Hello All,
Sorry it's been a while since our last post. We like to at least give you a little something to look at while you're starting your work week. This post we are providing you with some amazing northern lights photos. These were mostly taken both during the end of mom's visit and this past week. We've been very fortunate lately to have some wonderful displays in the night sky.

The northern lights behind an inukshuk:

The northern lights over town:

Markus in the foreground:

This past week has been more or less uneventful. Mike went fishing a few times with Markus and Delia and Markus' parents. He had a great time with them and finally caught his first char!

Saturday we saw the student teachers from Nova Scotia off. It was sad to see them go and we wish them all the best as they are wrapping up their bachelor of education degrees!

Wishing you all a great week!

ttyl
M&N

Tuesday of this past week Marcus and Mike headed out towards the iceburgs in the sound to make sure there was a decent trail to take mom and I later in the week. They found that there were some great trails out there and therefore the four of us headed out Thursday afternoon for a great afternoon of skidooing and sight seeing.

This is the iceburg in the distance... as you view the pictures you'll realize how deceiving this picture is:

It was a beautiful day out, with a mild wind. We were however on the skidoos for about an hour out and an hour back so we made sure that mom was bundled up really well. Both she and I were practically sweating but at least we weren't cold Here is mom the arctic warrior in front of the iceburg... in the background on the left you can just see how small Mike is in comparison to the iceburg:

Another picture to give you a bit of a better idea as to the magnitude of this iceburg:

While we were out there we stopped to have some tea:

Marcus and Mike of course could not help but take millions of pictures of this beautiful iceburg:

A few more pics of the iceburg:

We of course brought our "bear protection" just in case we ran into something that we didn't want to see close up.. Mike took a couple practice shots.... this sucker is loud!!

Hope you enjoyed our trip to the iceburg. We are slowly trying to get up to date with all the pictures from this past week. As you can imagine with a whole week off work and mom visiting we got up to lots of different things. We will continue to post in the next couple of days to get up to date with what we were up to.

We had to say so long to mom Saturday morning and she is now safely back in Ontario. We had a fantastic visit and look forward to seeing everyone again soon as the summer is quickly approaching!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Easter weekend!

ttyl
M&N

We've been having a great time with mom here! Yesterday we did several things including a walk out on the fiord, participating in Hamlet day activities and skidooing around downtown. We'll start with some pics from yesterday:

Here are the two of us on the fiord with the Pang pass in the background:

We hiked out on the fiord to see one of the dog teams. The dogs were pretty excited to have some kind of human "contact" although we didn't actually touch the dogs:

Mom got a first hand experience to see how high the pack ice can pile up at the shore due to the high and low tides:

I took mom out around downtown on the skidoo which included a trip to the Northern and the Co-op as well as a trip to the end of town to see our polar bear skin. Here she is with our skin:

This afternoon mom and I ventured downtown again, this time on foot to check out the print shop, Angmarlik center and the Parks Canada center. Mom couldn't get over the size of this bow head whale bone:

We were amazed to run into such a tame polar bear that was more interested in his dinner of seal then of us taking pictures of it:

Me, doing the tourist thing, beside an inukshuk in the Parks Canada building:

This is mom pointing out our humble abode:

And we ended our beautiful day with a great dinner of arctic char shared by and with Marcus:

And that's what we've been up to these past couple of days. It's been so great to have such beautiful weather on our holidays!!

We've heard that the weather here is much nicer then that in parts of Ontario!!!

ttyl
M,N & C

Yesterday we ventured out for the first fishing trip of the season. It was Mike and I, Donald and Meeka, Delia and Markus, Cathy and her two girls and 2 of the student teachers from NS (Jenna and Brittany). We headed out of town around 8am and no sooner were we all on our way then we ran into a problem. Donald's qaumotiq detached from his sled and the hitch bent under his qaumotiq. No problem, with a couple of handy and ressourceful men and a few handy supplies they managed to rig of this contraption that made it all the way to the fishing lake and back (3-4 hours round trip).

Here is a view where you can see our hitch that is straight so you can see what it's supposed to look like in comparison:

This is how we got there, our snowmobile and qamotiq with Brittany in the back (Meeka is also standing in the background):

We had an absolutely gorgeous day out, completely clear skies and "warm" temperatures. Couldn't of picked a better day to go fishing. Once we arrived at the lake we met up with the rest of Meeka's family and got to work drilling some holes:

Once the holes were drilled it was time to get some fishing in.

