It looks like a good day to travel, – blue skies, light winds. After showers and a good breakfast, we headed out. I had dismantled most of the camp the night before so it did not take us long to hit the road. We said goodbye to Winnipeg as we circumvented the city on the perimeter road.
Our destination was Sandbar Provincial Park. We had not reserved a site there, but we felt that there would be a site available on a Sunday afternoon.
The terrain changed several times as we headed east. Farmlands changed to forest and then as we approached Kenora, the lakes appeared. Kenora and the Lake of the Woods looked interesting and we took our time going through Kenora, and stopped in at the visitor center to make sure that we were not going to miss anything.
We fueled the truck and continued on. As we wound our way through the miles of forests, lakes and rocky hills, it became apparent to us that we needed to find a campsite before Sandbar Provincial Park. We had promised each other that we would not drive for too long or drive in the dark. Debbie searched the maps and found Blue Lake Provincial Park, just ahead of us so we thought we would try to find a site there. Sandbar Provincial Park would have been another hour away. Luck was with us, and we secured a great site near the lake!!
It was still early afternoon, so we set up and planned either to go swimming in the lake or go kayaking. We always toast a new province with a bottle of Proseco, but for some strange reason we had forgotten to stop at a liquor store! I inquired at the gatehouse and learned that there was a liquor outlet just 8 kms from the campground. We also liked the campground and I was able to secure our site for another day. I quickly jumped into the truck and made it to the store minutes before their closing time.
As I was returning to the campground, I saw it again! The black cloud was looking for us!! Sure enough, within a hour, thunder and lightning began and the winds picked up. So much for our swimming or kayaking plans. We still carried out our tradition and toasted our new province, Ontario. We went inside, I worked on more blog notes, and we talked on the phone to our daughter Rina and then went to bed listening to the rain tapping on our roof.
Today was the last day of our visit in Winnipeg. We enjoyed breakfast and suddenly received a call from Mastercard security advising us that Debbie’s Mastercard had been compromised. Debbie made arrangements to have a new card forwarded to her and we would pick it up at a Bank of Montreal in Sudbury, Ontario. Thank God for MasterCard Fraud Security Section.
We then headed out to visit the Royal Canadian Mint. Winnipeg has developed a perimeter road system so that motorists can access Winnipeg from different points. It seemed that for us to go to the Mint, on the east side of Winnipeg from the west, was over 40 kms, however it was an easy drive.
As you drive into the entrance to the Mint you are met with a parade of flags lined up on both sides of the entrance. These flags signify over 75 countries that are clients to the Royal Canadian Mint.
The exterior of the building has an impressive glass façade with triangular walls five stories high. The architect wanted to imitate the Rocky Mountains with this design.
Inside you are met with friendly hosts who provide tours of the building every 40 minutes. The Atrium at the entrance is filled with large exotic plants and a large water feature. The gift shop had many unique and interesting coins and souvenir sets from many different countries. In one corner is a display of a 99.9% pure gold bar that weighed about 28lbs and valued at about $800,000.00.
The tour takes you to the second floor, which provides the viewer access to the different rooms below. You can look down into the rooms and see the massive presses and machines necessary to make the many various coins. Each press can stamp over 1000 coins per second. The Royal Canadian Mint has produced over 55 billion coins, and produces an average of 15 million coins a day.
The informative guide explained how the various coins in Canada are produced, including special events loonies and toonies. The Royal Canadian Mint is the first to produce colored coins, starting with the Red poppy loonie in 2008.
He also explained the quality control process used in examining the coins as they are produced.
We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and learned a lot about the Minting process. We left feeling proud that Canada has such an important international reputation with so many foreign countries. This is another important feature for the City of Winnipeg.
We then returned to the campsite and prepared the rig for our departure tomorrow. We noticed that another Boler trailer had arrived at the campground but we did not see the owners. Debbie did some laundry, I worked on the blog and barbequed a fantastic steak and that pretty well wrapped up the day. We are entering Ontario tomorrow!
This morning we both agreed that we wanted to see more of Winnipeg and decided to buy tickets for a trolley ride through the historic and downtown area of Winnipeg. Time was of essence, so we skipped breakfast, thinking we could get a bite downtown, and headed into Winnipeg.
