Sealift

For those of us from the south going to the grocery store and getting food or any products is easy the store orders them a truck brings them to the store and we go in and buy it.

It is not the case here in the north. All of our food and other necessities are flown in. Well most of the time. Sealift is an easy way to get a number of heavier items or bulk orders of items to the North in a cost effective manner.

Around March and April books start to appear in Northern stores across the North. These books have lists of shelf stable foods and long lasting products such as cleaning supplies and such.  The store it self makes a big order and individuals are able to as well. So you place the order in March or April and in July a ship comes floating up the Atlantic Ocean into the Arctic ocean and on to your community to deliver goods.

I knew a bit about sealift from my information session with the North West Company but to experience the first one was nothing short of an adrenalin rush!

We were anticipating our sealift on July 14thish We got notification that due to Ice in Frobisher Bay into Iqaluit the ship would be hitting Kimmirut first. So we posted our signs looking for additional staff for sealift re stacked our old sealift pop and waited. Well we got another update stating that the boat was going to Cape Dorset due to ice in our harbour. After Cape Dorset we thought that we were next ... nope the boat went on to Coral Harbour.

I had developed tendinitis about a week and a half  before sealift so I was hoping I would be better but that was not the case. I decided that I would still do my best and Sheryl said that heavy lifting would aggravate it so I was not going to be doing that.

Sunday July 15th was our confirmed date of sealift from the Captain of the ship. Sunday Morning I was awake early ( I didn't need to be awake for work until 11am) I called Sheryl to find out what our plan was going to be for the day... She had been out earlier that morning and found that the ship was docked way out around some inlets... We couldn't even see it from town which sucked because we could see the fuel tanker so clearly !

Sheryl let Me now that the barges would not be coming in until 630pm! Wow all day at work I had to answer questions " Is your boat in?" Once we closed the store Sheryl came in and asked if I wanted to go for a cruise to see where the barge was . It sucked because I  didn't have my camera to take a pic of the SHIP! We could see it from the top of the satellite hill.

Once we confirmed where the barge was Sheryl and I returned to the store I asked what my plan of attack would be for the night. She let me know I could go eat for an hour or so or if I could be back in 20 mins I could go with her to the boat launch to meet the barge. .... I will let you guess which option I picked .... That is right twenty mins later I showed up with a hoodie on , hat and bug net and my camera!

 There it the barge coming in from the ship

Its coming!

                                                               
                                                                       Almost here!

 It is here! The three blue things are sea cans it turned out that two of them were ours and they forklift them from here down to the store.

This is Gord our Grocery supervisor stacking some of the 1800 cases of Coke we got on sealift.

Seacans waiting to be unloaded

New Honda ATV's out back of my house .... I wish one of those was mine!

Sealift for me was over at 10pm.. I had to open the store and although I wasn't an active participant ( I was the gofer and made coffee) I still had fun.

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!

A Big Update and Lots of Pictures!

Ok so I failed a bit at blogging this past week. It was not because I didn't have anything interesting to blog about because I did ... I just didn't feel like blogging. We have had some great weather here and then some not so great weather. Both lead to feelings of not wanting to blog and both for very different reasons!

Last Saturday I took the day off work for my older sisters wedding.... No I did not make a trip back to New Brunswick. Through the technology guru of my sister Whitney and Skype I was able to see the entire wedding and most of the important parts of the reception!

So what does being Skyped into a wedding look like? Well when I get the pics I will show you!
It was kind of sad not being there but at the same time I was glad to miss out on the heat and humidity!

After the excitement of the wedding I went for a walk on the harbour floor while the tide was out. I wanted to take some pictures of the huge "icebergs" since we are now into WATER not ice!

Here are some of my cool shots:

I also go to take part in the Hamlet's Canada Day celebrations on July 2nd. Our original celebrations were set for the first however on June 30th they found the body of our former mayor. He had been missing since late November after not returning from a hunting trip. I am glad that his family has closure .

I took a bunch of pictures of Elders ,adults and kids alike playing games however my camera decided to eat them! I tied for 1st place in one game and got a cool set of three baskets ! Currently they are sitting on my table until I find some cool uses for them ( I am thinking sewing gear is going to be in them!)

The past three days have been very icky weather wise, cold rainy and overcast! We have not had a plane since Thursday.... However today we got a plane!!! Woot 

We also have come into Sealift season! Twice a year here in Kimmirut we get Sealifts which are barges that bring in containers of non perishable foodstufs, vehicles (ATVs and such) and anything that is shelf stable. Tonight when I came home from work I found that there was a sea barge in the harbour. It was not ours .. I don't think so anyhow I believe it is the Co-ops but still cool to take pics!

This is what sea barges look like:

Picture Wednsday!

I don't really feel like writing a long blog so I am going to make today Picture Wensday! A day when I share some new pics with you all!


These are large chuncks of ice in the "harbour" the tide is out so they are just sitting there... I am calling them my mini ice bergs!

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!