After flying to Winnipeg and staying in an airport hotel for the day, I fly to Churchill (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchill,_Manitoba) this morning and arrive at the Lazy Bear Lodge. This is my home for the next 3 days.
Everything in the Lodge is made from solid timber, inside and out. It is not only beautiful, but it has an incredibly cosy feel to it.
I'm surprised to find the bathtub isn't carved out of a log.
Since there is still time before lunch, I quickly put some warmer clothes on and go out for just a little stroll up the road - the Lazy Bear Lodge being downtown.
After lunch, some other guests and I are picked up by a young woman by the name of Judd who is our driver and guide on this afternoon's Cultural and Heritage tour.
As we are heading up-town, past the big silos (Port) we encounter this pair of Arctic Terns nesting by the side of the road. When the bus stops and we open a window for a photo, they just about attack the bus. I don't mind closing the window at all.
These ponds are apparently teeming with all kinds of birds, and obviously fish too. If the weather was a little warmer and not windy, the atmosphere would be teeming with mosquitoes too. Not many bees can live in this harsh climate, so the 'mossies' take on the role of pollinators. That's why the locals don't complain about them.
We drive over the little hill to the Cape Merry Battery part of the Prince of Wales Fort this side of the river mouth..
This is all that's left of this battery. Before we walk up there, Judd shoulders a gun and goes scouting the area in case of polar bears hiding among the rocks and bushes. The gun has a scare gun attachment. They don't shoot the bears, just move them on.
This plaque is the only one that mentions the Danish explorer Jens Munck who wintered across the river in 1619-1620. He had gone up river with two ships and got frozen in. Only 3 men survived.
Click on his name to read more.
This low shrubbery reminds me of the wild blue berry bushes in the alps at home, but I learn that these here are actually called willows. In more sheltered areas, they will grow a fair bit taller.
When the polar bears come ashore in summer, they are fat and well nourished from their winter diet of fish and seals on the ice. Being on land for the summer is the equivalent of other bear species' hibernation. They don't need any food and they spend most of their time sleeping - in the bushes and behind rocks because they really want to be left alone.
Being well endowed and well dressed, they suffer in the heat of the summer, so they dig themselves a ditch to keep cool. They don't have to dig deep as only a foot or so under the surface is permafrost.
There is an abundance of wildflowers and Judd knows all about them. The one above is called Mountain Aven, the only name I can remember. The little flowers move with the sun like sunflowers.
The only book on flora I find later on, is not only quite expensive, but also a bit much to add to my luggage.
As we travel on, we see plenty of Canada Geese. Some are still nesting, others already have little goslings out and about.
Here are a couple of little fluff balls, well protected by both parents. From what Judd tells us, Canada Geese are just like the geese we used to have. They mate for life and form a family unit when they have goslings. They also speak pretty much the same language from what I can hear.
This here is the wreck of Miss Piggy. Miss Piggy was a Curtiss C-46 Commando cargo aircraft, operated by Lamb Air in Northern Maitoba. The C46 flew in 1945 and was nicknamed Miss Piggy because of the size of the loads she carried from site to site in the north. On November 13, 1979, iss Piggy left the Churchill airport. Shortly into the flight her No 1 engine oil temperature rose, and a drop in oil pressure forced the crew to descend and turn back to Churchill.
The aircraft couldn't hold the altitude and a forced landing was made in rough terrain 1/4 mile short of the runway. Reportedly, the aircraft was overloaded.....a stuffed Piggy.
The three crewmen were injured but all survived.
The cargo was eventually retrieved, but Miss Piggy remains on this cliff to this day as a tourist attraction.
The landscape around here is very beautiful. The pine trees all have stunted branches on the wind side. They are in clumps because there is no way of pollination, so they actually sucker under ground.
The saying in Churchill is that if you want a Christmas tree, you need to have a trio.
This old hangar with the stunning mural is the Polar Bear Holding Facility.....and don't you go calling it a jail!
The rangers hang a tasty morsel in the front end of this trap and when the bear goes in, the gate drops behind him. The trap then gets towed to the facility by truck. There are large enough cages inside to hold a mother and a couple of cubs.
The hangar is kept cool and dark and the bears only have some water available but don't get fed. Apparently, in the beginning, the bears used to be fed and promptly returned year after year.
After a few weeks, they get sedated, loaded into trucks and taken some distance away from the town.
On the way back to the Lodge, Judd mentions that the post office will put the Churchill stamp with a polar bear in our passports.
Naturally, I grab my passport and march back up-town to the post office for my stamp.
There is a liquor store in the same building and I wander around to see how the prices compare. Surprisingly, they are pretty much the same as anywhere else, despite the fact that these days everything as to be airlifted in.
What surprises me even more is the fact that I spot Screech, the Newfoundland Rum. I haven't seen any since I visited there a few years ago. How could I resist.
My walk eventually leads me to this church. The first settlement was originally built on the other side of the river, roughly in the spot where Jens Munck had been stuck. But as the railway was built to the Port and more and more people worked there, it was decided that the town should be moved to this side as crossing the river on a daily basis became at times impossible.
This church was dragged across the frozen river in four pieces and re-erected here.
There used to be a semiweekly passenger train from Winnipeg to Churchill but part of the line got washed out in a spring flood last year.
The line was also extended to the Port facilities - grain silos - where grain was stored until the next ship came into port. There is currently a dispute about who should pay to fix the damage. Meanwhile, things have come to a halt.
This is the rather grand looking railway station building. It houses the Visitors Information Centre and Parks Canada administration offices.
Pity it is now closed for the long weekend. I won't get to see the inside of it.
I return to the Lodge for a well earned rest after a long day and a sumptuous meal to round it off.
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