Arctic #5
I hope you are all enjoying a lovely late summer. Weather here: 1 degree C this morning and up to 2 by the time we went out in it. Wind 25 knots or 36 kmph this morning increasing to 35 knots or 52 kph this afternoon.
Morning activity: To shore by zodiac -- 1 1/2 miles which took about 15 minutes. Loading the zodiac is tricky with the wind. It's done on the lee side but still takes 3 guys to get each guest safely in and out. On shore we wade -- got a bit of water in my boots today as it was deep. Don was OK as his boots are higher. We were going to see the famous Cape Dorset and its art. The village has 1200 inhabitants many of whom are famous printmakers and carvers. Saw a demo on stone carving by the mayor and print making in their workshop. Each year they collect drawings from the local artists and choose which ones get turned into prints. These are then carved out on slate from which the prints are made -- are signed and limited edition.
The ride back in the zodiac was very wet so I had to hang my stuff up to dry. Luckily it did in the two hours before heading out again for a local park. We walked for 1 1/2 hours looking at a variety of Thule sites which are about 1500 years old. As the wind had picked up, the ride out against the wind was really rough and we get splashed a lot. The way back was easy as we had the wind behind us. It snowed while we were there -- hard on the face when facing that kind of wind. Our jackets are awesome and my faithful buff was a big help plus my Peru wool hat.
I have interesting things for dinner -- venison, frog's legs and lamb for instance. Don isn't as adventuresome so usually picks beef or fish.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Arctic trip #4
Arctic trip #4
Tuesday the 27th
Today we had the opportunity to go into an Inuit village called Arviat. It is up the west coast of Hudson Bay, above Churchill. There are about 2400 inhabitants. They have a generator which powers all the homes, a health center (doctor once a month), schools going right up to Grade 12 and a college which is free. When enrolled in the college, they can go "out" for classes as well. The polars bears are a big problem of course and at the worst times they have plenty of people patrolling the perimeter. They have the sled dog compound surrounded by electric fences. Our zodiac guys deflected a polar bear which was swimming towards town. We saw the head in a distance but by the time we were in our zodiac it was on land. But at least we saw one. I didn't bother taking a picture as it would have just looked like another rock. We went out in two shifts. Our return journey was rather rough as the wind was picking up -- and it was a 4 mile trip! This was the closest the ship could get to shore. The people who showed us around are lovely. Several elders told their stories and showed us how they use a cariboo skin for example.It was a wet landing. This town is accessible by small boat, snowmobile and plane. They have a small hotel. This cruise ship was the first in 12 years.
Earlier in the day we saw a movie about a young Inuit boy being taught by his father on how to hunt and how to navigate. It was done by Sue Flood who is one of our lecturers and who also does filming for Planet Earth, Blue Planet, etc. This shows the quality of lecturers we have on board.
Wednesday the 28th
This is a sea day so many lectures offered -- Arctic birds and how they adapt to winter, Plate Tectonics which was fascinating, Marine Mammals of the Arctic then one on Peopling of the Arctic. All were interesting and pertinent.
Each afternoon at 6:45 we have a recap of the day plus a preview of what will happen the next day. Then it's dinner at 7:30. Too late for us but no choice. We often aren't done until after 9 pm.
Breakfast: smorg style with way too many choices. I've kind of settled on porridge plus sometimes bread or a bun.
Lunch: I usually have soup, bread, fruit and a sweetie. Eg pecan pie, bread pudding.
Supper: 4 courses of which I usually have 3. The portions are usually small so not too filling.
Snacks here and there which we have avoided.
Don and I hit the gym most days -- me on the treadmill and Don on the bike.
Thursday the 29th
This morning we arrived at Walrus Island. Again we couldn't get very close as there are no sounding charts for here. There were walrus on rocks but too far away to see. So we carried on to Bencas Island. The seas are still high but they turned the boat so they could launch two zodiacs on the lee side. One led the ship closer to the island using a portable sonar. The other scooted over to and around the island reporting no animals on land. So this venture was abandoned.
Temperature: 3 to 4 Celcius with a stiff wind. Needed my parka and gloves to walk the deck.
This afternoon we had a film explaining the aurora borealis.
