Wednesday 11 August 2010

The second day dawned in Churchill after not much sleep – I was up at 23h00 and 02h00 looking for the elusive Northern Lights only to find out at breakfast from others that they were visible at 0h00 to 01h00! Talk about frustrating – I have been chasing them for about 2 weeks on most clear nights and I am getting to the point of exhaustion!

Oh well, no rest for the exhausted explorer – it‘s off to swim with the Beluga Whales this morning. Not knowing what to expect, I was in for a few surprises! Firstly, the “dry” suit turned out to be a “wet” suit, but at least the water is about 8 – 10 degrees and not the usual 4 degrees C. Secondly, the “swimming” would involve holding onto the boat at all times because of strong and unpredictable currents. Actually staying close to the boat also puts the whales more at ease and they venture closer.

 

Off we went in our zodiac and we saw lots of pods of Beluga Whales in the mouth of the Churchill River. We settled on a good spot and slowly got into the water one by one. The water was icy, but the gloves, hood and wet suit kept me warm enough and as long as there were whales around, I did not feel the cold. At first it was difficult to see them as the visibility is only about 5m, but our eyes soon adjusted to the water. Hanging onto the boat rope by my feet, I was able to face out from the boat and started to see the whales. They swam past us and would look up at us as they swam past. Even mothers with babies did not seem too perturbed by our presence. It was the most amazing experience to be close to these wild, yet gentle and curious creatures.

One pod got quite brave and swam past us a few times getting closer each time until they were about 1m out of our reach. When our time was up, we had been in the water an hour and 15 minutes – wow! As we chugged back to shore, the whales followed the boat for a long way – it was truly special. They are people watching as much as we are whale watching!

After a warm bath and some lunch, we set off in the afternoon to go on our dog sled ride. We were a bit dubious as we met our guide – a native Metis Indian – Dave Daley and we set off in a rickety old bus. This was further enhanced by the fac that twe were the only 2 on the tour. Arriving at the “kennel” a way out of town, we were met by the dogs with tangible excitement. Dave spent over an hour telling us about the dog care, the activity of dog sledding, showing us the equipment and relating stories about some of his races and trips. Last winter he took a team of 14 dogs and his sled to Winnipeg – a distance of 1600 km! He has been placed 2nd in several dog sled races that last several days and his dog team can cover about 400km a day in 15 hours, stopping only every 2 hours for a few minutes to get some energy juice and check for sore or damaged paws. I knew nothing about dog sledding before the tour, but it was fascinating. As we got to know Dave too, we really enjoyed his company. He is a multi talented amazing guy and quite a leader in his community. The dog sledding is his hobby and he is a licenced aeroplane mechanic working for the very air company that flew us to Churchill.

Things only got more exciting as we went outside to individually be introduced to each dog. There characters and intelligence shine through each happy dog face and doggy smile. The love between Dave and each dog is tangible and he knows them each so well including their strengths and weaknesses. As he pointed out to us, they are not dogs, they are athletes and are cared for and treated as such! Finally it was time for our dog sled ride. Dave has made a dog sled buggy for summer trips and he harnessed up 5 dogs. The ride is only one mile as the relative heat of summer combined with the dogs enthusiasm will cause them to run themselves to a state of collapse from heat exhaustion. The ride was wonderful and the 5 dogs pulled the buggy carrying myself, Liam and Dave with ease and at a really fast pace. They follow only voice commands given by Dave in a normal tone of voice and are so well trained. The lead dog knows her left from her right and the different paces – fast and easy, pull and stop. It was totally fascinating.

What an amazing day spent with some wonderful specimens of God’s intelligent creatures.

Tuesday 10 August 2010

The day dawned on the start of our much anticipated highlight of the trip – our detour to Churchill. It is located 1600km north of Winnipeg on the shores of the Hudson Bay. Our 2.5 hour flight in a C43 twin propeller plane with “Calm Air” was uneventful and I was amazed at the dozens of lakes we flew over.

