Arctic Adventures: ACES Edition: Churchill, Manitoba & Arviat, Nunuvat

Dog Carting

Leaving at 8 :30 pm on Tuesday, Elizabeth and Chris took the a van fitting 10 people to dog carting at Blue Sky Mushing. Once we got to the facility, there were about 30 dogs, each with their own little house which were elevated to ensure that the dogs stay dry. Gerald and Jennifer, the owners, explained that many of the dogs were acquired through adoption programs (much like the Humane Society) and as a result they came in rough shape. As such, the dogs were well treated and the training methods were efficient – they did what mother dogs do with their young. It was amazing to watch - the ‘leader’ dogs even took the initiative to help the newer dogs out. We were glad that the dogs were well trained. The company even went to the extent that guns were always accessible for the protection of guests and dogs.

As soon as the cart is pulled up and the dogs are being attached, the rest of the dog yard becomes very excited. As a result, the first run is significantly faster than the later ones. However, in the summer, the dogs do only one loop (a one mile stretch) as opposed to the 2 mile stretch that they would run in the winter due to the heat. Chris and Elizabeth were the 3rd run to go that evening (2 passengers and a musher). Three simple commands led the dogs (left, right and stop – said as gee, hah, etc.). While they were on, there was a rabbit that one of the leader dogs , Whiskey, had his eye on, so the musher (Gerald) had to remind him to keep his focus on the road. The dogs were hugging the curves and weren’t afraid to pull us into the yard going full speed! Oh, and did I mention the dog names? Google with his brother Yahoo, Coffee (probably Chris’ favourite), and Ultra and Sound since the musher’s wife was an ultrasound technician.

After all 6 pairs of passengers had gone, we went into the cabin and ate from freshly made bannock and cookies made with wild blueberries as we warmed our frozen hands with hot chocolate. We waited around for a little while hoping to get a glimpse of the northern lights. There was only a faint glimmer around 11 :40 pm but at least we were able to see the stars and constellations quite clearly. We then grabbed our pictures and decided to call it a night. What an adventure!

-Chris and Elizabeth

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

The Fort

A late morning start led to a rushed breakfast to catch the bus to go see the Fort Prince of Wales and go on a Beluga whale watching tour. Once the group got there the 25 people split up, and our group went to the Fort first.

You may know that everything was different up north. But being able to eat a plant – petals, leaves, everything – was interesting. Fireweed has pretty purple flowers (stunning at this time of year) with fiery stems and long leaves holding them up. They were quite plain but still good; especially when compared to soap berries, which earned their name for a reason. But even with a somewhat unflattering taste in our mouthes, you could not walk into the Fort Prince of Wales without hearing oohs and aahs.

As a quick summary, the Fort was built - the third one, after the first which was taken over by the french and the second which broke down - by the Hudsons Bay Trading Company in 1731. Never mind the fact that it took 40 years to build – due to ice build-up and all the harsh weather up in Churchill as well as unskilled laborers. Once it was done, Samuel Hearne became governer and it all went well until a French privateer arrived with 300 soldiers and forced surrender (1777), without a single shot being fired (talk about expensive canons going to waste!), and even after that the Fort was set on fire, the cannons destroyed, and the fort was never again put to use.

It was ironic that the British fort was built in French style, but the final product was very impressive to behold. Cleverly constructed of stone, an example of the architect’s foresight was that the baker and the blacksmith shared a room so that they only needed one oven. Although the traders’ and settlers’ survival depended on their friendship with the Aboriginal people, it was convenient that Chuchill is located near both Native Americans (Dene and Cree) and Inuit.

We were then informed by men with guns (standard patrol in the area) of a polar bear sighting by the water about 2km up from where we were. We left the Fort with our fingers crossed.

Whale watching

All the excitement of the morning caused Sami to trip and fall on his face. But his meltdown (second of the day) didn’t last for long as we boarded the boat. « Boogaga! » was his way of saying beluga, and his enthusiastic mispronunciation as he said ‘bye bye boogaga’ to every whale made everyone on the boat laugh. The whales were beautiful as they emerged through the calm waters.

And then we saw the polar bears! It was a mother and her cub lounging on some rocks, sniffing the air as we came nearer. From the constant movement of the boat it was difficult to get a decent photo, but the sight was incredible. The entire morning was amazing and we were very much looking forward to the adventures of Arviat!

Arviat

It was great that Sami napped on the the plane as he – like the rest of us – is slightly sleep deprived. The flight was only about an hour, but we were still treated very well. Mom especially enjoyed our stewardess who was the most animated flight attendant that we had every experienced. At the tiny Arviat airport, Olivia, the person in charge of tourism for the Hamlet, greeted our family warmly. This was introduction to what it’s like to be in a place where everyone speaks Inuktitut and where we don’t quite fit in (we also learned that hi and bye in Inuktitut are not said because their informal; the Inuit prefer more personal greetings like how are you, qanuippit).

For dinner we had caribou with fireweed salad and dessert baked with wild cranberries, all of which were delicious. Caribous is kind of like really nice, tender steak with a slight difference in flavor. It has been a great start to our Arviat adventures!