Ittoqqortoormiit summers amount to three bad sledding months. There are no bikinis, or shorts and in over two years I’ve only ever seen a woman in a skirt once. I did wear a T-shirt this summer but indoors, with a heating stove on. Summer means clothing attire is reduced, that’s all, from eight to four inches thick.

This year’s summer began to feel like a real drag and I was all too eager for the first winter snows to fall. With all my journey depots established I began preparing for the new snow season ahead and started sled repairs by replacing damaged slats and rope bindings. No special tools required except the Primus lighters distributed by Rosker. These lighters are the best of their kind I’ve ever used.

Two journalists wearing their vegetarian leather shoes and travel suits made from bio-degradable fig leaves flew here in the Greenpeace helicopter because for some reason they didn't want to bring the boat close to town. Maybe they’d heard something. Now, it is true years ago there was a summer when the re-supply ship came in and by day went about ferrying cargo ashore. But by night, by golly, the crew began to invite locals aboard, female locals to be exact. The response was simple: men folk gunfire was aimed at the ship. Outcome? Crews don’t invite girls aboard anymore.

So back to Greenpeace, well I don’t know why but these hacks kept telling everyone what ship they were off, stupid really because at that juncture nobody here wanted to answer the eco-absurd questions. Good, because I for one am sick and tired of people sticking their noses into a world they just don’t or won’t understand. The same people that would have you and your children believe that the animal world is made up of one enormous Winnie-the-Pooh and Scooby Doo cartoon feature where nothing never ever dies but life is beautiful in a kingdom where houses are made from sweeties, animals talk cute, mummy and daddy bear adore their jobs, will love each other forever and live happily ever after. And that vegetarian leather shoes are the only way to go.

I didn’t run into these journalists but I wish I had, just so I could show them how my dogs enjoy eating and filling their bellies full with Mister Wally Walrus and Miss Samantha Seal.

Instead I cut up and began to store walrus and seal blubber for winter.

Freeze up started. New ice formed before storms blew it out to sea. New ice formed again before another storm blew this away too. Third time lucky and pancake ice began to thicken.