Thursday, August 13, 2009

Days 15 and 16 Nannuk Harbour, Iqaluit and Ottawa

First off, apologies for not sending a report for yesterday. I’ll recap it (and today) in a minute, but it was simply so packed with activities, there was no time. Where to start… ah yes, Nannuk Harbour. Our last landing of the adventure was a nice little spot on the south coast of Baffin Island. It was easy to feel a bit of a “been there, done that” attitude – same plants, same rocks, same landscape.

But luckily, there was none of that going on. First off, there were polar bears everywhere. Reports were at least eight of them including a cub were either walking or sleeping in the near vicinity. So, we did some group activities until our intrepid armed watchers gave us the all clear for a hike. Yes, I said hike. Because the Geoff Green Center for Weight Loss doesn’t stop just because it’s our last landing.

The hike was good, although the crisp wind meant the layers stayed on. Which meant some serious sweating was going on in my case. But that’s ok… I can’t wait to get home to a scale to see if this did any good for me.

We ended up at a geographical survey marker placed on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Hudson Strait. There we pretty much did one big huge group hug in one different form or another. It was a special moment for everyone and a lot of fun. There’s a lot I will miss about the Arctic tundra – the ever-changing terrain, the surprising palette of colours and the overall feeling that we are someplace special that needs to be taken care of by all of us.

The afternoon and evening was spent packing and celebrating our last evening on the ship. It was filled with activities like thank yous for the crew of the Orlova, games, awards, a talent show, slide show and a special appearance by the “rock” band Geoff and the G.G.’s. Ah, you had to be there. There was laughter and there were tears; and overall it was a truly special time that I will remember for the rest of my life.

This morning, we were up early (ugh) to disembark and head to Iqaluit, the modern and modest capital of Nunavut. It was weird to be back to civilization as my cell phone announced a text message for the first time in two weeks. Arriving on shore, it took some time to re-acclimate to paved roads, car alarms and debit cards (what’s my PIN?!)

Iqaluit was charming and we got a tour of the Legislative Assembly courtesy of Her Honour, Ann Hanson, the Commissioner of Nunavut. Madame Hanson was supposed to accompany us on the voyage, but we never made it to the port where she was to join us. But she quickly regaled us with stories and descriptions of her life. Then it was off to the visitor center, local museum and finally to a BBQ lunch.

And then it was time to say goodbye to some of our friends as we arrived at the airport. Many of our northern students and staff were flying out of Iqaluit, instead of going all the way back to Ottawa. It was a heavily emotional time for all, with hardly a dry eye around, and I imagine it will be a fraction of the emotions that will come out Thursday morning as we all separate for the final time.

Tonight is some informal time back at Carleton University in Ottawa before our flights, trains, busses and car rides home tomorrow. I hope to do one more entry for this blog before signing off, so stay tuned.

John Keats said, “Much have I traveled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen…” I have seen many goodly states and kingdoms over the past two weeks. Now all that’s left are the memories, and for one more night, the people I have shared them with. I’ve gotta a feeling, that tonight’s gonna be a good good night…

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