Tuesday the 27th
Today we had the opportunity to go into an Inuit village called Arviat. It is up the west coast of Hudson Bay, above Churchill. There are about 2400 inhabitants. They have a generator which powers all the homes, a health center (doctor once a month), schools going right up to Grade 12 and a college which is free. When enrolled in the college, they can go "out" for classes as well. The polars bears are a big problem of course and at the worst times they have plenty of people patrolling the perimeter. They have the sled dog compound surrounded by electric fences. Our zodiac guys deflected a polar bear which was swimming towards town. We saw the head in a distance but by the time we were in our zodiac it was on land. But at least we saw one. I didn't bother taking a picture as it would have just looked like another rock. We went out in two shifts. Our return journey was rather rough as the wind was picking up -- and it was a 4 mile trip! This was the closest the ship could get to shore. The people who showed us around are lovely. Several elders told their stories and showed us how they use a cariboo skin for example.It was a wet landing. This town is accessible by small boat, snowmobile and plane. They have a small hotel. This cruise ship was the first in 12 years.
Earlier in the day we saw a movie about a young Inuit boy being taught by his father on how to hunt and how to navigate. It was done by Sue Flood who is one of our lecturers and who also does filming for Planet Earth, Blue Planet, etc. This shows the quality of lecturers we have on board.
Wednesday the 28th
This is a sea day so many lectures offered -- Arctic birds and how they adapt to winter, Plate Tectonics which was fascinating, Marine Mammals of the Arctic then one on Peopling of the Arctic. All were interesting and pertinent.
Each afternoon at 6:45 we have a recap of the day plus a preview of what will happen the next day. Then it's dinner at 7:30. Too late for us but no choice. We often aren't done until after 9 pm.
Breakfast: smorg style with way too many choices. I've kind of settled on porridge plus sometimes bread or a bun.
Lunch: I usually have soup, bread, fruit and a sweetie. Eg pecan pie, bread pudding.
Supper: 4 courses of which I usually have 3. The portions are usually small so not too filling.
Snacks here and there which we have avoided.
Don and I hit the gym most days -- me on the treadmill and Don on the bike.
Thursday the 29th
This morning we arrived at Walrus Island. Again we couldn't get very close as there are no sounding charts for here. There were walrus on rocks but too far away to see. So we carried on to Bencas Island. The seas are still high but they turned the boat so they could launch two zodiacs on the lee side. One led the ship closer to the island using a portable sonar. The other scooted over to and around the island reporting no animals on land. So this venture was abandoned.
Temperature: 3 to 4 Celcius with a stiff wind. Needed my parka and gloves to walk the deck.
This afternoon we had a film explaining the aurora borealis.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Arctic #3
Arctic #3 -- Monday Aug.26
Weather: raining, windy (flag straight out) and 10 Celcius.
Morning activity: A three hour bus tour of the area. We went to one spot where two fellows with rifles guarded us while we were out of the bus. Didn't see any bears. But there are four in "jail". They have a huge building with 23 cells. The bears are released in there from the bear traps which are similar to what we use for blacks and grizzlies but larger. As soon as possible they are sedated and flown north about 50 km in the direction of their normal migration route. Some come back again of course. We were not allowed inside.This jail has resulted in few bears needing to be killed.
Vegetation: scrub willow, fireweed, black spruce, flowers (but the season is almost over)and lots of berry bushes. The Canada geese eat the berries as do the snow geese. Only difference is that the snow geese also pull up the roots so destroy their food source. We saw both.The Canada geese are also on the railway eating the dropped grain.
Downtown: Had a quick tour and then had less than half an hour to shop. Got into a gorgeous arts and crafts place. Samara, your otter painter's stuff was in there -- all new to me designs. Good thing I didn't have time to spend or I would have spent!
Afternoon activity: Zodiac ride to look at the belugas close up. Wow! There are 3,000 in the area (this is called beluga season whereas Oct/Nov is called polar bear season. They were all around us. Couldn't get much in the way of pictures as the stiff wind was blowing the rain into us. I came back wet from the hips down as I was sitting in water as well as it falling on me. My top was dry despite the rain and ocean spray. Those are super jackets.
I would love to have walked into town this afternoon but don't want to get more clothes wet. It's about 20 min away on a gravel road. And, as I said, the wind is quite wicked today.
Bear safety: It's safe to walk around town during the day as there are constant bear patrols along the perimeter. But at night it is a different matter. Our guide said that the worst problems seem to start on Halloween.The reason the bears congregate in this area is because several rivers empty into the sea here and so the ice forms early due to it being less salty. They then can get out hunting seals sooner.
Churchill: It is at the juncture of three ecosystems -- boreal forest, tundra and Hudson Bay. 45% of the population is non-native, 33% Chipewyan and Cree, 16% Metis and 5.5% Inuit. About 800 people live here.
Weather: raining, windy (flag straight out) and 10 Celcius.
