We started at about 10:30am at the beach right next to our house.

Waiting for everyone....

Getting ready to head out

Cool moon! Taken while we were waiting to leave

On our way!

Bye.....see you tomorrow....

From there we paddled around. We ended up breaking into 2 groups. Since there were students that have kayaked before, they were much faster than the first year students. One of the the teachers and another volunteer took the lead. I stayed in the back with the leader to help with the students that were still getting comfortable with paddling. We finished our Ocean leg at around 12:30pm, during low tide, so we ended up having to portage quite the distance into first lake. The first part was quite rocky with a bit of water. This made it challenging because all the rocks were extremely slippery. From there we were able to use our tow ropes and tie the kayaks to ourselves to pull the them through the water as we walked. The water wasn’t deep enough to be able to paddle through it.  We then paddled a short distance before we had to carry our kayaks over some really rough terrain into first lake. We only had to paddle a short distance before we met up with the other group. We all then took a much deserved lunch break. The students also enjoyed some swimming time.

Lunch break at first lake

From there we paddled the rest of first lake. The wind had started to pick up a little bit so this part was a bit more challenging. The portage between first and second lake was much easier. We climbed a small hill and into second lake. This is where I carried my kayak myself. I had always carried a second kayak with someone else. I have to admit that it is much easier to carry one kayak on your shoulder than it is to carry one in each hand. The teacher I was with and I also helped a couple of the students carry their kayaks into second lake. We paddled through second lake and started to portage to camp. By this time, the students were exhausted, and I have to admit that I was too. It was around 3:30pm. It was decided that from there we would have a couple of students that didn’t paddle pick up the trailer to take the kayaks back. We made it back to camp shortly after 4pm.

Below is a map of where we went. If you click on the markers it will tell you where we were. Zoom in to see a more detailed map.

View Qajaq trip in a larger map

Everyone was exhausted by the time we got to camp. Everyone changed from their wet clothes…….well, almost everyone!! I had asked Etienne to bring my clothes and pillow out during the afternoon. I remember telling him that he should have it at camp no later than 4:30. We arrived shortly before that and I looked around for my stuff. Not surprised that I didn’t find it. I figured 10 minutes wasn’t too bad to wait. Some people felt sorry for me sitting in wet pants and a t-shirt, so I was wearing a borrowed sweater, vest and parka. It was too bad that they were about 4 sizes too big and the wind was just blowing right up them! 4:30 came and went…..4:40 came and went…..4:50 came and went….By this time I was COLD and CRANKY!! Finally at 5:00 Etienne pulled up. I don’t need to finish the story, I’m sure everyone has an idea what happened next! LOL. Let’s just say there were a few choice words spoken! A few minutes later we kissed and made up, so everything turned out. I don’t think that he’ll ever be late again!

By this time everyone was getting hungry so we all started to make supper. Each group made different meals. Our group made hamburgers. I have to admit that I’m not really a fan of frozen patties, but it was one of the best tasting burgers I’ve ever had! I think that had a lot to do with how hungry I was. Like one of the teachers said “I don’t like Klik or macaroni and cheese, but this is the best Klik and macaroni and cheese I’ve ever had”! I admit that I stole the phrase from him.

Camp

Making food

After eating a few of the students decided they wanted to swim. They put on the dry suits and spent some time swimming and jumping in third lake. I have to give them credit for having the energy. After that we all gathered in the meal tent. There were a couple of elders camping at the site as well. We spent the next little while asking them questions. They mostly speak Inuktitut, so the students would translate the question to them, they’d answer and then the students would translate that back to us. It was really interesting listening to their stories of hunting and kayaking.

Everyone huddled in the meal tent with 2 elders

Once we were done asking questions it was bonfire time. It took a little time to get the fire going, but once it was started, it was probably one of the biggest bonfires I have ever seen!! The students really seemed to enjoy it. From there it was bedtime and lights out. It really didn’t take long for everyone to fall asleep.

Beginning of the bonfire

Burning....

Almost done

The "Bathroom" I know it's gross...but I had to post it!!!

Pretty sunset.....

A really nice picture

….to be continued……..

