The Transition Days from Cold to Hot
Churchill, Manitoba - Toronto, Ontario
Saturday, November 9, 2019 - Tuesday, November 12, 2019
We spent our final day in Churchill in a more quiet and subdued way than the previous days. Jim wandered outside and visited three small museums in Churchill. The first was an Indigenous Peoples Museum that had quite a substantial collection of Indigenous art. The second was a Polar Bear Research Centre that shared information about polar bears and their patterns on behaviour. The staff were also able to use tracking data on identified bears to know where they were. Although there was quite a bit of ice that had formed on the bay during the last few days, none of the 'chipped' bears had yet gone out to sea to fish. The third museum was really a gift shop with a crafters corner in the back room. There they produced many artisan products that reflect the indigenous culture of the area. Some of the products were quite beautiful, especially the caribou hair jewellery that was created there.
I spent much of the day packing and writing and creating a photo book of our adventure in Churchill. It was a very productive and restful day for me. It is sometimes a challenge to keep up with both the blog and our photo books. Taking time at various intervals makes these projects viable during the time that we are away. I know myself too well to leave them to do once we get home. Too many other things flood the time available and I fear these would be set aside.
Finally, about 4:30 pm, there was flurry of activity at the hotel and the call was put out that the shuttle to the airport was leaving in a few minutes. Throughout the day, the flight had been rescheduled several times. First 2:30 pm, then 8:30 pm and now 6:30 pm. We arrived at the airport to find that passengers were at the terminal expecting a 6:30 departure. But, there was one last change ... the flight left at 6 pm. All passengers were present and accounted for.
We boarded and had a pleasant flight to Winnipeg (about 90 minutes) and disembarked, picked up our luggage organized our rental car and headed off to a nearby hotel in Winnipeg.
Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful. Just as we were finishing breakfast, Phillip arrived. Jim had read about Phillip in online reviews of Winnipeg guides. He was highly acclaimed and he was available on the single day that we had in Winnipeg. And thank goodness he was available. He took us on a 3 hour driving tour of Winnipeg and never stopped sharing information and stories along the way. We learned more about places we had already seen and we were introduced to new places of industry, commerce, tourism, and food. Phillip, himself, has a PhD in History and a storytellers talent for putting forth the information. We loved the time we spent with him!!
After Phillip left us, we struck out on our own. First, we visited Maison du Saigon, a Vietnamese coffee shop recommended by a friend. We had a light lunch and some great coffee but the highlight of the day was that the server had an app that would put our own photo on top of the cream on the cappuccinos. We had a great time looking at ourselves in our cups and drinking our coffee from those cups. The dilemma was ... would I drink Jim's picture and he drink mine? In the end we each kept the cups with our own photos and enjoyed every drop of the experience.
We then headed out of town a short distance to see the Winnipeg Floodway. Winnipeg has constructed a very large and deep ditch around much of the city. It is designed to redirect water from the Red River when there is danger of a flood. Winnipeg has experienced many river floods that have caused enormous damage to public and private properties The dike is proving to be an effective tool in diminishing the frequency and size of the floods that occur.
We also drove further from the city to find the location of the middle of the country from east to west. The Longitudinal Centre of Canada rests at 96* 48' 35". Of course, we stopped to take a photo of the signs and of the small park that marks the spot. We also enjoyed a glorious sunset and a very long freight train making its way down the tracks. There are close to 100 freight trains that travel through Winnipeg each day. There is a remarkable criss cross of train tracks across the city.
As dark fell, we returned to the city and went out for dinner at Rae and Jerry's, a restaurant that has been in Winnipeg for many, many years. Highly recommended, we each had prime rib (sadly no yorkshire pudding). The meat was delicious and tender. Then it was home to bed.
Monday morning was also a bright and cheery day. But nothing was open as it was Remembrance Day and all public facilities and many businesses close for the day. So we paid our respects to the veterans and then took a last drive through some lovely neighbourhoods (in particular Kingston) before heading to the airport to await our flight.
Jim turned in the rental car and began to check us in for our flight when the offer was made of an earlier flight. Yes!! Yes, indeed! We were aware that the weather in Toronto was deteriorating rapidly and we were concerned that our original flight might not get off the ground. We were grateful to be on board an earlier flight. The trip across Manitoba and Ontario was very smooth. But as we approached Toronto, our pilot was directed to circle around a few times north of Toronto (Barrie - Huntsville). Finally, we were given the go ahead to land and the pilot was masterful at bringing this big bird down on a snowy and icy runway.
It was quite late by the time we made it to our hotel and we were ready for a good night's sleep.
Tuesday was a day for laundry and repacking as we prepare ourselves now for a 2 week holiday in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. No winter coats or boots needed for those destinations. We also had the pleasure of having lunch with Janice, Jim's sister, and catching up on family news from a different perspective. Then a few errands and dinner with Iain and Elaine.
We made it an early night though since we have to catch the hotel shuttle at 5 am for our 7 am flight in the morning. Yawn!! I can already feel a nap coming on on the plane.
And so we leave the cold behind and gratefully head to warmer climes.
