau
What body of Water is the Port of Odessa found in? Black Sea
True/False Sounds travels faster under water? True
Which animal colonies form the RainForest of the sea? Coral
Which canal connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean? Suez Canal
The giant wave caused by an earthquake? Tsunami
What type of fish is Nemo? Clown Fish
How many brains does an Octopus have? 9
Which is the fastest fish? Sailfish
What is the warm ocean current that crosses the Atlantic Ocean? Gulf Stream
What is the furthest point from land in an Ocean called? Point Nemo
Not the winner but we did do quite well. How did you do?
After dinner the Captain announced that we were passing through an area with many whales. He said he has been sailing for 45 years and has never seen whale activity like this. I was able to count 15 whales off of the port side of the ship. A bit later we saw them off of the starboard side right from our room. The spray from the whales exhaling hung in the air for quite some time. As I looked toward the back of the ship it was easy to count them.
I did see some whale fins but it was difficult to get any pictures.