When we arrived at the ticket wicket at the Forks, we found out that the trolley doesn’t go on Fridays. That was not written in the brochures. We opted then to take the free trolley to the Winnipeg Zoo, but that was an hour later, so we then had our breakfast. The Zoo had been recommended to us several times since we planned this trip.
Of course, as we were eating our breakfast that big grey cloud appeared and we got a torrential downpour for about 45 minutes. It stopped just in time for our trolley ride. The sun came out and for the rest of the day it remained sunny. The trolley ride wound its way through several residential areas that had heritage mansions located along the banks of the Assiniboine River.
When we arrived at the zoo we realized that the Zoo and Assiniboine Park is a huge park. There were several exhibits that we wanted to see and the Zoo provides an electric shuttle that makes a regular tour around the property. We hopped on and our first stop was the “Visit to Churchill”. This exhibit is a mini replica of the town of Churchill, Manitoba and we wanted to see it to compare what we saw in the actual place. The exhibit is very comprehensive in its explanations on polar bears and the efforts made in Canada to preserve the polar bear and its habitat. Canada has 2/3 of the world’s population of polar bear. We are the leaders in the world in our research, preservation and documentation of the polar bear.
While we were in the exhibit, my phone rang and I stepped out of the building to answer it. It was the RCMP calling!! Cst. Leclaire was calling from the Thompson RCMP detachment. She had received a call from a follower of this blog, who was concerned about our welfare. I had not been posting any blogs since our trip to Churchill. The reader was aware that we were in the area of the manhunt for the two teenagers who were on the run from the police. They had committed three murders in BC and were last sighted in Gillam, Manitoba, which is a community, on the way by train to Churchill. I thanked Cst. Leclaire for calling me, (she had obtained my phone number from Sorab, her boss, and she had to call me in order to close the file.) but she couldn’t reveal to me who had called her. I assured her that we were fine and would she please advise the reader that I was grateful for their concern. How ironic, that we should be in a Churchill exhibit in Winnipeg and how blessed we are that there are people out there (who we don’t know), that care.
We visited several other exhibits in the Zoo, all of them impressive. We stopped in at the stingray exhibit. The building houses two large shallow aquariums that house many stingrays. They glide along the floor of the aquariums and people are given an opportunity to touch them as they glide past. We are usually not Zoo goers as we enjoy seeing animals in the wild, however, the Winnipeg Zoo is an excellent and well-done attraction particularly for children and those folks who can’t see the animals in the wild.
We then took the trolley back to the Forks and enjoyed a beer on the patio, and decided to take a boat tour on the river. We hopped on a pontoon excursion boat and the driver, Don, gave us and three other passengers a very comprehensive half hour tour of the river. He showed us the various historic sites along the river, the horse stables of the City of Winnipeg, the old train stations and docks from the Hudson’s Bay Company. The view of the impressive legislative buildings and the iconic statue of Louis Riel as well as a view of the Human Rights Museum from a different vantage point made this trip wothwile. We looked at the remains of the Saint Boniface Cathedral. This cathedral, built in 1906, was one of the largest churches in Western Canada. Unfortunately it burned down in 1968 and only the large stone façade still stands. Don also strongly advised us to visit the Canadian Mint before we left Winnipeg.
We made our way back to the campsite after picking up some supplies and then went to the campground office to extend our stay for one more day. Don had convinced us to visit the Mint. We enjoyed a roast chicken that Debbie had purchased on our way home, and I worked on the blog. That ended another great day and we went to bed, looking forward to another day in Winnipeg tomorrow.
Our first day back from Nanaimo and we were anxious to explore Winnipeg. We had a bit of a slow start but by 10:00 we were ready to go. Our next-door neighbors had a Boler trailer with an attached screen room. We said hi and because they were busy and so were we, we agreed to talk to them later in the day. Our mission today was to visit the Canadian Human Rights Museum. We had made an earlier trip into Winnipeg so we had a bit of an idea as to where we were going. Besides, we had “Miss Taken “to guide us also.
Our first impressions of Winnipeg are that it is a busy city. We were coming into the city from the west side on the #1 Hwy and traffic was heavy right to the downtown core.