Saturday, November 9, 2019 - Tuesday, November 12, 2019
We spent our final day in Churchill in a more quiet and subdued way than the previous days. Jim wandered outside and visited three small museums in Churchill. The first was an Indigenous Peoples Museum that had quite a substantial collection of Indigenous art. The second was a Polar Bear Research Centre that shared information about polar bears and their patterns on behaviour. The staff were also able to use tracking data on identified bears to know where they were. Although there was quite a bit of ice that had formed on the bay during the last few days, none of the 'chipped' bears had yet gone out to sea to fish. The third museum was really a gift shop with a crafters corner in the back room. There they produced many artisan products that reflect the indigenous culture of the area. Some of the products were quite beautiful, especially the caribou hair jewellery that was created there.
I spent much of the day packing and writing and creating a photo book of our adventure in Churchill. It was a very productive and restful day for me. It is sometimes a challenge to keep up with both the blog and our photo books. Taking time at various intervals makes these projects viable during the time that we are away. I know myself too well to leave them to do once we get home. Too many other things flood the time available and I fear these would be set aside.
Finally, about 4:30 pm, there was flurry of activity at the hotel and the call was put out that the shuttle to the airport was leaving in a few minutes. Throughout the day, the flight had been rescheduled several times. First 2:30 pm, then 8:30 pm and now 6:30 pm. We arrived at the airport to find that passengers were at the terminal expecting a 6:30 departure. But, there was one last change ... the flight left at 6 pm. All passengers were present and accounted for.
We boarded and had a pleasant flight to Winnipeg (about 90 minutes) and disembarked, picked up our luggage organized our rental car and headed off to a nearby hotel in Winnipeg.
Sunday morning dawned bright and beautiful. Just as we were finishing breakfast, Phillip arrived. Jim had read about Phillip in online reviews of Winnipeg guides. He was highly acclaimed and he was available on the single day that we had in Winnipeg. And thank goodness he was available. He took us on a 3 hour driving tour of Winnipeg and never stopped sharing information and stories along the way. We learned more about places we had already seen and we were introduced to new places of industry, commerce, tourism, and food. Phillip, himself, has a PhD in History and a storytellers talent for putting forth the information. We loved the time we spent with him!!
After Phillip left us, we struck out on our own. First, we visited Maison du Saigon, a Vietnamese coffee shop recommended by a friend. We had a light lunch and some great coffee but the highlight of the day was that the server had an app that would put our own photo on top of the cream on the cappuccinos. We had a great time looking at ourselves in our cups and drinking our coffee from those cups. The dilemma was ... would I drink Jim's picture and he drink mine? In the end we each kept the cups with our own photos and enjoyed every drop of the experience.
We then headed out of town a short distance to see the Winnipeg Floodway. Winnipeg has constructed a very large and deep ditch around much of the city. It is designed to redirect water from the Red River when there is danger of a flood. Winnipeg has experienced many river floods that have caused enormous damage to public and private properties The dike is proving to be an effective tool in diminishing the frequency and size of the floods that occur.
We also drove further from the city to find the location of the middle of the country from east to west. The Longitudinal Centre of Canada rests at 96* 48' 35". Of course, we stopped to take a photo of the signs and of the small park that marks the spot. We also enjoyed a glorious sunset and a very long freight train making its way down the tracks. There are close to 100 freight trains that travel through Winnipeg each day. There is a remarkable criss cross of train tracks across the city.
As dark fell, we returned to the city and went out for dinner at Rae and Jerry's, a restaurant that has been in Winnipeg for many, many years. Highly recommended, we each had prime rib (sadly no yorkshire pudding). The meat was delicious and tender. Then it was home to bed.
Monday morning was also a bright and cheery day. But nothing was open as it was Remembrance Day and all public facilities and many businesses close for the day. So we paid our respects to the veterans and then took a last drive through some lovely neighbourhoods (in particular Kingston) before heading to the airport to await our flight.
Jim turned in the rental car and began to check us in for our flight when the offer was made of an earlier flight. Yes!! Yes, indeed! We were aware that the weather in Toronto was deteriorating rapidly and we were concerned that our original flight might not get off the ground. We were grateful to be on board an earlier flight. The trip across Manitoba and Ontario was very smooth. But as we approached Toronto, our pilot was directed to circle around a few times north of Toronto (Barrie - Huntsville). Finally, we were given the go ahead to land and the pilot was masterful at bringing this big bird down on a snowy and icy runway.
It was quite late by the time we made it to our hotel and we were ready for a good night's sleep.
Tuesday was a day for laundry and repacking as we prepare ourselves now for a 2 week holiday in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. No winter coats or boots needed for those destinations. We also had the pleasure of having lunch with Janice, Jim's sister, and catching up on family news from a different perspective. Then a few errands and dinner with Iain and Elaine.
We made it an early night though since we have to catch the hotel shuttle at 5 am for our 7 am flight in the morning. Yawn!! I can already feel a nap coming on on the plane.
And so we leave the cold behind and gratefully head to warmer climes.
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