We gawped at a gigantic slab of ice. It was one such iceberg from Greenland that drifted many hundreds of miles into the path of the Titanic …

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SeaView editor David Simpson begins his series of journeys Down Memory Lane with an unforgettable voyage to the icefields of Greenland on Hurtigruten’s Fram

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As we drifted among a field of ice-scrapers, some 60 metres tall, others 50 metres wide, it was impossible to believe that we were close to the shores of GREEN-land.

It was also hard to believe that the opportunity to get up so close to such icy monsters of the sea was an apology – if you like – for not being able to visit one of the wonders of the world – the biggest ice phenomenon of them all at Ilulissat, which means iceberg in Greenlandic.

Nature waits for no man, and so much ice had carved off the 100-metre high white wall during the summer melt that our polar explorer, the Fram, couldn’t get closer than seven miles to the city port for fear of being locked in or crushed – or both. Two weeks earlier the path had been relatively clear.

It is at the mouth of the fjord that icebergs from the gigantic Jakobshavn glacier run aground, creating a breathtaking skyscraper skyline out of ice.

This was to have been the highlight of our seven-day cruise aboard the Hurtigruten explorer Fram along a 1,190 nautical miles of the green and craggy south-western coastline of Greenland. The remainder of the island – the largest in the world measuring 836,330 sq miles – is an ice-sheet only surpassed in size by the Antarctic.

But as we gently drifted around the Disko icefields, touching the small icebergs, steering clear of the big ones, no one on board our eight-seat Polar Cirkle dinghy was complaining.

We gawped at one gigantic slab of ice, and it was no surprise to learn that it was one such iceberg from Ilulissat that drifted its way many hundreds of miles into the path of the Titanic, with those catastrophic consequences.

Our expedition leader and pilot took great care to keep us a safe distance from the bergs as in a split second they can crack in two or, even worse, completely flip over. Such is the power of nature.

Our cruise comprised a succession of hikes, rides and adventures, at all times of the day that softened any disappointment the 240 passengers on Fram might have felt.

I say day deliberately as during the summer, from the end of May to the end of July, the day has no beginning a no end. The soft, warm rays from the low-lying, never-setting sun give the surrounding scenery a dreamlike appearance; icebergs and hilltops are bathed in a surrealistic palette of pink, purple, yellow and red hues.

And life never seems to stop. Children roller skate down the street in the middle of the bright night with the sun hanging low on the horizon. Groups of people sit dotted around the hills enjoying the never-ending rays of sunshine, and the small settlements are abuzz with life until the early hours.

Our own journey began with a 90-minute SAS flight from Heathrow to Copenhagen where we enjoyed two nights at the Admiral Hotel amid a forest of pine beams the size of which had to be seen to be believed.

The hotel is perfectly placed for visiting most of the city’s attractions and museum on foot, and a fine meal at the hotel’s Conran-inspired Salt Bar set us up for the next day’s flight with Air Greenland in a jet which was sensibly blood red, as it makes it easily spottable in Greenland’s white landscape should disaster befall us.

Fortunately, it didn’t, and our Hurtigruten charter flight touched down four hours later at Kangerlussuaq, once a US military base known as Bluie West-8, vacated at the end of the Cold War but with an American option to take it back should another world conflict arise.

A 15-minute coach ride – after a frustrating 45-minute wait with no apology – and a five-minute dingy transfer delivered us to the Fram, parked in the Sondrestromfjord.

After a smooth check-in process, we were quickly dispatched to our extremely comfortable deck six suite, with plenty of time to enjoy a glass or two of welcome aboard champagne before the suitcases arrived.

Then it was off to the spacious open-seating dining room where a buffet of considerable proportions – the first of many – offered a wide variety of fish and meat dishes, along with a smorgasbord, which was only to be expected on a Norwegian ship.

All three meals a day are in fact buffet, except for three “plated” occasions when the friendly Filipino waiters serve you at your pre-arranged table, which is in an exclusive selection of best-placed tables for guests in suites. And the extra weight I carried home was testament to how good the food is.

Tables are shared, which gives guests the opportunity to share their experiences, although this can be quite an adventure itself given that the guest list is akin to a royal coronation, assembled from north, south east and west.

Predominantly German and Scandinavian, a large party of French, four Brits, four Chinese, one from Japan … it made for an interesting – if not sometimes tedious – array of tannoy announcements.

The restaurant offers panoramic views from the back of the ship, but as we sailed towards our first never-setting sunset, we moved up front to the luxurious observation lounge from where the world of Greenland unveiled itself over the next seven days.

During that time we discovered life in the settlements and cities as Fram hugged the coastal waters which were becoming more and more icy as we headed north, eventually developing into an ocean of a million icebergs.

First call was Sissimiut, which for a land with just 57,000 inhabitants, is given “city” status with a population of little over 5,000. It is the education centre of the island, with excellent schools and children eager to learn. Once the word was out that the Fram was in town, a group of adult students journeyed from the capital Nuuq (pop 12,000) intent on engaging with guests to practise their English, even if the guests themselves weren’t exactly fluent.

We also had the opportunity to experience traditional Greenland cuisine of reindeer, musk ox, locally caught fish and snow crab and, for the first – and only – time, whale blubber. I can only describe it as tasteless chewing gum, while the dried whalemeat could be compared to South African biltong.

A succession of daily visits to settlements such as Ummannaq and Ukkusisat introduced us to the prettier sights of the island, each offering small communities of wooden chalets in a kaleidoscope of colour amid wild but peaceful settings close to the waters’ edge.

Here was also a backing soundtrack of howling Greenlandic sleigh dogs, lots of them, which live in their own communities on the edge of the settlements. Each family is allowed a team of 12 dogs – necessary to haul them through the winter snows – so you can imagine the din if we ventured too close.

And although evening entertainment is not on the daily agenda, on one evening the locals of Ukkusisat came on board for a lively performance of traditional song and dance .

The tiny hamlet of Itilleq, with just 80 inhabitants, is especially enchanting, and left me wondering why so many had left this idyllic environment. It has a wonderful school which any village in England would be proud of. Equipped for 40 children, it now teaches just three as the lure of actually being paid to be educated in Denmark is proving very strong.

The settlement, like so many others, is struggling to come to terms with the modern world, and will likely die before too long.

The Greenlanders are a very friendly people, and were excited to open the doors of their comfortable, open-plan homes to the visitors from Fram. We were entertained to excellent coffee and home made cakes while the hostesses busied themselves in the kitchen, but there was not a man of the house to be found … anywhere.

In fact, despite evidence of homes being built or renovated, I never spotted one man in any of the settlements with a hammer or saw in his hand. Maybe they were all out hunting.

Greenland is a more recent diversion for Hurtigruten, whose flagship itinerary is along the coast of Norway. Over six days it visits 34 ports between Bergen in the south and Kirkenes on the Russian border.

Many of the guests on board Fram had also been on this voyage and raved about it. As well as the larger towns and cities, the ship also calls at small inlets and fishing villages and provides a lifeline for many coastal communities.

Hurtigruten – 02039 935076, www.hurtigruten.co.uk

First published in MailOnline’s TravelMail on 14 August, 2013