We found a parking lot across from the museum and the first thing you realize is how large and impressive this building is. The building has no square corners, and has five glass curved layers that seem to embrace the building like arms or wings. In the centre of the building a spire which rises high above the building as if it is unfinished. I was later to learn that that is exactly what the architect was attempting to achieve as the issue of human rights is an ongoing process and will never be finished. The weather outside was getting very hot and so the air- conditioned building was a welcome relief.
The first major exhibit was the story of Nelson Mandela and his crusade and influence in South Africa to break the bonds of apartheid. Many of the exhibits and displays were heart breaking and even hard to understand that apartheid was so entrenched for such a long time in the country.
A volunteer in the museum suggested that we take the elevator and go to the sixth floor and work down to the main floor. She also suggested taking the single elevator to the eight floor that brings you up into the middle of the spire. Debbie opted to just go to the sixth floor, but I went to the top. From there you can see all of Winnipeg, and then if you look down you can see straight down inside the building to the main floor. It was bit of a “gut tightener” but very interesting to look down into the administration offices as well as the eight levels. The entire building inside is built in a spiral so you can walk all the way down on a sloping ramp floor. As you descend you enter the various exhibits and you can look down to the various levels as you descend. Each floor features human rights issues that occurred throughout the world. Issues ranging from slavery, the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, and the Serbian, Croatia, and Bosnian wars were also featured. As you descended to the last two floors, human rights issues that were recent and those that took place in Canada were featured. It also featured a opinion poll as to the various decisions that were and are being made by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The entire museum is an interactive display, meaning that at each feature, you can participate in the displays with touch screens and explore each issue deeper simply by touching the screen and following the prompts. I was also impressed with an wall hanging that cascaded down the side wall made up of thousands of clay handprints. The artist that designed this feature took the clay that was dug from the site and got people from Winnepeg to mold a ball of clay with their hands. She then fired these handprint/balls of clay in a kiln and attached them all together to make this enormous wall hanging. The hanging signifies that everyone is involved in developing not only the building but also human rights.
We spent 4½ hours in the museum and had to leave because it was closing time. We left with several realizations. We are fortunate to be living in Canada and that the issue of Human Rights is an important item engrained into our constitution, and secondly that there is still so much more to do when it comes to how we treat each other in this world.
When we left the museum we walked down to the area that is called the Forks Market. This area is built on the banks of the confluence of the Assiniboine and the Red rivers. The plaza has incorporated the remains of the Hudson’s Bay trading fort – Fort Garry, and the now defunct railroad lift bridge into the park. The main building houses many different types of eateries and restaurants. Outside of the building were picnic tables, and Adirondack chairs positioned on three levels that overlooked the river.
In the middle of the plaza a large open sided tent is permanently erected. It appeared that live music was going to be featured. Debbie and I bought our beers and food and found some chairs under the tent and watched three different bands perform. The music ranged from a drum band featuring African music, to another band featuring classic rock and finishing with a hard rock band to end the performance.
It was then time for us to go back to our campsite. As we drove back we reflected on our day. The Human Rights Museum is definitely a centerpiece for the city of Winnipeg. Winnipeg has done a fantastic job of developing the banks of the rivers into first class parks, boulevards and walking and cycling trails. We both were very impressed with what we experienced today.
We woke up early with much anticipation. We had arranged with Haz, the owner of the KOA, that we would leave our trailer and truck there at the campsite for 6 days while we headed home to Nanaimo for Sophie’s 7th birthday party and to visit with family. Myra was home for a few days so we could get to visit with her as we hadn’t seen her since the end of February.
We had phoned the previous night for a taxi to be at our campground at 8:00 am which is 25 km out of Winnipeg, and we were worried that they might not show. One thing that we have learned on this trip is to have faith in things turning out right! Sure enough there was our taxi waiting for us, actually 15 minutes early.
Our taxi driver was very talkative and explained a lot of things about Winnipeg on the drive in. We arrived in time to have breakfast, check through security and board the plane. We hadn’t checked in early so Bill and I weren’t sitting together, which made me feel a bit uneasy, but I hooked up to a movie and relaxed for the flight.
We arrived in Vancouver and had a two hour wait time. It felt wonderful to come back to B.C., traveling away certainly makes you realize what you have at home. Our flight left on time and we arrived in Nanaimo with Rina, Jeff, Allie and Sophie waiting for us with open arms and presents. It was great to see them, there were lots of hugs and a few happy tears.
