An Experience of A Life Time

(Before I get into my Adventures. I was offered an opterunity to "guest blog" over at a fellow blogger Lily's Blog Nunavut Chillers she lives with her husband and super cute puppy Pepper in Baker Lake. Check out my guest blog here )

Yesterday I got to experience something that many "southerns" only dream of doing.

My friend Jen and I had been talking about going on a skidoo trip out the harbour to the floe edge for a couple of weeks now but we wanted to have someone to go with us since we didn't have a clue where to go.

Jen and one of the relief RCMP officers wanted to go on Monday and they invited me to go along since Monday is my day off .  It was an absolutely beautiful day here in Kimmirut! The sun was shining and the sky was clear you could see forever , which made it perfect weather to go out in.

 Jen and Michele had to get the skidoos gas and oiled up so I went out side to sit on my deck .... and it was so warm out I didn't put on my coat ( Ok so the coat I was wearing was my goose but minor detail!) I was able to capture a picture of the plane coming into Kimmirut.... something I haven't really had a chance to get since most of the time I am at work when they are coming in or asleep!

We ski dooed out on to the harbour and along a well used trail that Michele and Jen had taken on an earlier trip out. We had decided to to take a picnic lunch since we did not know how long we were going to be out. We left Kimmirut a little after one and our first stop was going to be at an ice shelf about 15 mins outside of Kimmirut. Jen had been there before at low tide and it was massive! Unfortunately when we set out it was high tide so we didn't get to see it larger until our way back .

Once we got there we went and took some pictures. Unfortunately the snow was rather deep and since I was not blessed with long legs I got stuck on my way to take a picture with Jen and ended up flat on my back ... I made a modern snow angel though :)

                                          (My not so graceful fall)

                                         Jen and I in front of the ice shelf

We continued on past the ice shelf on a very well traveled skidoo path it seemed like we were going to the ends of the earth. It is so flat out there with the exception of the hills on the sides. We ended up going up a "mountain" I call it I am sure it would just be considered a hill but it was pretty cool. We decided to have our lunch on top of said mountain!

                                          Looking down the mountain

After lunch Michele placed a call into the detachment to confirm the location of the floe edege from another member who had been out their earlier . It seems like we were way off in our approximation of where the floe edge was ( we were approximately 38 kms from Kimmirut when we called in I later learned the floe edge is about 10 kms from Kimmirut ) we decided to attempt to find the floe edge.

Down the mountain again and this time instead of following the trail back we broke off  on to the unexplored (ok well un skidoo marked ) Hudson Straight. It was then that I realized that I am experiencing something very few people in the world get to experience. We were "trail blazing " as Jen called it. There was something thrilling about exploring the unblemished Straight.  I know alot of you are probably thinking HOLY CRAP off the trail!?? We had a sat phone , GPS and a gun so we were in good shape.

We would have gone further toward the open water but we came across a largish crack that we didn't want to go across. We decided to turn toward Kimmirut and ride parallel to the crack . We never saw another human being or animal the whole five and a half hours we were out .

I can see why so many people want to go hunting and fishing all the time. It is absolutely breathtaking out there. I am still in awe of the trip . I came back excited , cold and smiling... Perfect Day!

 

 

Spring and Summer plans

Ahhh Spring....


I still cannot believe it is here some days! Maybe that is because some days it is beautiful and others I am damn sure I should be wearing the Goose again. I haven't given in yet! As the days get longer and brighter I cannot help but feel full of energy.

I have a good many plans for spring and summer which I am just starting to plan out now which is fun and exciting. Some of my friends and I have started to get healthier ,eating more veggies and cutting out the processed foods. This is week one .. not going to lie this week has been a bit of a struggle. We are following a mashed up version of Joel Furhman's Eat to Live( the book we are reading)  It basically promotes lots of fruits and veggies and limited meat and dairy .... which for this carnivore is very hard. I was doing good until Wednesday when I realized I had two thawed pork chops in the fridge so I invited a friend for dinner and we ate those :P They were yummy too!

As side from eating healthier I am also trying to walk more and more which is good because a couple of my friends have dogs so we can go for walks with them. Last week my friend Jen and I went out on the ice with her dog Sophie ( who is adorable!) I also am starting back into my Wii workouts which I always had a blast with because it was fun.

One of my goals for this summer is to get my first DSLR camera and learn how to use it! My friend Jen has one and has learned a bit from fiddling around with it but wants to learn more and so do I . With the help of a good friend of mine Sarah she helped me decide on one camera and I will be getting a Cannon Rebel T3i!