There are no roads to Churchill and you can only get there by plane or train. The roads stop in Thomson about 400km south of Churchill and the train from Thomson to Churchill takes 18 hours as it has to go really slowly over the loose tracks that lie above the marshy tundra.

Arriving one is immediately struck by how flat and barren it is and how the buildings are all low and huddled in with small windows to cater for the harsh winters. It is a wild and special place with an environment and atmosphere all of its own. Driving to the hotel, we detoured to the beach to take a look out over the Bay. The first thing we noticed was hundreds of white shapes that bob up and disappear into the water – Beluga Whales. Some 3000 enter the bay at this time of year and swim up the Churchill River to feed. The second thing we noticed and were immediately told was the polar bear alert signs! Do not walk out on the rocks that surround the beach – you may disturb a sleeping bear a very dangerous and unwanted experience! Although polar bear season is October and November, we have a 30% chance of seeing one in summer.
 

A tour around the town in the afternoon was a great way to get orientated and came complete with friendly tour guide, old bus and big gun – polar bear protection. We stopped at the Cape Merry Battery which is part of the Prince of Wales Fort and were taken on a guided walk across the rocky outcrop whilst learning about the history of the fort, the tundra vegetation and the area in general. The fort is constantly guarded by a polar bear monitor with a large gun.

Back on the bus we passed through interesting sites in the town with a population of 800 people and then went out into the Wildlife area where we saw many birds including snow geese and yes – a polar bear. Not even in Churchill 12 hours and we see our first bear. Wow! He was standing in the sea near the rocky beach just chilling and occasionally sniffing the air in different directions. He was unfortunately too far away to photograph, but we watched him for about 20 minutes. I cannot believe that I am seeing a real live polar bear in the wild in his natural habitat – mind boggling for a South African. Wow!
 

We also saw the old rocket launching site where the first and the last rocket ever launched in Canada, were sent from. There is also an arctic research station, an old military fort and a polar bear jail. Polar bears that are repeat offenders who have been found menacing around town, are captured and kept here for a while to discourage them from the behavior. Hopefully they associate the negative experience of being imprisoned with their behavior. They are also micro chipped, weighed and details recorded for research behavior and population studies. They are all released back into the wild after a period of time.

Polar bears are opposite to other bears – they eat very little in summer and kind of undergo a walking hibernation until autumn when they go back out onto the ice in the Hudson Bay and hunt seals all winter. During the summer, the female bears will come onto land, find a den, have the cubs and they are big enough to go onto the ice with her in winter. She will travel great distances across land to find a suitable den.


What a wonderful start to our Churchill visit.

Look very carefully - You can see a polar bear in the water!

Monday 9 August 2010

For those of you who think that we have forgotten the working class – today was our work day! Up early, drive 4 hours to Winnipeg, drop off the car for a service, pack everything into storage and prepare for our early morning flight tomorrow to Churchill.


Winnipeg is a pretty city, smaller than I expected and back into the hot weather – 33 degrees today. A nice reminder that it is still summer, before we head off to the near arctic of Churchill, where average summer temperatures are 12 to 14 degrees and average winter temperatures are -50 degrees C!

Sunday 8 August 2010

Hitting the road early we headed off to Thunder Bay on the shore of Lake Superior to attend church and then onto Dryden where we are stopping for the night on our journey to Winnipeg.


Thunder Bay reminds me so much of Richards Bay with beautiful, wild surroundings and a large paper mill on the edge of the lake. The town is very industrial and the ward was having there ward conference, so people were busy and not very friendly, but we heard some excellent talks.

It was a day of highlights – we entered a new province, Manitoba, a new time zone, now 7 hours behind SA and of course our first wedding anniversary.