We went to Rina and Jeff’s place to unwind and catch up on each other’s lives. Rina had a terrific supper awaiting for us and we had drinks and just enjoyed being together. There were lots of questions to answer and stories to tell about our trip. We were still on a high from our trip to Churchill!!! We opened the presents that the girls had for us. Allie had painted us a lovely picture of the polar bear and the belugas whale. It hangs in our trailer and we think of her every time we look at it. Sophie bought us a figurine of a momma polar bear and her baby. We cherish both!! Late to bed but that’s ok as we are all on holidays.
The next day was hectic as we had to run into Nanaimo to see Myra and to do some shopping before Sophie’s birthday party. Myra was leaving the next day so she is busy getting her house ready to rent. We had a great quick visit with her for a couple of hours. My sister Chers was arriving this morning so Jeff and Rina were kind enough to pick her up at the ferry. We made it back in time to dress in a tea party theme for the birthday party. The Puska clan arrived along with Ashley, Lyle and family (friends of Rina and Jeff. It was a wonderful day and Sophie enjoyed her special day. It was great to have everyone together in one place so we could visit easily. As the party wound down we headed to the pool and had pizza for dinner, visiting again till late in the evening.
Sophie, Rina, Jeff
Sophie- The Birthday Girl
Debbie
Aliie
Chers
Bill
The new two days were spent relaxing and visiting. It was great to catch up with Chers as I hadn’t got to see her before I left. On Sunday night we got together with our dear friends Wayne and Pat for dinner at Longwood Pub and then a game of Settlers of Catan at their place. As usual I lost, but it was great to visit with our friends.
On Monday night Chers treated us to a wonderful evening at Cuckoo, my favourite restaurant. It was wonderful to sit on the patio and take in the sights and sounds and visit.
Tuesday morning Chers left for home and Bill and I went into Nanaimo. We had coffee dates with our coffee groups. Bill met his group at “Cafe today” and helped celebrate Ron’s birthday. His whole gang was there.
Happy Birthday Ron!
I was lucky to catch up with all my aqua ladies(Phyllis, Barbara, Carol, Elaine, Jennie) at Jennie’s house, she made a wonderful tea time with fresh home made scones and tea. Thanks Jennie! We talked but I think I did most of the talking, answering questions and telling them antidotes about the trip.
We met up with Rina and Jeff for dinner at Saigon kitchen and then back to their place to pack for the trip back to the trailer and to continue our journey. Early to bed as Rina had to work in the morning. We had said goodbye to Allie and Sophie earlier in the day as they went to their dad’s place and we wouldn’t see them before we left.
We woke up early and said goodbye to Rina. Jeff drove us to the airport and again we were on the move. Our friends Wayne and Pat called us “the gypsies” and we are beginning to feel like that.
Our flights went smoothly without any delays and we arrived back in Winnipeg to the KOA to find all well with the trailer and truck. Headed to bed as we were both very tired. The journey continues……….
We had no idea what Watchorn campground looked like, because we quietly drove in at 11:30pm with our lights dimmed, found our site and parked without unhitching. It was therefore a pleasant surprise to wake up to see this campground. It is built on the edge of Watchorn Lake and was well groomed. It is oriented to family camping as there was large playgrounds, and a beach along one side of the campsites.
Watchorn Lake
We were both still tired but anxious to get to Winnipeg. After breakfast we went for a shower and we were on the road again by 10:30am. The truck and trailer were covered in mud as the last 20 kms into Watchorn last night was on gravel roads and it had just rained. We stopped in at a wand car wash and quickly washed them down before we started our drive.
It was a pleasant drive as we travelled on secondary highways through lush farmland. We had reserved at a commercial KOA campground that is about 25 kms west of the city. Debbie had arranged that we would stay at the KOA for the duration that we were away in Nanaimo. The owner and Debbie had come to an agreement that he would charge us half price for the time we were away and full price for when we were actually there.
We arrived at the KOA at about 2:30pm. After we set up the trailer we packed two carry on bags to take with us to Nanaimo. We decided that we should slip into the city and check out the airport before we go there tomorrow. We had debated leaving the truck parked at the airport while we were away. We drove to the Winnipeg Airport, and had supper there. We made the decision to leave the truck at the KOA and take a taxi to the airport in the morning. We would see more of Winnipeg when we return, so we went back to the campground, made arrangement to have the taxi pick us up at 7:00am tomorrow and we went to bed. We were looking forward to seeing our family and friends for a short five days.
