Part 4 of 8
Clyde River
Population 810
Clyde River means Kangiqtugaapik or “nice little inlet” in Inuktitut.
Monday morning found me at the airport bright and early awaiting my flight to Clyde River. The girl at the ticket counter put one of the dreaded green stickers on my boarding pass and said that the flight was 'subject to landing'. Well, you could say any flight is subject to landing, but in this case it means we will fly you all the way to Clyde River, circle above the airport and then fly you back to Iqaluit. Oh, and the green sticker means the airline isn't responsible for feeding you or finding you accommodations if the plane doesn't make it to your destination. Every traveller in the North knows what the green sticker means...and you never want one on your boarding pass.
But the flight took off on time and we were able to land in Clyde River so the trip was off to a good start. The taxi wasn't running but we managed to snag a ride into town in the back of someone's truck. There were 4 up in the cab and 6 of us plus luggage in the back (pan, bed, insert your word here). The truck stopped in front of this building and everyone looked at us...so we got out and figured this must be the hotel, not that you can tell from looking.
The two ladies who run the hotel are fantastic and they treated us very well. Mike and I had fries, dressing and gravy for lunch. Which is a treat I haven't had in years.
Our meetings went well and the next day as we waited for our afternoon flight the airline called the hotel, the flight would be in early and could we get to the airport immediately for check in. Sure, no problem. Except that the taxi still wasn't running and we needed a ride to the airport. One of the guys went to look for a ride and we packed up. A few minutes later a truck from the airline pulls up out front, a couple of the guys come in to pick up their lunch from the hotel. We mentioned our prediciment to them and they offered to let us ride. So we hoped in and away we went. The flight did come in early and we were off to Pond Inlet for the next part of our journey. I should point out that the airline calling the hotel isn't that unusual. In small communities like this tracking down all the people on a flight takes only a matter of minutes so an early flight is actually possible. Try doing that in Toronto. And there is only one hotel in Clyde River, so of course that made it easier to track us down. I have gotten a couple of those calls at the office when I worked in Pang...so I wasn't surprised, but the guys were a little taken aback.
Here's some pics from Clyde River.
A view of Clyde River from the sky. This is the entire town...yep, that's it.
This is the hotel...see the sign. Yeah, we didn't either which is why we didn't know it was the hotel. There are 6 rooms, with 2 twin beds in each room, with private baths. In the main part is the kitchen, dining area and siting area which is where I spent most of my time, watching Oprah and reading a book. Gotta love duty travel.
Lobster tails on sale at the Northern. $24.95 for four of them. Apparently they are possibly from Whale Cove (see part 6 of 8 next week) and I intend to find out.
Just walking around town looking at the view. Everyone in town was super friendly and we knew a few of the people from courses we put off this Spring so it was nice to see some familiar faces.
One of the many boats down by the shore, frozen in the ice.
Anchored to the ice.
When the ice moves into the bays during the fall it can create some interesting designs as it freezes....like this...
Supplies brought in via sealift last summer, waiting for spring to come. Lumber, windows, doors, nails, etc for constructing new homes.
Travelling in style. Travelling in the back of the airline's vehicle. I think I said earlier we hitched a ride but didn't mention it was a cube van. One of the guys refused to get in, but Mike and I said *uck it and climbed in the back. It's the North and you do what you have to do. Driving a few miles in the back of a cube van seemed like a rather issue to us.
We joked about feeling like refuges getting smuggled into another country and wondered if they would let us out in front of the airport or inside by the plane. They let us out in front.
Part 5 of 8
Pond Inlet
Population 1300
Pond and Pang are suppossed to be tied for most beautiful community in Nunavut, and I think you will understand why when you see some of these pictures.
This is the view out the front window of our charter from the week before, we had to refuel in Pond on our way back to Iqaluit. Knowing such a shot wouldn't be possible the next week I took the opportunity to show you the pilots viewpoint of such a landing.
When coming in for a landing you get the opportunity to see one of the glaciers that surrounds Pond better. What I wouldn't have given to be there on a bright sunny day and to get across the ice for a closer view.
Pond Inlet was quite nice, but I didn't feel any sort of connection to it. Maybe I felt I'd be cheating on my fav community of Pang if I did...maybe it was the ear infection and drugs I was on that didn't allow me to fully appreciate where I was. Who knows. It's like London, England, I went, I saw, I don't care to return yet so many people think it is an incredible place to visit...chacon a son gout.
Just a few views of the mountains that enclose one side of Pond. There is a long low nad of clouds that blocked the view for most of the time that we were in Pond Inlet.
Carving is a common past time and method of income for many people in the North. It is definitely an outside hobby. The dust and chips of stone would leave a large mess that no sensible wife would put up with as you can see in this photo.
The start of a very large carving. This is not the kind of carving one would pick up at the storehouse, this carving probably weighs a couple hundred pounds.
Front view of what become a very beautiful face.
View of the mountains as seen from inside my room at the lodge. Once again we managed to luck out in the area of accommodations. I had a private room, with it's own bath, couch, desk and flat screen tv....yep, roughing it again in the North.
Same view taken at about 2am. The band of clouds that was hanging over the mountains became fog and then blocked out the view completely.
I went exploring Tuesday evening and started walking down this road...it goes a long way from where we were staying and then at the top of a very tall hill is the cemetery.
Kids playing at the elementary school in front of the lodge.
I wonderif the girl on the swing can feel the wind chill.
Wooden crosses mark most of the graves, though the RCMP have large stone memorials which would have cost a pretty penny to have shipped up.
As in most communities, once all the snow disappears a cemetery clean up will happen and markers will be righted and the area put to sorts.
A few more pictures of the views around town...
I've seen this in a few places up North, empty barrels being used to help build up the hills and grade around the buildings. I guess the advantage to using the barrels vs rock is that they are easier to move and there would be less space in between for rock, dirt, etc to fall through.
See the two long rows of houses on the left, keep moving towards the right side of the photo...see the sliver tube with the yellow face...that's a house. Click on the photo to make it larger and you will see it a bit better. It has three arms or sections that come out and yes, it seems to be made of metal roofing material. Go figure.
The edge of a kayak peeking out from under the snow. I didn't ask, but can only assume this is a traditional kayak that will be covered with hides, rather than the plastic/fibreglass that one finds in most stores.
Life and death. It's everywhere in every world. This may seem rather graphic to those of you in the South not used to seeing dead animals, but it is certainly not an uncommon one in the North.
Another fantastic carving. This one will be a mermaid when it is finished. It's just too bad the photographer didn't notice the telephone pole in the background that now appears to be sticking out of her head.
Though I sat in the front row of seats on the plane, I was very far from the front. I sat in front of the door that connects the cock pit to the cargo area and then the passenger area of the plane. The left side is the outer wall of the plane and all up the right side is where luggage and cargo is stored.
I'm brain dead this weekend. It's taken me three days to write this post and frankly, I struggled to come up with as much text as I did. I have a few more pics of glaciers as seen from the plane that I'll share after my next trip.
Parts 6-8 coming by the end of May as I travel to Whale Cove, Rankin Inlet and Arviat. I'll be back in mainland Canada....think about it.