Morning activity: A three hour bus tour of the area. We went to one spot where two fellows with rifles guarded us while we were out of the bus. Didn't see any bears. But there are four in "jail". They have a huge building with 23 cells. The bears are released in there from the bear traps which are similar to what we use for blacks and grizzlies but larger. As soon as possible they are sedated and flown north about 50 km in the direction of their normal migration route. Some come back again of course. We were not allowed inside.This jail has resulted in few bears needing to be killed.
Vegetation: scrub willow, fireweed, black spruce, flowers (but the season is almost over)and lots of berry bushes. The Canada geese eat the berries as do the snow geese. Only difference is that the snow geese also pull up the roots so destroy their food source. We saw both.The Canada geese are also on the railway eating the dropped grain.
Downtown: Had a quick tour and then had less than half an hour to shop. Got into a gorgeous arts and crafts place. Samara, your otter painter's stuff was in there -- all new to me designs. Good thing I didn't have time to spend or I would have spent!
Afternoon activity: Zodiac ride to look at the belugas close up. Wow! There are 3,000 in the area (this is called beluga season whereas Oct/Nov is called polar bear season. They were all around us. Couldn't get much in the way of pictures as the stiff wind was blowing the rain into us. I came back wet from the hips down as I was sitting in water as well as it falling on me. My top was dry despite the rain and ocean spray. Those are super jackets.
I would love to have walked into town this afternoon but don't want to get more clothes wet. It's about 20 min away on a gravel road. And, as I said, the wind is quite wicked today.
Bear safety: It's safe to walk around town during the day as there are constant bear patrols along the perimeter. But at night it is a different matter. Our guide said that the worst problems seem to start on Halloween.The reason the bears congregate in this area is because several rivers empty into the sea here and so the ice forms early due to it being less salty. They then can get out hunting seals sooner.
Churchill: It is at the juncture of three ecosystems -- boreal forest, tundra and Hudson Bay. 45% of the population is non-native, 33% Chipewyan and Cree, 16% Metis and 5.5% Inuit. About 800 people live here.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Arctic #2
Arctic #2
Today we flew up to Churchill -- a 2 1/2 hr flight. It's pretty desolate here --just a
few shrubs, ground hugging plants and the odd tree with branches on one side only. We just got a quick look as we were driven to the ship. Tomorrow we get to spend more time here.
We have a very nice room -- small of course but lots of storage space for our stuff and a tub!! Our issued parkas are superb and so we will be bringing them home for sure. They are twice the quality we got in Antarctica. Today we had the usual lifejacket/lifeboat drill followed by an orientation session. This outfit appears very well run. (Silver Seas)Lunch and supper were way too delicious and I'm going to get fat unless I spend some time in the gym each day.
Interesting people on board. We have met some nice Aussie's, a couple from San Antonio, two women from BC, for instance. There are 110 passengers and 120 crew, including lecturers.
The most interesting occurance today was the belugas --hundreds of them going by. The calves are dark and don't get their full white color for about five years.
Arctic #1
Saturday, August 24--Arctic #1
Yesterday we had an uneventful flight from Kelowna to Vancouver. Thanks to Lyn for driving us. While in Vancouver we had a nice dinner and visit with David. Today we flew to Winnipeg -- again uneventful. As soon as we got off the plane we met our friends from Winnipeg (Edie and George) as they were on their way to Vancouver. We had about 10 minutes to visit -- great as it's been a few years since we've seen them.
We were met by the Silver Seas rep then were taken to our hotel in a stretch limo! That's a first. There were two other BCites with us. Also on our flight were several Australians. Should be an interesting cruise.
I don't much like the bit of Winnipeg we've seen. The downtown around our hotel is dead as it appears to be only viable during workdays. Even Starbucks and Tims were closed. And it was very hot and muggy. Uncomfortable. Had some rain later which cleared the air a bit.
Yesterday we had an uneventful flight from Kelowna to Vancouver. Thanks to Lyn for driving us. While in Vancouver we had a nice dinner and visit with David. Today we flew to Winnipeg -- again uneventful. As soon as we got off the plane we met our friends from Winnipeg (Edie and George) as they were on their way to Vancouver. We had about 10 minutes to visit -- great as it's been a few years since we've seen them.
We were met by the Silver Seas rep then were taken to our hotel in a stretch limo! That's a first. There were two other BCites with us. Also on our flight were several Australians. Should be an interesting cruise.
I don't much like the bit of Winnipeg we've seen. The downtown around our hotel is dead as it appears to be only viable during workdays. Even Starbucks and Tims were closed. And it was very hot and muggy. Uncomfortable. Had some rain later which cleared the air a bit.
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