The “slow train to Thompson” stopped at a small settlement and it woke me up around 7:30 in the morning. I actually had a good sleep, but realized that we still had a long way to go. We enjoyed a breakfast in the dining car and then climbed up into the dome car to watch the scenery pass by. We joined Dave and Millie and James, a young man who is living in Churchill while his girlfriend studies at the Churchill Northern Studies Center. We chatted and discussed many topics as the train chugged along. We were expected to arrive in Thompson at 11:00pm but that had changed to 2:00pm in the afternoon so instead we enjoyed a lunch while Al, the conductor, told us little stories of the railroad to Churchill. The railroad was once owned by Hudson’s Bay Railroad, but has since been sold and now bought by a consortium of Canadian investors. Apparently the many First Nations settlements along the route to Churchill also have ownership in the railroad company.
We finally arrived in Thompson at 2:45pm and took a taxi to Sorab and Victoria’s home. Sorab was still in a meeting and Victoria was conducting a conference call so in the meantime, we quietly loaded up the trailer and did our safety checks and prepared to leave. Victoria finished her call, and we went inside to visit, Sorab came in from work, and that gave us time to visit for a short period. We had reserved a campsite in Watchorn campground that was about 450 kms south. This meant that we had to leave soon. Our visit with Sorab and Victoria was short and we felt bad that we had to leave so suddenly after all of the hospitality they had shown us. Our rapid departure was because we had to be in Winnipeg on the 19thso that we could catch a plane to fly back to Nanaimo to be at Sophie, our grandaughter’s seventh birthday, a promise that we had to keep.
We headed south on Highway #6, a highway that near Thompson, is undergoing a lot of construction, however about 100 kms further it becomes a wide open spaced highway. This road is straight south to Winnipeg, with very few inhabitants along the way. The first four hours were, in a word, dreary. Thoughts came into my mind that there was no communication service, no gas stations and if one broke down, they would be at the mercy of fate if they were not prepared. I would not want to drive this highway in winter without taking extra precautions and survival gear. Several times along the way, there were signs stating that you must have survival gear and enough fuel.
About 10:00pm the skies darkened and we watched an electrical storm roll across the sky in front of us. Then we drove right into a heavy rainstorm that lasted for another half hour. We made the turn into Watchorn campsite at 11:30pm and we wearily parked the rig and climbed into bed, exhausted.
Today was packing up day. The plans were for us to pack up our gear, and leave it at the front counter. New guests were arriving by plane and train and we were boarding the train in the late afternoon. After we packed we boarded the bus to go out to the Tundra Crawler for a journey across the tundra in the hopes of seeing bears or other animals.
Judd drove the bus about fifteen miles outside of Churchill to where the Tundra Crawler is parked. This machine is massive. It looks like a school bus on steroids. It has a large bus like body with bench seats, a propane heater, washroom and a small patio at the rear. The wheels alone of this machine are six feet high and it is powered with a caterpillar motor. Of course, Judd was the driver and Jason was the photographer. We crawled along a small trail stopping occasionally to view sandhill cranes, eagles and falcons. Unfortunately we did not see any bears. At one point we stopped at a beach on the bay and did some beachcombing under the watchful eye of Judd. She then drove us out to a view point to show us the remains of a beached freighter that was sitting on the rocks near shore.
The story of this freighter is that in the mid 1900 it was carrying supplies to Churchill and was caught in a storm. The captain dropped anchor to ride out the storm however, the winds dragged the ship to shore and it beached on the shallow shores. No one was injured and most of the supplies were salvaged. At low tide you can still walk out to the wreck. After returning to the parking area for the Tundra Crawler we boarded the bus to go to the airport.
The majority of the guests were leaving by charter aircraft and new guests were arriving to be brought back into Churchill. On our way to the airport, we visited the site of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. This impressive building is built near the site of the abandoned missile testing sites that had been established in the 1960s. The Churchill Northern Studies Centre, is the home of university students from many different universities to conduct northern studies. Its motto is “to understand and sustain the North.” We learned that they accept volunteers to assist in the studies and the general day to day activities at the center.