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Etienne told me yesterday that a ship was coming in. Apparently it is the NSSI Sealift that came from Montreal. I have never seen such a large ship so close. This ship brought mostly building supplies into town. We were told that they bring “houses in a can”. Essentially everything they need to build a house is in the Sea-Cans. I figured I’d snap a picture so my southern friends/family can see one too.  I can’t believe how close it can get to shore. I didn’t think the water dropped that quickly. I learned something new. I was excited to see this as our food will come on an actual barge pulled by a tug boat. So this is the last time we’ll see a ship until next year.  Our barge order is due to arrive on October 6th. We’re still patiently waiting for that day to come. Etienne took me to the part of town that the barge was actually bringing all the items to shore. They load all the items onto a “Barge” and a tugboat pulls it to shore. It was really windy today and they barge was being blown around quite a bit. Once the items are on shore they actually delivered the Sea-Cans to their destination.  Below are pictures that I was able to take.

Barge and Tugboat waiting to be unloaded at shore

Sea-Cans waiting to be delivered

You can see the blue Sea-Can being carried up the road by a forklift

Tugboat and barge heading out to pick up the second load.

The tugboat heading back to shore with it's second load of the day

In other news, Etienne talked to Calm Air this morning and our household stuff is due to start arriving in Churchill tomorrow. This means we should start receiving boxes this week. It will come in mulitple shipments, so we don’t know how long it’s going to take to get it all here. I don’t care, all I care is that it’s starting to arrive!! YIPPEE!!

We also have growth!! Our aerogarden is already starting to sprout. So far our Basil, Thyme and Oregano have started to grow!

The Basil starting to come up....

Basil....

Can you see the Thyme in there?

I guess that Aerogarden is true to their word!! The basil was due to sprout in 3 – 7 days and today is the 4th day. I’m excited to be able to take the domes off and hopefully start smelling the wonderful herbs in our house.

That’s all I have for now…..

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We really enjoy cooking and wanted to increase our ability to use fresh herbs/produce. There are a wide variety of options to grow in these things. We are looking to possibly purchase a few, but we figured we try out 1 for now and purchase more if it actually works well. This time we are growing Herbs (Mint, Thyme, Oregano, Chives, Basil and Dill). Apparently the Basil will sprout in 3 – 7 days. So we will patiently wait and see if it’s true.

Introducing the Aerogarden 6 Elite +

One of the "Pods"

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I came out and patiently waited for the plane to take off and hoping the dog would chase it again. It honestly was hilarious. While out there I always had my eye on the level of the water. It started to rain and the plane didn’t seem to be taking off anytime soon, so I decided to head back to the house. As soon as I turned around I discovered that the tide had started to come back in!! We are still waiting for our household effects so I have yet to receive my rubber boots. All I was wearing was running shoes. So I had to wade through mid-calf deep water!! Oops….Next time I will pay attention to the water level ALL around me!! I have attached a video of me traipsing through the water. Good thing I went back to get the video camera hey??!??!?!

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Father Greg spent most of his time picking berries. He picked enough to fill 2 glass jars. It was amazing to see the amount of berries around there…No one was quite sure what they were called, but yes they are safe to eat. Father Greg did find a few blueberries as well. Maybe next time we’ll bring a container to take some home with us and maybe make a pie or jam with them!

As we were getting ready to leave, we started talking about the peacefulness of the north. We were able to look around and see nothing but nature….No power lines, no telephone poles, no cell towers…NOTHING! It’s nice to know that we were the only ones there. It’s so quiet and peaceful. I think I could get used to this kind of life

Getting ready to head down to the lake

The view from where we were fishing

Getting ready to catch all the fish

Hanging out.....

These kids just happened to show up from somewhere??

I got one!! I got one!! The first of 9 fish is caught......

Proudly showing his Arctic Char....

Some of our catch...

Time to eat....

Hanging out while eating

Time to go

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Our house and the RCMP Detachment

School

Power Station

Naja Isabelle - home for disabled kids

Front of Airport Terminal

The back of the airport terminal

Wind Sock

Airport Runway....yes, that is gravel....

Inukshuk

Arena

Snow Geese....

A view of our place and the RCMP Detachment from on the hill

Calm Air Shop/Soon to be "Ben's Candy Shop".....He's currently not running the store, but he's mentioned he will start it up again....

Cemetery

Health Center

Old hospital, now office buildings...

Inside the Church

Another statue......

Statue at the Church

Old Mission Building/Now a personal residence

Mission/Church

Mission Lake

Northern Store (Grocery/Misc Store)

This was on the side of the Northern Store....

Co-Op Store and the hotel is behind....

