Days 9-12 Tuesday August 2nd to Saturday August 6th

Well, my faithful blog readers, I’ll start this entry off with an apology. My intention to write a blog entry for every day has fallen to the wayside. It certainly isn’t for a lack of anything to write about – if you’ve looked on the Students On Ice website, you’ll see that we have been visiting some incredible places, meeting fascinating people and doing amazing things.

And at the end of the day, it’s all I can do to stay awake until my head hits the pillow.

So for those who promised to read my blog every day, I’m sorry I haven’t kept up my end of the deal.

Today, we are entering our last full day aboard the Clipper Adventurer. Right now, we are anchored somewhere along the western Labrador coast, with thick pea soup like fog surrounding us. The schedule says we might have a possible zodiac cruise and/or landing, but I’m not sure if that will happen. With the fog, there’s not much to see on a cruise, and if we land, it will be difficult for the gun handlers to watch for bears approaching our group.

Since it’s the last day aboard ship, the rest of today will be spent packing, last-minute journaling, and a series of presentations and activities designed to give the students some perspective on this expedition. Basically, we’ve given the tools to continue with their passions and dreams, but now we need to give them ideas on what to DO with those tools.

Tonight will be the traditional talent night showcase, and a real sense that this expedition is coming to a close. As in my previous two years, I’ve watched this unique and talented group of young adults bond closely together over the past two weeks as they share common experiences. And now, the process of separating begins.

The last few days, as I said, have been amazing. After a relatively calm, but busy, sea day from Greenland to Iceland, we arrived at the Labrador coast with little difficulty last Wednesday morning. We pulled into Sagluk Bay in Torngat National Park – the newest national park in Canada.

There, we were welcomed by a group of scientists, Parks Canada workers and Inuit students and elders. Together they had formed a base camp along the shore of the bay to conduct various activities of a scientific, cultural and environmental nature.

It was a great honour that they took the time out of their busy days to make us feel at home for a few hours. They gave us tours, showed us some of the activities and talked to us about what projects they were working on.

At the end of the day, we were treated to a BBQ on the beach, and a bonfire with lots of singing and, yes, even dancing. The base camp has about 75 people working and living there, and with our lively group, the numbers jumped to over 200. It truly was a surreal experience.

The following day was a trip up further in Sagluk Bay to a branch called the North Arm. Once again, we were joined by members from base camp, who came up to join us with some gun handlers, Inuit elders and other park staff and students. The elders told stories, park staff led groups on a hike to a waterfall, and some of the students cooked up some caribou, whale, arctic char and seal on traditional flat rocks heated by campfires underneath.

But the highlight for me was the chance to do some fishing. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I’ve been fishing in my lifetime, so the idea of fishing in a fjord in a remote part of Labrador seemed pretty far-off to me. But there I was, in a zodiac, wetting a line with some SOI staff and students.

I didn’t catch anything. But that’s not the point. Remember back in elementary school on the first day of school when you were asked what you did on your summer vacation? Well, I was in a fjord in the Torngat Mountains of Labrador, fishing for arctic char in a zodiac with people from New Zealand and Iceland. Can you beat that?

Later that day, the Inuit elders gave us special permission to visit Rose Island, an Inuit burial site for many centuries. Sadly, a few decades ago, an archaeologist removed over 100 bodies from the site, all under the claim of science. The remains have since been repatriated, and the site protected by Parks Canada and the Nunatsiavut government.

It was a haunting visit, and a somber, but meaningful dichotomy to what we had done earlier in the day.

Friday’s activities were a blur of zodiac cruises, landings and workshops. I finally got to cross off “close encounter with whale” when the zodiac I was in while coming in for a landing found itself next to a minke whale. After years of mostly only seeing black dots on horizon, it was a special treat to see one of these magnificent creatures up close.

Oh, and I got to drive a zodiac. Twice. Don’t tell Geoff Green. Or anyone else of authority who wouldn’t be happy that I was piloting a zodiac. It’s all good. Everyone made it safely.

And so now, blog readers, it’s 1:30am. The talent show has ended and the staff are full on into their last post-curfew wind-down. Tomorrow, we leave our home on the Clipper Adventurer and head off on our last zodiac ride to Kuujjuaq, and a flight down to Ottawa.

Tears will be shed. Emails exchanged. Hugs given. But the expedition will come to an end.

Is anyone curious about the question I asked in my first blog for this expedition? I’m not sure if I know the answer yet. I’ll try and figure it out later and post it in my last blog.

Good night all, and clear skies.