Soon it will be time for me to start getting ready to go back to New Brunswick for vacation which is exciting! I don`t really have much planned at the moment other then a visit to my nephew`s class room to talk to his class about living in the North. I have started preparing what I am going to talk to them about and show them. I am going to make a slide show presentation of pictures for them and bring home my Wolf mittens to show them! As well as write all their names in Syllabic for them.

Once I come back from vacation I have decided to buy a Honda ( or as my New Brunswick friends call them 4- wheelers) it will make getting to the outskirts of town easier and I wont need to rely on friends to drive me  except in those very deep winter months when everything freezes to death. My friends Devi , Jen and I are going to go exploring in the Reversing Falls and Soaper river which is just outside of town but up a couple of very steep hills that really arnt the best for walking.

So far my spring and summer are shaping up to be very fun and eventful!

Why Hello Spring Welcome To Nunavut!

Spring has hit the North!!!!!

I was so excited last week to wake up to some amazing temperatures here in Kimmirut. It was mostly around 0 degrees for most of last week. I think I did the happy dance in my entry way as I did not reach for my Canada Goose parka. 

It has been very interesting to watch Spring come to the North. In talking to my family down south ( who by the way on the first day of Spring got a blizzard and I had 0 degree weather with sun) they are having much warmer days. That is ok a warm day to us here in the Arctic is -5.

My friend Sarah who lives in Pang was having much more Spring like weather than Kimmirut and she is farther North! I loved looking at the pictures she took for her blog www.sarahontheroad.com which showed tundra and shimmering roads. Here not so much we are still snow covered and it is cool enough to keep everything frozen which is keeping the hunters happy.

I think it is funny that last year in May when I arrived it was what I would call "frigid" and now I am basking in the Spring weather. Does that mean I am dancing around in carpi's , flip flops and a tank top ...nope! Spring in the North means you downgrade your Canada Goose or like sized parka for a "southern" winter jacket or if you don't have one ( as is my case) the spring jacket you arrived with. Hats are optional except on windy days and you down grade from homemade leather or animal hide mitts to store bought ones. Your heavy duty -65 degree rated boots can be exchanged for a light winter hiking boot or rubber boots and Sunglasses are a must.

I always thought it was funny before I moved here when I read peoples blogs about the different layering practices in the North now that I am almost full circle I can say to those people who I thought were crazy.... I bow to your superiority in this department. 

I was not prepared for layering. I am actually going to be purchasing a winter jacket when I am South on my vacation just so that I have something for in between light jacket and Parka and Parka and light jacket. The best blog post on layering is located at http://illhavenunavut.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/iqaluit-dress-guide-for-n00bs/  now it says Iqaluit but take out Iqaluit and substitute Nunavut and it is basically the same thing. According to some I live in the Hawaii of the North and I follow the practices mentioned in this blog.

Though Spring has sprung looking at our temperatures forcasted for the rest of the week . The Parka may make an appearance once or twice .....or maybe I will just find a hoodie to wear under the spring jacket....

So This Is Fall?

 I am back after a short intrenetless hiatus! I went over my limit for the month of my Internet so I could only do the basic of things and even when I bought an extra GB of bandwidth I was still overly cautious ( YouTube is my downfall sometimes!) I was very worried about making it until my anniversary date of the 18th !

Now that I have finished my rant over the lack of Internet, here is what has been happening in Kimmirut.


Fall has descended on Nunavut.... I have a hard time typing this because I do not believe it is fall .... I am pretty damn sure it is winter though everyone tells me that it is fall and winter is not yet here. I did miss the leaves turning and the smell of fall in  New Brunswick this year but  I got to have some awesome adventures this fall/winter.

One of the things I have been doing recently is socializing with friends more. Almost every night we get together for dinner and tv or a movie. We also go to each others houses and just chill. It is a new thing for me as I would have people over once in a while but generally stuck to myself now not so much which is great now that the days are getting shorter!

Ever since daylight savings time ended I have been having a hard time adjusting to the fact that the sun goes down before my lunch  is over.. ( I normally have lunch at like 2-3) It is pitch black when I arrive home it really messes with your mind. It is hard when I am off and sleep in till like 10 , 11 or even 12 ( sometimes I need the sleep ) and I only have a few hours of day light..

This is what sunrise looks like ... this was taken about 9 am

 

 

Sometimes we don't even get sun just little teasers! This was about 12pm

Then the sun goes away

Through all this change of daylight hours the weather has been very inclement as well! Blizzards and snowfall warnings have hit Kimmirut twice in the past two weeks it is now officially Canada Goose weather ( for me it has been for the past two weeks!) I did not purchase my Canada Goose parka until I got up here mainly because in New Brunswick that is not possible in May so I ordered mine through work and it isn't here yet :( So Sheryl lent me her Canada Goose Resolute parka ( the same model  I ordered )  she does not need it because she is way acclimatized but I do!

