Blog

Beginnings are always fun, and on this day in June, 2017, Jane took her first kayak trip in Greenland. We wanted to try out the kayak before our planned trip in the summer.

We had done a lot of canoeing together in the past, but this was the first time Jane had been in a kayak in the sea with… icebergs!

Yeah, I know, it’s not like I was the more experienced of us. My first time was just a few days earlier. 😉

If you follow this blog you’ll know that I often spend time in outer space., writing under the pen name of Bran Nicholls. I love writing about Greenland, but every now and again I recharge my writing by exploring other genres, ideas, and conflicts. Second Verse is a collection of science fiction and space opera stories, heavy on action, and, hopefully, plenty of claustrophobic encounters. Greenland, you see, is wide open, and while space couldn’t be much more “wide open”, I do love those twisty corridors on derelict space ships, or abandoned meteor mines, etc.

You get the picture. 😉

However, if you’d like to know more, you might want to check out the Second Verse Campaign, currently ticking away on Kickstarter. You can find out more about the First and Second verses on by clicking on the titles.

Chris

It’s quicker to fly!

Alaska, 2016.

Zero photo manipulation, editing, or AI was used to grab this shot. Just a hell of a lot of jumping! 😉

Bonus info: we donated the PFD and rubber boots to a Native Alaskan children’s camp.

The shirt was stolen. The cap has died a rotten death. I’ve still got the pants and the paddle!

My first solo boat! Leaving Greenland was tough, but there was no reason to have a solo canoe in Greenland. So, to compensate for being “back in Denmark” we invested in a solo canoe. Okay, I encouraged Jane to invest in a solo canoe.

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve fallen out of this flighty little f*****, but, oh I love it so!

 

Summer is all about paddling. Whether it’s in Greenland, Scandinavia, or in the front room of a fourth-floor flat in a Glasgow sandstone tenement! We took out our very first bank loan for this boat. Most people get a loan for a house or a car. Nope. We wanted a canoe. We wanted a time machine to transport us out of the city and into the wilds. The ALLY folding canoe was the answer.

We’ve had a lot of adventures in this boat, and you can bet I’ll blog about them, just as soon as I find the photos, but this was the day it arrived.

Do we look pooped after having built it? You betcha. How we managed to avoid smashing the windows when building it, I have no idea!

Chris

Out and about in Qaanaaq this time. June 2012. Top of the world! Almost.

Huge contrast between the white sea ice and bergs and the brown land.

Our house is the blue one with the red shipping containers outside as we prepared for our move to Nuuk. I just want to add that there’s typically a lot of movement around Greenland each summer as people relocate for work. If you’ve got a qualification, such as teaching, or a trade, then there is usually an attractive relocation package. Such is the demand for workers in all branches in Greenland. And the far north.

Chris