Tuesday 24 August 2010

I was not feeling well today, so I hibernated for the day and Liam had a great game of golf. We did go out for a nice meal in the evening at a Burmese Restaurant.

Monday 23 August 2010

Travelling again, we set off after a good training session in the pool and drove from Yorkton to Saskatoon. It is a larger city than we expected and sits on the Saskatchewan River which is a tributary of the Churchill River which flows all the way from the Rockies to the Hudson Bay in Churchill. We have been amazed at the number and size of the rivers in the prairies that are so flat and dry. The pace is slow here and life and has a very apathetic atmosphere.

Sunday 22 August 2010

Another time zone, another province – we drove from Wasagaming to Yorkton today, entering Saskatchewan. The forests of the East are gone and its miles of wide open spaces and farmlands. This area is the Canadian breadbasket and beyond it – the prairies. It’s nice to drive along the highway and be able to see something other than trees. The landscape is dotted with Ukranian churches and there are large settlements of Ukranian people in the province. Their architecture and influence is evident across the vast openess.

Saturday 21 August 2010

Dawning cold, it soon warmed up and we set off to go canoeing, picnic in hand. Everyone else had decided it was a great day for the water and we were constantly rocked by the wake of passing speed boats and pontoon boats. Following the south shore, we eventually crossed a narrow strait into an adjacent lake that drains the marsh. The water was not clear, like Clear Lake, and you definitely would not want to fall in, but it was much nicer to be away from the madding crowd and we had fun paddling between the reeds and down narrow passages in search of any interesting bog life. We came across an otter that quickly disappeared back into the reeds, a lovely kingfisher and an eagle.

We enjoyed our picnic on a beach on Clear Lake before heading back to the pier. The warm weather had really brought out the people and the lake shore “beach” was packed with many people in the water swimming. “Canada at the beach!” The tourists and fans have hit the town as a local big group “Doc Walker” are doing a concert in the park tonight.


In the evening, we popped in to listen to “Doc Walker” who play country rock and sound very like Bruce Springsteen. There were many cowboy hats and boots adorning members of the audience. We then ventured into the only log theatre in Canada, built in 1930. It was a well put together building considering the age, but I am sure the audio visual systems have had a few revamps since then. We watched Angelina Jolie’s new movie “Salt” which was nonstop action and kept you guessing until the very end.

Friday 20 August 2010

The day greeted us with a 10 degree maximum, which put an end to our canoeing plans, so we took a walk around town, looked at the boat dock and did a walk around the boardwalk over the marsh and up the south shore of Clear Lake. We then headed for the warmth of the cabin and spent the rest of the day hibernating indoors.

Thursday 19 August 2010

Encouraged by the moose sightings of the previous night, we set off for an early morning hike just after sunrise and were creeping through the forest when we disturbed some little animal that scampered into the bushes at a huge speed – a fox or coyote. Other than that we did not come across any other wildlife, but it got darker and darker as time went on and the distant thunder got louder and closer. It started to rain as we reached Kinango Lake and then the lighting got close, so we decided to cut the hike short and head for the car. The forest is not the place to be in a thunderstorm!


In the afternoon, the weather cleared and we had warm sunshine for the first time this week. So we headed for the pool and managed to get a good training session in before sunset.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

This morning we joined a guided hike up Gorge Creek, which is rated difficult, but really wasn’t too bad and only lasted 3 hours. It was very interesting to learn about the vegetation especially ferns, lichen and fungi. There were some nice scenic outlooks into the gorge or to the valley below, but as with all Canadian hikes – most of it was through forests.

A shuttle system was arranged so that we only had to hike one way and it was while Liam was driving some other hikers back that they saw a black bear. I on the other hand was not with them and missed it.

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The evening activity was a car convoy drive through the park, stopping at several areas of interest and with a commentary from the guide of anything we saw on our way. We did spot some deer as well as a car accident of a driver that left the road and tolled down the bank the previous night. Many vehicles hit moose on the road a night and come off second best.


Our first stop was a short walk to see an abandoned bear den which was really cool and incredibly long inside with a fairly narrow entry. The last stop was a 1 km boardwalk built over a marsh which was pretty with the late evening sunlight filtering through the trees.

 
 
 
 
 
After the tour was over, it was nearly dark, so we decided to drive up to Moon Lake, a reputedly famous moose area. It was great - we saw 2 lovely big males with a big rack of antlers. The one was busy at a salt lick by the roadside and was within 5m of the car. He was totally unfazed by our presence and we watched him for about 20 minutes. We could even hear him slurping and breathing. It was awesome, but being dark, not great for taking photos.

Look hard for the elusive moose!

Tuesday 17 August 2010

The Kruger Park and other SA game parks could sure learn some tips from Canada Parks. They have all sorts of organized activities and do car tour convoys through the park where you listen to a live commentary from the guide through the car radio. So we signed up for a couple of these activities and this morning headed off with guide and convoy to see the Bison.


Arriving at the Bison area, they were right in the middle of the road and you get a concept of how huge they are when they slowly meander past the car. After viewing them for a while, we met at the exhibition and viewing platform and learned more about the management of the herd and other interesting facts about the Park and its animals.

Another late evening game drive up to sunset around 9pm, provided our viewing of many scrub hares, birds of prey and beavers. We also drove all the way to the East gate of the park which is the last arched wooden Park gate still standing.
 

 

Monday 16 August 2010

An icy cycle was on the agenda this morning. We set off early to try and catch some wildlife, but it was about 7 degrees and icy cold. It warmed up a bit as the sun came out. We did not see any animals, but had lovely views across the lake when we enjoyed a picnic breakfast. We also challenged our biking skills with some bike trails that are better suited to mountain bikes.