 

 

 

Loving the Goose!

 

 

Snowstorm!!!!!

My next blog post was going to be about my visit with my Nannie  as she was due to leave today.. Guess what she is still here! We got a wicked snowstorm last night and into today. Lots of snow down and mixes of freezing rain and snow needless to stay no planes flew today.

After spending the better part of the morning re- arranging Nannie's travel to Monday so she wont miss any of her connections ( and possibly saying a few choice words for her travel agent who said they did not take care of cancellations or weather delays) and calling home to make sure that people back home knew she was not coming. She got all settled in I had to go to work which sucked but oh well.


Before work I decided I would go take some pics of the outside and the weather .

Looking out on to the harbour ... that is actually fog not snow but love the pics.

After taking these pics I decided to indulge in some snowman building... It was just the perfect snow for snowmen! I did not have much to work with to make the snowman but I grabbed two green thumb tacks and a baby carrot and a piece of licorice and green food coloring.

This was my final creation:

Sadly when I came home from work for lunch Mr. Snowman was no more due to the freezing rain :(  It was still fun to dress up in all my winter gear (snow pants and all) and romp around in the snow!

If You Wait for The Weather You will Be Always Be Inside

My store manager told me the other day that if I kept waiting for the weather to be nice to go out and do things I would be inside always. We have been getting alot of icky weather here. Nothing super bad just foggy , drizzly and rainy. I know that to alot of you down"south" would be praying for some of that .( You guys can keep the humidity)

 I was off on Wednesday and decided to take Sheryl's advice and get out. My version of getting out had been walking  and I decided to walk a bit further. So I packed my bag with water ,munchies ,camera and off I set with no real plan in mind.

I am lucky that Sheryl knows what area I go exploring in in case something should happen to me she would know where to send them!

Here is where I started

This is looking out on the spot where I usually stop my walk due to the sled dogs that are out there. However they seemed not to be there today.. I did find a deceased dog  out there which was sad since it was just lying there.

After crossing over the small stream I decided that I would go up this hill and see what was up there

First Hill done. I was proud of myself  as you can see the fog is out and it semi darkish out , no rain at that time but it looked like it the whole time.

Here is the next hill ... the top is covered in fog!

Once you go up you must go down! Here is a view from the top of the hill.. You can kind of see the ATV trails, that is what I was walking on!

So far the only non carving Inuksuk I have seen semi close up  in the second picture the red hill in the upper right hand is the hill I climbed up to and then down.

Looking down on town from the top of the hill my house is the one with the white roof on the left

Half way down the very steep long hill the adrenalin was pumping I am petrified of heights!

The end of my hill.... Thank God!


So I wasn't very bloggy this week we have been very busy the past week gearing up for sealift... So guess what the next blog will be about . that is right SEALIFT!

Walking in Sunshine and New Experience!

This past Wednesday I was off work and for once the sun was out and it was warm(about 13 degrees) I decided to go for a walk around the road by my house. Mainly to see how far the road went and to take some pics , now that alot of our snow is gone and the harbour is melting.

I was off taking pics on a chunk of snow when I heard a growl and turned around to find a pack of 6 dogs behind me. To say I was a bit scared/panicked would have been an understatement. The only thoughts that went through my head were "Crap I don't have a stick to beat them off if they come after me " and " There are like 6 of them one of me...odds arnt good". After my little panic attack I found they were tied out so I was like ok cool I can still take some pics. Which I did until I got a bit too close to them and they started howling , then the whole mountain erupted in howls....

I later found out that one of the guys from town keeps his dog team out there since you are not allowed to have that many dogs in town. He told me he actually has 24 dogs , he just got 4 dogs in from Iqaluit. Here are some of the pics of the dogs:

I also got to take some awesome pics of flowers that are starting to pop out here.. We don't have many flowers here and what we do have are very low to the ground. Alot of pink flower and low shrubs .

After I finished my walk I came home and was chilling when about 730 Sheryl calls and asks me if I want to come over for another adventure in "Country Food" . Country food is what wild game is called here. I was a bit hesitant but said Ok and off I went.

We had Muktaaq which is beluga whale skin and cartilage. The pieces are cut up into about 5cm rectangles. The cartilage is then scored so it is easier to eat. You dip the pieces in soy sauce or put some salt on it. My first piece I was very hesitant ... what happened if I got sick?! So I doused it in Soy sauce.. Sheryl and Sam asked me how I liked it .. I said it was very salty... their response " Most people don't use that much Soy sauce". In total I had about 6 pieces. It really doesn't have a taste , but with soy sauce it was good. I mean Tuesday is not going to become muktaaq night in my house but I would eat it again.