We also made a short visit to the Polar Bear Jail again as the doors were open so we thought we could take a peek inside. There were no bears inside but we could see the holding cells.
We then toured the sites of the old missile silos. During the 1960s and then further into the 1970s, several different companies built missile launching sites. The purpose of the missiles was to conduct research into the lower altitudes in space. This included research into the ozone layers, and also to study the aurora borealis. As technology improved, these type of research methods were abandoned.
We then drove to the airport, and said goodbye to the departing guests. Debbie and I were given a ride back to the resort by Debbie, Jason’s wife who is also a part time guide of the resort. We ate lunch at the restaurant and waited until about 6:00 until it was time to go to the train station. Debbie again drove us to the station, we said goodbye to her and Churchill and boarded the train at 7:00.
We got the same cabin that we had on our trip up to Churchill. We settled into the cabin and then went to the dome car to watch Churchill disappear on the horizon. In the dome car, we met Dave, a retired US navy electrical engineer, and his wife Millie. They were from Minnesota, and had spent four days in Churchill. They told us they have been travelling for twenty years and have made over 24 trips across Canada! They have been volunteers in the National Parks in Alaska for many years. They were a very interesting couple to talk to. We watched the sun go down over Churchill and watched the bright red full moon rise over the boreal forest. It was time for bed.
Today was going to be a relaxing day as there were no excursions planned. We had a lazy morning going through our photographs and working on the blog notes. After breakfast, I went to a presentation put on by our guide Jason.
Besides being a guide for Lazy Bear Resort, Jason is also a commercial photographer and the in house photographer for the resort. He has worked for several news/sports media firms and has covered the last four Olympics as a sports photographer. Off-season in Canada, Jason guides and is a photographer for a tour company in Antarctica. He offered to put on a short presentation on tips on how to take great photographs. I desperately need those kinds of lessons.
Lazy Bear Resort has a small presentation building with multi media screens etc. near the docks and that is where we met. The lessons that Jason went over with us were the fundamentals for taking good photographs and he showed us many of his photos and explained what he was doing with his cameras, what he was trying to accomplish, and the proper settings and positioning to take the photos. Many of his photographs that he showed us are pictures that we had seen on TV or in newspapers. Many are iconic. Later in the morning, Debbie and I walked through the town again. We had learned that there is a stained glass window in the Anglican Church that we should see. We visited the church and learned that the church had once been located on the other side of the river near the Prince of Wales fort. It had been dismantled into three pieces and barged across the river and relocated in its present site. Inside the church is a large stained glass window that had been presented to the people of Churchill who had helped in the many searches for the sailors of the lost Franklin Expedition in 1845. Lady Jane Franklin, wife of the explorer, Sir John Franklin, had gifted the window.
Sir John Franklin had made several on land expeditions from Churchill into Northern Canada, before he made the ill-fated expedition that cost him his life and those of 129 sailors. Over twenty-five search expeditions were conducted between 1846 and 1880 in attempts to locate the remains of his ships and his men. Lady Jane was a driving force in encouraging the British government to launch these expeditions and she funded several of these expeditions herself. Of course, in 2014 the wreck of the HMS Erebus was located and in 2016, the wreck of the HMS Terror was located.
In the afternoon, Debbie and I attended an beluga ecology presentation put on by Courtenay. Courtney is a part time employee of Lazy Bear Resort and is a university student studying, northern biology. Her presentation was very informative and we learned more about the various northern ecological zones, and the effects of climate change to the lives of the animals and plants in the north.
In the evening we relaxed in the restaurant, chatting to various guests and then went back to our room to call our children and family.
This morning turned out to be another great way to start the day. We went downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast talked to some of the guests as they too arrived. Suddenly one of the patrons started shouting, “There is a bear at the front of the lodge! “ We all got up to look outside and saw the white polar bear saunter to the side toward the back of the resort, so we all ran to the back of the restaurant to watch. You could hear horns blaring outside and we watched as a conservation officer screeched to a halt beside the restaurant and stepped out, loaded her shotgun and fired a shot into the air over the top of the bear. There was a large blast and a flash of orange. The bear looked over its shoulder and continued to saunter away towards the tundra. Another conservation officer on the other side of the restaurant, took another shot with his flare gun and the bear continued on. Several flare shots were fired towards the bear and the officers kept on honking their horns. The bear slipped into a nearby melt pond, climbed out the other side and shook itself and continued on out of sight. About a half hour later we heard the helicopter take off and saw it fly in the direction of where the bear went.
