Welcome to Churchill

After arriving to 30 degrees at 9.30pm in Winnipeg yesterday it seems a bit wrong that a mere hour's flight away it's 9 degrees in the middle of the day. It's my recovery day after stuffing 26 hours of travel into 9 and a half according to the clock, so I had nothing planned for today and thought I might just wander around and have a look at Churchill.

So Leanore, the "taxi driver" from the airport, which I shared with 2 lovely pilots from Calm Air, was a born and bred Churchillian character and good enough to do a bit of tour guiding/orientation on the way into town.

About 1 minute from the airport-

Leanore, pointing to a fenced property with a big shed: " that's the polar bear compound"

Me: "what's happening to polar bears in the compound?"

Leanore (backed up by nodding pilots): "they're in what we call polar bear jail"

Me: "what did they do to get put in jail?"

Leanore: "wandered into town. So, if you hear a siren, that's not for bears. That's the curfew to get your kids off the street. If you hear a gunshot, that means a bear is in town."

    Main Street of Churchill. My hotel is directly opposite the row of blue and white buses.


Sounding a little bit like a Canadian version of An American Werewolf in London, " Stick to the main road, don't go down the side streets. Don't go down to the beach by yourself".

Suitably informed I turn up at the delightfully quaint Polar Inn where the lovely Louise and her daughter Albury(? Aubury ?) check me in and give me the run down. Can I just say, aside from Canadian Customs officers, who seem to be like Customs officers everywhere - ultra serious - Canadian people are just like they appear on TV - very friendly, laid back, easy going.

Louise: "hello, how are ya?"

Bit of check in banter ensues, including the exciting information that a number of bears have been seen, boding well for my Tundra Buggy explorations in the next 2 days.

Me: "I heard the Eskimo Museum is good"

Louise: "yah, you can cut through all these side streets to get there. And down at the beach in the evening is really lovely, you should get down there".

Hah.

So I checked in and headed to the must do Gypsy bakery for a famous fritter (massive donut really) and to digest my mandatory bear safety pamphlet (mind you, I had to ask what I should do if, in an unlikely scenario, I do encounter a bear before they gave me the pamphlet. Leanore, great character that she is, had suggested I make sure I am always with someone I can outrun).

    Piña Colada Fritter, weird ass cappuccino and Churchill bible

Unfortunately fat and tasty looking after my fritter and cappuccino sprinkled with cinnamon instead of chocolate I headed down a dreaded side street, furtively looking over my shoulder all the while, to the Eskimo Museum. Full of fascinating and in some cases intricate carvings telling life stories of Arctic peoples and made from anything from stone to walrus tusk to whale bone, along with a bunch of stuffed native wildlife and an assortment of other things.

I reckon the people of Churchill are having a great time toying with visitors, stacking all these massive white boulders in their yards which out of the corner of a visiting novice eye look distinctly like a polar bear creeping up beside you...I would also note that prevalent polar bears appears to be the best ever dog management tool. Best trained dogs ever, don't wander far from their front doors.

Fell asleep for a few hours this afternoon, woke up at 9 and went next door to the Tundra Dining Room and Pub to scoff a soup, edamame and glass of wine in order to meet the 10pm curfew for walking around the streets on your own. I did take more photos but on my camera and I can't get them onto my iPad just yet.

Tomorrow let the adventure begin proper! I am soooo excited!