I also purchased my first carving. It is a smaller one about 2-3 inches high and carved in the local soapstone called apple green. I love my little swan!

WIND IN MY HAIR!

One Month Seems like a Life Time

As of Friday I have been in Nunavut a month. It has not seemed like a month it has seemed like I have been apart of the Kimmirut community for much longer. Which is great because it means I am accepting Nunavut as my new "home".

I still miss New Brunswick , especially my family but we talk alot through Facebook and the great phone plans everyone has gotten :) I am loving my job and the people I work with. I learn something new everyday. I am working on my Inuktitut ... I have progressed to 9 words.... OK well phrases and 7 words.

Slowly but surly I am getting use to living in Nunavut. Before I moved I was eating a lot healthier and working out more. Moving here got me out of whack I was eating alot of convince foods that I could just throw in the oven. I am working on making healthier eating a priority to me. That means Wednesdays will be my cooking day ... no more baking for me more making meals for the week .


There is a goal I have for myself that I want accomplish this summer. At the other end of town there is a big hill that goes up past the RCMP detachment to this flat spot by the power plant. I put some pics from up there in my last blog. I want to walk up that hill and just chill on the upper part when the sun is up, Which is pretty much from 2:30am until 11pm and supposedly getting longer!


Now that the ice is breaking up I cant wait to take some more pictures of the area. Although it has been rainy and foggy here so not ideal picture taking. Although I am looking forward to seeing the Sea barge when they come in. We are expecting ours to come in the middle of July.

The sea barge is how large quanties of dry shelf stable foods get shipped to Nunavut communities. It is a better freight pricing and can supply you with alot of dry goods and cleaning products. I was lucky because Sheryl( my boss) was able to get my cat litter and cat food on the barge order. Though it was very hard figuring out how much cat food my cat eats and how much litter she uses because I bought cat food and littler supply for a year.

A cool thing for us in Nunavut that happened this week was Qiniq (our Internet provider) launched a new package. Here in Nunavut the Internet packages are similar to Rogers there is a cap after so much usage. I hit my cap this week ( which was ok because my renewal date was tomorrow) Well the new package is like 80 bucks a month but gives very fast speeds and a higher cap.  I was super pumped because I was not able to really use the Internet except for basic Facebooking .

Sorry for no pictures this time but I am sure I will find something to take pictures of here against soon!

Exploring in the Rain and Snow

Since my last post I have been working like crazy..

We had to do our general merchandise inventory on Saturday which was kind of fun and monotonous which made the day go by faster. I hadn't had much of a chance to explore or do anything exciting. I am settling into a great routine.

It is very hard to keep up with your healthy eating routine when your access to alot of the foods and brands I ate at home is very limited. I asked my manager if it was possible to get my favorite Greek Yogurt in and sure enough it was possible and today it came in on the plane! I was pumped.

There are only six 4 packs in a case and with an expiration date if the middle of July .. I foresee another case coming in before then lol..

A cool thing I have learned since moving to Nunavut is that my name Jeka means jacket in Inuktitut ... For almost 25 years my name has not meant anything and now it does... The little kids here think it is cool.

I am slowly learning Inuktitut I hear words and then I lose them so I think I am going to have to grab a notepad and write words down phonetically when I hear them and what their meaning is so I can remember it.

Last night I got a phone call for Jacket , from my bosses husband inviting me over for BBQ. I love BBQ so I never turn it down and living alone cooking for one person sucks. After a great steak we were sitting around chatting about Kimmirut and the areas I have been in. Sam and Sheryl suggested we go for a drive to the "outskirts"

Sheryl , Sam , Cassie and baby Dougie and I get into the truck and off we go. I have to say that I live in a beautiful area! Even though there are no trees there are tonnes of beautiful rock formations , natural lakes and even some bushes!

I got to see great expanses of water , which is great because I love water! The area reminded me alot of New Brunswick and PEI all mixed into one. We also went up to the top of one of the big hills in town by the Power plant(who knew?) and our water lake , the old dump and the new dump .

Here are some pics from the top of the big hill!

                              This is off toward where people go hunting to the flow edge.

The Heel from up high

Ice break up

                                              
                                                 The one with the white roof is Mine!

                                                    I love the backdrop for this pic!

I can't wait to explore the outskirts when the weather is a bit more co-operative and there is grass!

Until next time!

Walking on Water

On Sunday I decided that since I was off I would go on my first adventure on the Ice!