Enjoying a braai for lunch, we set out in the evening for another game drive and this time we were rewarded with sightings of 3 beavers and a couple of white tailed deer. We also drove to the other end of the park and got a lovely view down the escarpment to the miles and miles of flat prairie and agricultural lands below.

Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 August 2010

Saturday 14 August 2010


It was raining and cold today, so we hit the malls of Winnipeg and although they have such awesome clothes and an amazing selection and variety, I came home empty handed with a happy credit card.

Sunday 15 August 2010


Touring across Manitoba this afternoon, we drove to Riding Mountain National Park in Wasagaming where we are spending our next week in a cabin here. We walked into town in the evening and looked out over the beautiful Clear Lake – which really is clear. The water is crystal clear. It is a quaint street of tourist shops surrounded by the lake and many cabins and camp sites and lodges. We also spent some time in the Parks Canada office getting information on biking and hiking trails in the Park. We are looking forward to a week of outdoor activities in the Canadian Great Outdoors.

Friday 13 August 2010

Our last day in Churchill dawned – Boy! Am I going to be sad to leave this place! We set off for our last tour, a zodiac tour to watch more Beluga Whales. This was going to be the tour to stay warm and dry and take lots of photos. Heading out into the Churchill River, we could not see any pods of whales, so we headed for the mouth of the river and that gave us a great view of the Prince of Wales Fort that we had only seen from the opposite river bank.

Just entering the Hudson Bay, I was so excited to actually be in the Bay, not just on the river and able to look over its vast expanse. I almost forgot that we were supposed to be looking for whales. Suddenly we spotted – not whales, but a polar bear up on the rocks below the Fort and we got as close as we could and watched it for a while climb to the top of the rocky breakwater and then settle down for a nice sleep. Three bears in four days – not bad for off season!!

We then found the whales, but every time we got close, they disappeared. After a while we went back up the river and found a pod that was in a playful mood. By now the mist was coming in and an eerie atmosphere settled into the river mouth. I got some awesome photos of whales against the misty background. This pod followed the boat for a long time, coming up right alongside us to breathe and one getting so close that he nearly bumped his head into the propeller. The skipper revved the engine to give him a fright and prevent him from hurting himself. It was over far too quickly and time to return to shore.

With the rest of the afternoon to kill, we walked into town and did some souvenir shopping and saw a fantastic Arctic exhibition complete with life size polar bear den, mother and 2 cubs, Indian wigwams and a fantastic documentary film of the fragile ecosystem of the arctic. Eventually it was time to catch our flight back to Winnipeg and Liam had to practically drag me out to the plane. It took me 3 days of mourning to get back into the swing of the trip and start looking forward to see the Magnificent Rocky Mountains – the next highlight of our wonderful adventure.

Thursday 12 August 2010

 

 
We spent the morning wandering around town and visiting the Eskimo Museum. It has a large collection of Indian artifacts and art as well as Caribou horns, Indian canoes, many stuffed animals and plenty of interesting facts about artic animals and lifestyle. Even today they really live off the land and have so many uses for all products obtained from hunted animals.

This afternoon, was time to board the Tundra Buggy and head out to explore the tundra with a guide who is a botany specialist. The buggy is a huge bus, carrying about 50 passengers, with a really wide aisle and is very high off the ground to protect you if polar bears stand up against the windows. It is also slow and very bumpy. It had a viewing deck out the back, a toilet on board and we could walk around it fairly easily. Setting out onto the tundra, we saw many different types of arctic birds including breeding snow geese. This area is in the transition zone between boreal forests and tundra, so there are a few hardy spruce trees, but the branches only grow on the south east side of the tree protecting them from the prevailing wind and snow. They are very sparsely vegetated with very few pine needles. The tundra itself is almost marshy and spongy. There can be many species of plant and lichen in one square metre of ground and the area is riddled with water ranging from puddles to pans to small lakes. All shallow and crystal clear. I could just picture the winter snow and icy winds howling across the icy barrenness. In winter the temperatures are about 14 to 18 degrees maximum and in winter often reach – 50 degrees C!

We also drove over to the beach and sure enough we found another polar bear. I spotted him moving behind some rocks and he then trotted off across the grass and onto the stony beach. We watched him sitting there, ambling around and digging at the seaweed. He was still fairly far away, but we did manage to get some photographs.

Driving home, I just marveled at this fabulous unique ecosystem and how I have fallen in love with the Hudson Bay. I have often since my childhood looked on the map at this part of the world and wondered what it is like. I really want to come back here in spring and see the ice bergs floating in the Bay!

Liam was on Northern Lights duty tonight and this time he got up at midnight to check. He was soon tugging at my big toe to get up. We got dressed and crept out through the quiet town in the dark. We have no car in Churchill and I was really nervous about bumping into a polar bear as they are more active at night and often come into town. Anyway, we found a place just near the beach and just out of the town lights and we looked up and across the Bay, the sky was alive with moving green lights dancing across the sky in curtains. I just stood there spellbound whispering wow! Wow! Wow! I was so excited and awed, whilst digging my fingernails into Liam’s palm and jumping every time the breeze blew. I continually looked around, especially at the rocks in front of us – eyes peeled for polar bears. I was terrified and felt so exposed and everything was so quiet and deserted. We watched the Northern Lights shine and wane for about 15 minutes before deciding we had tempted fate long enough and headed back for the town lights and our hotel. Another life long quest achieved, I was so excited that I could not sleep for hours.

A real wild polar bear! Amazing!