We later learned that this was the first polar bear to arrive in Churchill for the summer. It had walked through the town, and onto a porch of one of the residences. There were unconfirmed rumors that it had been tranquilized and transported back to the ice floes.
After breakfast it was time to get ready to go kayaking with the belugas. There were six of us that had signed up and we met our new guide for this adventure, Noah, in the lobby. Noah is actually Jason’s son, and is also a qualified guide. Noah is also a student at Ottawa College. We drove to the docks and were suited into neoprene wet suits and life jackets. After a familiarization talk, we headed out into the river estuary. Noah paddled with us and there was another guide in a zodiac boat cruising near us in the event of an accident. Debbie and I are experienced kayakers but it was comforting to have this safety measure near us in these frigid waters.
You could see the belugas everywhere, swimming in different directions and could hear them blowing all around you. Within minutes a small group of four or five came towards us one surfaced about five feet from Debbie’s kayak and then did a deep dive directly beside her kayak, smacking its tail on the water as it went down. Shortly after, I watched as a beluga came behind Debbie’s kayak and pushed with its nose on the rudder. For the next three hours, we were surrounded by the Belugas. They would come under the kayak and bump the bottom. You could reach out and touch them but that is prohibited. They generally swam in small groups, and often mother and baby would swim alongside the kayak. A newborn beluga calf is a mottled brown color and as they age they turn a mottled grey color and eventually turning to white. A newborn calf is about three feet long. Belugas generally have one calf and if they have two the second one generally dies because the mother is spending its time bringing the first newborn to the surface to breathe resulting in the second one dying.
The weather was warm with sunny skies and no wind. The water was calm and it simply was an idyllic time paddling among these curious and friendly creatures. Our excursion lasted about three hours that simply flew by. It was magical!
Soon it was time to return back to the resort. We came back to the resort and had a quick dinner. This afternoon we were going to visit the Prince of Wales fort on the other bank of the river and cruise among the belugas again in a zodiac. Both tour groups were going so we were all in several groups of six. We quietly cruised in the estuary with the belugas cruising near and around us. After about an hour, we then turned towards the fort and cruised toward the docks.
We were greeted by three Parks Canada employees who proceeded to give a very informative presentation about the building of the fort and the life of the Hudson Bay Company traders that lived at Prince of Wales. Because if was late afternoon, the mosquitoes were very hungry for new fresh blood! Fashion statements aside, we donned our mosquito net hats and jackets so that we could enjoy this tour. The whole time we were at the fort we noticed about four bear sentries on ATVs on the perimeter of the fort and three others on foot. They were dressed in bright white vests with red hats and carrying shotguns and binoculars.
The Prince of Wales fort was built in 1771 and at that time was made of wood. It was later rebuilt to British specifications into a stone fort. It was never really completed. Stone was used in the four-foot thick walls, however the mortar was mixed with salt water instead of fresh water, which over many years began to disintegrate. Forty-two cannons were placed on the walls around the perimeter of the fort.
At the same time Cape Merry was also erected as a cannon battery to protect the fort across the river. In 1782 three French warships captured the fort. Samuel Hearne, the governor of the fort at the time, surrendered the fort without a single shot being fired. He was aware that his men were not trained military men and he did not want bloodshed. The fort was later turned back to the Hudson’s Bay Company after the wooden structures were burned down.
After a very interesting presentation and walk through the grounds and the walls of the fort, it was time to return to the resort. We were escorted back to the zodiacs by the polar bear sentries. As we cruised back to the other side of the river, Noah suddenly had to shut off the motor of the zodiac as we were totally surrounded by belugas. They swam around, under and in front of the zodiac. Noah radioed to the other zodiacs that we would be late arriving, as he did not want to start the motor until the belugas could give us some space. After about twenty minutes, the belugas began to disperse and Noah started the motor and we went ashore.
Again, the ride to the resort was abuzz with us all talking about what we had experienced. Tomorrow is going to be a quieter day.
Quilting in a Kayak 