Sunday was beautiful here in Kimmirut. I was even able to walk around town with no jacket during the day. After confirming with my boss that I did not have to go into work to cover while the planes came in (the scheduled passenger and freighter planes had been canceled due to weather on both Friday and Saturday) and which level the tide had to be to go out on the ice. I packed a backpack , water bottle, binoculars and my camera and set out.

Sheryl(my boss) told me to follow the skidoo trials. There are actually like two main ones, one of which is by my house so I set out there only to find that I cant go that way because of all the ice break up. So I walked along the mushed up ice on the coast line toward the second area that skidoos usually go on and off the ice. During my walk along the coast I saw a dead seal that had no head *graphic pic*

And this cool looking dog who scared the crap out of me because he jumped from behind this rock and barked his heart out at me!

So as I go along I get to the point where the skidoos come on and off and the same issue too much broken ice ... BUT WAIT FOR IT!

There was a guy coming up from the ice on a 4 wheeler so I followed his trail and got going toward the ice. It was a bit slick getting down there and on the way down I found another dead seal ... this one was a bit more real seal looking.

So I finally make it out to the ice , there is lots of water there as the tide was coming back in, as long as I didn't go near the big pools I was good .

Here are some pics of me around out on the ice! You can see the ice wall that forms on the heel when the tide goes out.

And me !!!

This was such an awesome day out on the ice! It was prob my first and last chance to go out on the ice right now because of break up and warm temps. I can say that this is my first TRUE Nunavut adventure and I am looking forward to more!

Breakfast...and Settling in

This morning as I was walking to work I met my boss and her daughter walking to the store.  Normally she take her kids to school and daycare then to work. It turned out that this morning the school was having a "cold " pancake breakfast.

So Sheryl and I get all of our opening prep done so that we can go to the breakfast. From what Sheryl was telling me that pretty much the whole community comes out... well when we got there it seemed like most of the people in town were there.

Breakfast was cold pancakes, grilled hot dog half's, toast and scrambled eggs and juice. It was great! Sheryl and I were sitting with two of the towns elders, both of whom only spoke Inuktitut which was cool and intimidating as well. I am definitely glad that Sheryl was there to translate.

After breakfast Sheryl and I went back to the store to prepare for opening. Once the store was open and customers were coming in the ones that saw me at breakfast were asking how I enjoyed it. It was a really great feeling of inclusion into the community.

I know I have been here two weeks... it seems wayy longer some days. I am starting to recognize our regular customers and am able to joke around with them. I am looking forward to getting to know more people. I definitely love the feeling of community that Kimmirut has, very few places hold a breakfast and the majority of the town shows up.


It is cool to hear the kids who come into the store saying my name , almost like they want to know if I will respond to it . Alot of kids also want to come visit, mainly because I have a cat and my bosses daughter comes to visit.

I am hoping the snow and cool temperatures have left us behind! I wanted to go out on the ice and take pictures but I don't think I would do that right now ... the ice looks kind of sketchy! I am hoping to get an opportunity to go fishing or something "out on the land" just to say I have had the experience!

Back to the World

I am sure some of you thought that I abandoned my blog ..... your not so lucky!

My first week in the North was quite eventful! Work is entertaining and very challanging. I like that there is never the same thing twice . Good thing to keep my mind fresh. My co-workers are great and teaching me some Inktatut so far my word count is up to 4 words!

Kanwipe- How are you?
Dayma- Finished?
Nacome- Thank you
Your Welcome- which I cannot remember but it still counts!

I am sure I just butchered the spelling of those words.

I have met alot of people which is awesome and am starting to recognize a few faces. I also can make my way around the "subburbs" and the arena which I did not know Kimmirut had until I went to make a delivery with Sheryl.

I can now get around on my own!

The big challange I faced was my internet. As a person who has been connected to my friends and family through the internet to lose that connection was crazy! Especially when I was off for two days in a row! It turned out I did not pay my internet ....Oops ... guess I didnt know about that one. Then my modem wouldn't pick up connection... got a replacement and that one didnt work! Now I am all hooked up! Thank god I was getting a bit stir crazy.


One of the hardest things I have had to get use to with moving is the weather! There has been a bit of a cold snap here and it is a bit of a pain in the butt to bundle up to go to work. The biggest kicker was when I was talking to my little sister Allyson during the long weekend. She was like "Oh it is so hot here and I think I got heat exhsution" mean while I woke up to snow that covered the ground.... Ok so it didnt stay but it was still there!!

Well that is all my musings for now... look forward to hearing more from me for now on! Thank you to everyone who has read my blog and commented it has been great to hear from you!