Saturday 7 August 2010

Another cold, wet day dawns at Lake Nipigon with temperatures peaking at 10 to 12 degrees! I might as well be enjoying winter in SA! We hibernated indoors until this evening when we ventured out to take a drive down a forest road to the Shadow Creek that we had paddled the canoe up on Wednesday. The late evening - around 9pm, just before sunset is the best time to look for moose.


The road was barren and there has been a lot of recent tree felling so we were not holding out much hope, but the creek was beautiful in the peaceful evening. We stood at the end of the road and soon spotted 2 beavers swimming around in the creek. The water was so still that the slightest movement made ripples easy to detect. We watched them for a while until the warning loud slap of their tails on the water, let us know that we had been detected and they swam for cover.

Scanning the area with binoculars, Liam suddenly spotted a moose grazing on the edge of the forest and with great excitement we watched him for a while. Feeling very grateful that our efforts had been rewarded, we headed for home and lo and behold, a wolf ran across the road in front of us! What an exciting finish to our time in Nipigon.

Friday 6 August 2010

We discovered some of the most colourful and strange fungi I have ever seen and what has to be the world's largest variety of toadstools and mushrooms. Disconcertingly, there was also much evidence of bears with spoor, droppings, chewed dead wood and many turned over rocks, but luckily this was as close as we got to seeing them.

Arriving at the lake we crept up to it hoping to find our elusive moose, but to no avail. We did however meet some interesting birds and added a few positively identified species to our growing list of sightings.

It was wonderful to be alone to experience this remote wilderness, knowing that you are safe. Not a luxury that is available back home. We stopped at the top of the beautiful waterfall that we can see from our cabin and watched a frog suntanning before being swept downstream!

Six hours later after a slow knee grinding decent, we reached home and hobbled into our cabin, exhausted, but elated by the experiences of the day.

In true friendly North American style we were invited by our neighbours in another cabin to share some chocolate cake that evening to celebrate an 80th birthday. Our international gathering consisted of a couple from Wisconsin, Thomas from Glasgow, Denise from Montana and a couple of locals which made for some interesting conversation. A lovely ending to a remarkable day!

Friday 6 August 2010

The day turned out cold and windy, but no rain – perfect for a hike, so we set out to climb the Palisades. The hike trail guide rated the hike as difficult and put the length at 7km. We set off eagerly, starting with an almost vertical climb of 130m which took an hour. A couple of stairs and rest benches were provided at the steep bits, but there was still much climbing and rock scrambling involved to get to the top.

Reaching the top was a welcome reprieve and we set off on the top of the escarpment towards Bourse Lake. It soon became evident that the trail map was so inaccurate as to deem it useless, but the trail itself was well marked, so we continued.

Reaching the first lookout over the edge of the Palisades (Escarpment) and down to Lake Nipigon made us feel like we were at the edge of the top of the world. We did not pass another person all day which made this feeling all the more real. The view was exceptional at the various look outs, but the trail itself was a winding, rough terrain path through thick forests.
 

Thursday 5 August 2010

Rain stopped play today, so we stayed snug indoors, cooked Mexican food and stayed up late that night to try and see the Northern Lights. Despite the information determined from research that tonight was going to be good to see the Northern Lights – no luck!

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Canoeing was on the agenda again today, so we rented a canoe and after a short paddle across Lake Nipigon, we entered a sheltered creek and another world! It was peaceful and wild with not another soul around. The water was so calm that you could not tell where the trees ended and water began. The reflections of the thick forest in the water were majestic and nothing stirred as our paddles cut through the glassy surface. We spoke in whispers as this seemed fitting and paddled slowly, savouring the peace of nature and hoping not disturb a possible beaver or moose.

We did spot the endangered Peregrine Falcon and other birds, but no beaver or moose. We paddled for about 5 hours and had a lovely picnic in some tall grass and it was a wonderful day out in the Canadian wilderness.

We stayed up late into the night and got up several times as the Northern Lights had been spotted by the cabin owners the night before, but we were unsuccessful in seeing them. We continued to chase them for the rest of the week, but they remained elusive!