Arctic College

Today we had our first experience with “northern” internet. You are only allowed to use so much bandwith depending on which package you have. Well apparently we went over this and were downgraded to “dial-up”…That was painful….We have upgraded our package and hopefully won’t have to deal with that again! I don’t even want to think of how long it would have taken me to download all the pictures!!

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We finally have meat to cook with. It’s been challenging trying to create meals with limited meat. You can find meat here in town, but since we’ve been here, the selection has been less than desirable. We are waiting for our second foodmail order that has our fruit/vegetable and dairy on it. We’ve survived on what is available locally and will probably continue to support the local stores, however, you just can’t always find what you want.

We also went on our first “honda” ride. The northerners call their quads “honda’s”.  The first place we went to was the actual “Chesterfield Inlet”. Then we went to “The Point”. This is where you can fish. It is also where the community freezer is. This is where the locals can store the meat they have killed. The weather started to turn quite nasty so we ended up heading home shortly after. We’re hoping this weekend is nice and we can head out longer.

An Inukshuk out at the Inlet....

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It is so nice to finally have our own bedding and a few more pieces of clothing to wear. We also finally got an estimated date of arrival for our barge. October 6th. Just over a month away. We’re still waiting to hear about our house hold effects. It’s planned to also be put on our barge, so looks like everything is going to show up together. We are still hoping that our food mail shows up tomorrow or Thursday. It’s hard to come up with meal plans when you don’t have any meat in the house! It has definitely been interesting.

The weather here today has been insane! There have been wind warnings with gusts reaching 90km/hr. I have to say that i’m sure they have reached that already. It’s hard to stand up when you go outside. The dog doesn’t really have a desire to hang out outside very long. You can actually feel the entire house shake from the winds. I took a few pictures but they just don’t do it justice. There are no trees here to give reference to the strength of the winds. I have to admit that I don’t really mind relaxing in the house under a blanket with a hot cup of coffee….It has been a very nice day! I almost could get used to this! I have also met my new favorite toy…the Dyson! That vacuum is amazing! It works really well on the dog hair….I know what we’re buying when we move back down south!

Below is the report from Environment Canada…..

Warnings

Chesterfield Inlet
2:38 PM CDT Tuesday 01 September 2009
Wind warning for
Chesterfield Inlet continued

Strong northwesterly winds of 70 gusting to 90 km/h this evening.

This is a warning that damaging winds are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.

A low pressure system near Repulse Bay will continue to track towards Northern Québec tonight and Wednesday. Strong westerly winds of up to 70 gusting to 90 km/h have developed over most of the Kivalliq. These winds will be at their strongest this evening. The winds will subside below warning level at Baker Lake this evening; however, winds will likely be around the 60 gusting to 80 km/h strength along the coast for the remainder of the evening and then into the night.

At 8:00 AM CDT Whale Cove reported a wind gust to 104 km/h and at 1:45 PM CDT Chesterfield Inlet reported the same.

Here are the winds as of 2:00 PM CDT: Arviat 63 km/h Rankin Inlet 56 gust 70 km/h Baker Lake 65 km/h Whale Cove 65 gust 85 km/h Chesterfield Inlet 78 gust 93 km/h.

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We had a pretty good sleep last night. After we woke up, ate breakfast and showered the Corporal took us out to buy some groceries! We just bought a few basics to last a couple of days. We spent $100 today. We ended up buying stuff from both the Co-Op and Northern store. We also put in a foodmail order. This is done through Safeway in Winnipeg. If you’re curious about what we can order and how it works, you can check out their website at Safeway’s foodmail. We should have our order by Wed/Thurs next week.

This is what $100 worth of food looks like.....

Once we were done buying groceries Pete (the corporal) took us for a drive around town and introduced us to a few people. He took us to the “end of the road”. There is a diamond mine between Chesterfield Inlet and Rankin Inlet. They are in the process of building a road to it from here. They are projected to be done the road in about 4 years. I have included pictures that we took during our drive…..

Third Lake

A pile of Caribou Antlers

Arctic Char hanging to dry

Inukshuk

I took a video of the view out our back door, but our cord didn’t make it here yet, so you’ll have to wait until that arrives before I can post it. I know that everyone is waiting for pictures of the inside of our home, but I’m not going to do that until all of our belongings arrive and we are unpacked…so you will have to wait for another month for that! Sorry…..

This is our view from the back door....

Another view from our back door.....you are looking at the Hudson's Bay

I don’t really have much else right now. I’m going to go and take the dog for a walk and check out the sights……

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