Asia-Europe 2012

What a paradox…. Greenland is mostly ice while Iceland is mostly green.

Anyways, the flight to Iceland was easy and uneventful. Their ATC is useful and professional. Reykjavik is exciting to explore but doesn’t have a deep, historic feeling. Not too far we found the Blue Lagoon, a thermal water spa in the countryside. Before departing we made a quick stop on the Grimsey island, located on the Arctic circle. Sadly, the puffins already left for this season.

We spent the last night in Iceland in Akureyri and we made a refuelling stop in Egilsstadir. This was necessary to ensure adequate fuel reserve to reach Scotland, in case weather would not allow us to land in the Faroe Islands.

Greenland… I’m afraid I’m gonna have to add this one to the “Glad I got there, not going back” country list. The landscape is impressive at least, so wild it makes you think about the primary forces that shaped the earth as we know it. Very very deep! However, the hunan habitat is depressing at it’s best. The aviation fees are steep and the service amateurish. Definitely not consistent with the hostility of the prevaling flight conditions. But N6000Q is tough cookie!

On departure from Nook we had solid IMC for more than 1hr. Climbing from sea level to 9000ft through the fjord feels intense. The prevaling weather conditions gradually improved towards BGKK, however. Still, the flight over the icecap will be remembered as the most challenging leg of our journey, as we managed to collect a fair amount of ice too.

On the bright side: I ate in Nook the best bread of my life. Hard to describe. Yellowish dough, perfect crust all around, smeared in grain seeds. I will never forget this bread!

Last but maybe the most important: happy birthday to my companion, Bogdan. I discovered we both like adventure travelling, airplanes, motorcycles, photography and – very important aspect – drinking various types of booze from the proper type of glass! Happy birthday, buddy!

Sudbury was advertised on the Canadian immigration website as a port of entry. However, upon landing there (following a direct flight from Louisville) we found out that the customs office has been decommissioned two years prior. Easier for us, I guess. Quickly refuel and let’s move on. From there, moving North, mostly swamps. Apart from the desert and the tundras, probably the least habitable environment on earth. The next stop, Matagami, was a remote outpost and a mining town in North Quebec. Few eating options: gas station number 1 and gas station number 2. Spent one night there The next stop, some 1000km away, was Kuujjuaq. Bigger outpost but less prepared for general aviation traffic: fuel was only available in 55 gallons increments (barrels), and bringing your own transfer pump was the only option, as they did not have one available. We left quickly and flew our first leg over cold waters, towards Iqaluit – the capital of Nunavut Despite being the most remote outpost in that side of Canada, it was also the biggest, with a population of around 7700. The local FBO was super helpful and friendly, and they even provided us with guesthouse accomodation. Ordered poutine for dinner, a far cry from the one I had in Montreal about a year ago. But it was ok.

The first part of the trip was pretty smooth, except for a little thunderstorm in the vicinity of Prescott, AZ. We did refuelling stops in Sedona, Albuquerque and Tulsa. Then we spent three nights in Louisville, using the time to check the local sights as well as to prepare the plane for what was scheduled to follow. Apart from the usual luggage, we packed a portable lifeboat, survival immersion suits as well as other survival gear such as: knives, Mylar blankets, flint fire starter, food rations, first aid kit etc. Plus some tooks and spare parts for the plane.

Beginning on the 12th of August, me and my friend Bogdan have been flying thin cute little Mooney from California with the intention of reaching Romania via Canada, Greenland, Iceland, UK and so on. The purpose was to reposition the plane in Europe, get Bogdan ready to operate it alone, as well as keep ourselves entertained.