We wake with anticipation as the train rolls on. The rail crew were announcing that our arrival would be sometime around 9:30 a.m. This gave us some time to reorganize and repack our belongings in preparation for Churchill.
Arriving at Churchill, we eagerly scanned the horizon to see if there were any polar bears in sight (none spotted in town today, we will have to wait for the tundra buggies). We were greeted by our bus driver/tour guide Bill Calnan. Boarding a school bus, he gave us a tour all about town. His knowledge and experience was both fascinating and informative. Bill’s style delivered this information with enthusiasm that kept us all entertained.
The very first thing he pointed out were the signs warning us not to go further, or we would be considered a tasty meal for a hungry polar bear. All kidding aside, he did make it clear that you need to be aware of your surroundings at all times. It is no joke. They usually will have a siren go off if a polar bear is sighted in town. Last year they had about 170 bears come into town compared to 180 bears in the time span of 2 weeks. Hopefully this means we will see some bears out there!!!
Although Churchill is not a very large town, we were taken by an Inuit museum. The collection of artifacts, tools and ivory carvings was intriguing. We then were brought to the shoreline of Hudson Bay. By the way, did I mention that the winds were blustering about 20 miles an hour, with a rain/snow mix at about 32 degrees? It turned our photo ops into an adventure!! Back to business, he took us around the outskirts of town to show us where all the grain was loaded onto ships. He pointed out where certain buoys that would allow the large ships to navigate the channel from the Bay to the Churchill River where they loaded the grain. Somehow in this remote area, there was ANOTHER geo-cashe. As a matter of fact, it was Bill who actually found the cashe!
After our town orientation, we were able to check into our hotels and have a little free time. We had dinner on our own and were back to meet in the lobby by 7 p.m. Our group attended a captivating presentation by Myrtle de Meulles. She is the daughter of a trapper, who is a Metis. Myrtle is a descendant of a Creed and Scottish heritage. Her family was very large, 12 children, and they all managed to survive in a small home out in the wilderness. She spoke for only about an hour, but these stories of her culture and experience simply left you spellbound. She even showed us her art which was made with caribou hair. Each piece is unique and one of a kind. By doing this type of craft, she created a new type of art because no one else has ever thought to use this style of medium before. Most of her pieces include animals that are prevalent in the surrounding area.
We returned to the hotel, looking forward to what lay ahead for tomorrow.
See all photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/mimpolarbears/PolarBearCaravan
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