Churchill Manitoba - Worth The Schlep

I have never been to a town I have never wanted to live in more than Churchill, Manitoba. It is early October and the snow is on the ground, the wind is whipping off the Hudson Bay at 40 mph, the architecture is double wide mobile homes. The tundra is vast and flat with little to break up the scenery than the left over rocket silos from a forgotten mission of the US during the cold war, huge grain silos down by the Port of Churchill, the Bear Jail, and the abandoned dreams of a man who was building a Rock Castle.

What is it like for the 942 people who live here?

The tourism industry is what brings in the business. Polar bears in October, beluga whales in June and July and viewing of the aureole borealis from November – March. Reason enough to warrant the 10 hour drive to Thompson and then the 18 hour train to Churchill?

Even with these negatives the answer is: YES. Go to Churchill if you can.

(Side note: There are sleeper cars available for an extra $400 per person – we didn’t fork over the equivalent of 2 weeks on the road for the sleepers and it took a day for this 47 year old body to recover from lying sideways on a metal plank. At one point Josh was woken up by an inebriated gentleman wanting to make sure he knew the end of the world was coming in 2012. Josh assured him he knew about the Mayan Prediction, rolled over and went back to sleep after, in the words of Josh, “He had a most interesting and creative use of swear words I have ever heard!”)

Our dog sled adventure was at 1 PM on Sunday so plenty of time to hang out in pajamas playing scrabble, holding RV Elementary, writing blogs and reading.

We were picked up by the lovely Jennifer from Blue Sky who gave us a running commentary on life in Churchill. www.blueskymush.com She came to Churchill on a three week nursing contract seven years ago, found dog sledding (and her future husband Gerald) and her life was turned upside down – for the better. She was a wealth of information and the perfect host.

We traveled out from Churchill to Blue Sky’s place and parked in front of their permanent tent in front of the sign “Dog Sled Parking Only – violators will be peed on”.

Not a poodle or Chihuahua in the mix – all gorgeous huskies,

Now, I like my dogs as well as the next guy. I grew up with a royal standard poodle and we are definitely going to get a dog once we are settled and have a yard but I never would have ever considered a husky. What lovely dogs.

I have to say I was a little worried thinking how could dogs be excited to pull fat tourist around in the snow all day – but no! They are all so well taken care of and loved and anxious as anything to be chosen to saddle up and take us for a ride. While there wasn’t enough snow to use the sleigh, they have specially designed carts on wheels so we could still have the experience. Simon and I were first up which was certainly the fastest ride of the day zipping around on the course through the tundra with the incredibly knowledgeable Gerald, the Musher.

It was so quiet. And watching the backs of the dogs it was as if they were pulling a feather. The ride was quick – but so memorable.

Afterwards we spent time getting to know the other dogs in the yard including Isobel the Blind Snow Dog as well as having a chance to hear Gerald and Jennifer tell us stories over hot chocolate and cake about their life where moose, polar bears and wolves play a pretty regular role. In fact, it is common to hear shots around town as the Bear Police keep the polar bears out of town.

Any bear that is caught in town digging through trash cans is tranquilized and brought to the 24 occupancy Bear Jail where they are kept, without feeding except for water and snow, until the Hudson Bay freezes. The Bear Jail is right on the shore of the Hudson Bay so the Jailers just open the doors and the bears run out and head up to the Arctic Circle straight away.

Yesterday we were off again on the Tundra Buggy with Brendon who, as a Churchill Native, was able to spot a polar bear with his eagle eyes miles away. I am happy to report that the Polar Bears are healthy this year do to the later break up of the ice this past spring. They had an extra couple of weeks to fatten up on seal. We saw our first polar bear – a 2 -3 year old male – messing about on the rocks. Later we spent the better part of an hour with a very large male who spent most of his day napping. Occasionally he would wake up, acknowledge the 4 tundra buggies gathered around him and then snuggle down for another nap.

It was wild to watch him and wonder what it would be like to have that thick of a neck and to enjoy the cold.

I spent an hour at the Churchill K-12 grade school where there is an adult swim from 5 – 7 pm. As I was walking in I saw the large posters on the wall announcing the finding from the Sustainability Study that was conducted by the University of Winnipeg along with the Churchill community. One of the things that struck me was the list of hazards - high winds, tornados, draughts and floods, snow, hail, ice storms, fog, polar bears, chemical contamination from the ports.

While I am having trouble getting my head around Northern Canada – the loneliness, the barren tundra, the nomadic culture, the houses up on blocks so they can be easily moved – I have an incredible respect for the people who live here and the challenges they must face.

With all that said, I am so glad we are here.