Tuesday 3 August 2010

The weather was not on our side today and the morning got darker and darker until some heavy showers and thunderstorms passed through. We actually took the opportunity to rest, relax and do nothing. We watched the raindrops splashing on the lake in front of our window and stayed cozy indoors reading and doing crosswords and other puzzles.

Monday 2 August 2010

One of our longest drives today was from Sault St Marie to Nipigon. Thunder Bay is an industrial town with a huge paper mill right on the edge of Lake Superior, so we opted for a cabin in the woods overlooking Lake Nipigon that is about 200km north of Thunder Bay. This is also one of the most remote spots we have been too.

Arriving at the cabin was a wonderful site at the end of a long long journey. The cabin is bordered north and south by Lake Nipigon and Reflection Lake and on the east side are towering cliffs with a 40m waterfall cascading down them. There is no tv or cell signal and it really feels like the Canadian wilderness.

 

 

 

 

Sunday 1 August 2010

As Liam says – welcome to August! This time last year was the excitement mounting. After church we took a walk along the river and looked over at the USA. We had a couple of cheeky Canadian Geese hissing at us. Liam tried to capture this on video. His commentary talks about aggressive Canadian Geese as they passively walk off in the other direction! This caused me great amusement.

Being the touchy feely people that we are, we wanted to completely experience Lake Superior – the last of the Great Lakes we will see before heading off across the plains – we decided to rent a canoe so that we could go on the water and explore the lake. Well, at least part of it! This Lake is the size of Ireland.

The overcast day and drizzly rain didn’t deter us, so we drove the 40km out of town with picnic packed to the canoe hire place which according to the website map is on the Goulais River which flows into the lake. Not quite! At least the rain had stopped, but the launch and landing was back breaking and a tedious 30 minutes of heavy labour. The launch is on the lake to which you must first carry the canoe. This is not a simple kayak, but a full Indian style canoe and with all the gear is too heavy for me to lift one end, nevermind carry. We made it, but we had to stop every 100m. Then, the lake is so shallow that you drag the canoe out for about 400m before you can get in and start paddling without running aground.

Once out, we had a fantastic paddle across the lake, into the headwind and over some pretty high waves, but after an hour and a half of paddling, we made it to the river mouth. Once up the river mouth, the going got easier and we enjoyed some nice stops on sandy banks, watched a fisherman catch a fairly large pike and added a new bird, the Turkey Vulture, to our growing list of Canadian bird sightings.


After a difficult landing and five hours of paddling, we ended our day, but it sure was worth the effort and we loved it.

Friday 30 July 2010

Driving from Sudbury to Sault St Marie today, we stopped near Massey and spent a couple of hours at the Chutes Provincial Park. There was a lovely waterfall into a lake where Liam enjoyed a nice swim and after our picnic – dry this time – we had a lovely walk through the forest. We found a small quite lake and sat on a rock in the warm sun just hoping to see a beaver or otter. The water was so still that any ripple would have been visible. But alas, no mammal life was out to enjoy the sun with us.

Arriving in Sault St Marie which is on a short river joining Lake Huron and Lake Superior, the USA is again visible just across the river. It is an industrial, but pretty town all abuzz this weekend with a Finnish festival. This event is held somewhere in North America once every 3 years and includes events like the “Wife carrying race” and for those with large wives – “The wife in a wheelbarrow race!”

Thursday 29 July 2010

The rain seems to be playing a game that involves coming out for a shower the minute we sit down for a picnic. This happened on Tuesday evening on the way to the Ottawa River and again today on our way to Sudbury. It is time to chew up some miles again so we are on the road for the next 2 days, but we enjoyed our stopped for a picnic overlooking Lake Huron. We had just spent 20 minutes unpacking the car and getting everything out on the table for the picnic, when down came the rain! So we finished our picnic in the car and continued our journey.