Here I am:

Here's Mike:

Here's Brittany, one of the student teachers:

Here's Jenna fishing with her sweet kamiqs of Donalds:

Here's Delia:

And Markus, who turned out to be the pro fisherman of the group yesterday:

Here is a shot of the group that we hung out with:

And here is a shot of the whole lake, you can see different families/groups scattered around the lake:

Markus' big catch of the day, over 7 lbs!

After a beautiful day out on the lake it was time to head home. We had a fantastic day out on the lake with everyone and look forward to doing it again soon! Maybe next time we'll have a little more luck actually catching something. Here is the group on the ice by spring camp, we're almost back to Pang:

On our way back we stopped to take some pictures of a polar bear that was across the fiord Thursday night.

Another beautiful day in the gorgeous arctic.

This week we are looking forward to enjoying our time with my mom who just flew in today. We started the visit with an awesome dinner of caribou at Donald and Meeka's and look forward to what the rest of the week holds. Yey for family and holidays

ttyl
M&N&C (Cheryl aka Mom)

Finally here are some pictures

Saturday Nic and myself got out on the ice for a good long ride. As you might expect it was a cold ride but Nic dressed for it

The ice seems to go on forever!!!

We just kinda drove around out there until we got good and cold.

Today I got out and about with a few friends and did some snowmobiling on the hills while the others did some X-country skiing and a bit of telemark skiing.

Here is Marcus skiing up the mountain so he can then ski down

Carving up the fresh powder

Here is another one of those scale shots i like to show you, can you see the skiers?

I'll make it a little easier for you

Just playin around on one ski

And that was our weekend, hope yours was as good

TTYL
M&N

Sorry for the serious slacking with the blogging. I am in my last week teaching at the college here so i have been very busy with wrapping up my courses.

That's being said we really haven't been up to much in the last little while. The student teachers have arrived again this year, we don't have one living with us but Nic does have one in her class teaching with her. I expect that there will be some stories to share with you all out there about their visit.

Sadly that's pretty much all the news we have to share. Once i'm all finished with the college i plan on getting back to my routine of pictures and blogs so keep checking back in every so often.

TTYL
M&N

This weekend was one of the best we have had here in a long time.

The temperature was Perfect!!! Nic and I decided it would be a great day to go and put some rounds through our .22 rifle.

After stopping At Donalds house to borrow his revolving target we were off to the end of the road to enjoy the sun.

looking around the ice fields nic and I spotted a wooden boat frozen in the ice. Hard to tell but you'll just have to believe me when i say this is a boat.

And thats pretty much all we got up to this weekend.
TTYL
M&N

We'd like to start off by saying that we're very grateful for all the wonderful posts that Bryce did while he was here. We thoroughly enjoyed his visit and wish him all the best as he finishes off his school year. We think, however, that he brought some crazy illness from the south with him as Mike has been majority sick from last Thursday until about Tuesday evening... Just kidding... There has been some crazy sickness that has plagued most of the town to the point that our school attendance was down to 30% both Tuesday and Wednesday as well as whooping cough. Anyways I guess this is me telling you that that's our excuse as to why there isn't much to share with you in terms of stories of pictures at this point in time as we've been hanging out at home as Mike recoups.

Today the weather has been less then pleasing as the wind and snow picked up and I think is supposed to be the same tomorrow.

One thing we'd like to say is a huge "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to my grandmother and Mike's dad, hope you both had a fantastic day!

And finally the countdown is on for my mom's arrival in a little more then 3 weeks!! Wow!!! We are super excited to show her what life is like here!

ttyl
M&N

Hello bloggers!

So, Happy Birthday to Me!! Now, that I've gotten that out of the way, let me say that the adventures could not have ended better! My climb up Mount Duval was a success to say the very least with a total altitude of 700 m climbed in around an hour and a half. Not bad at all! I must admit, I felt tested...quite tested. I hiked with Marcus, a friend of Mike and Nicole's. He was great for pushing me to the limit. Just when I felt like I was hitting that point where a rest felt necessary, he was able to give me that kick of determination.

So here we are looking up at our adversary. And, like I said last post, scale is incomprehensible until it is right in front of you... and even then it can throw you for a turn.

Shortly into our ascent we came up to Duval creek, which runs down through town and into the fjord. Even now in it's state of stasis one can hear the movement in it as the water passed underneath.

Here, we heard most prominently as though the solid icicles formed here were still tricking with water... this brings an interesting note here that I have not previously mentioned when speaking of the land here; the surroundings are full of sounds that I have never heard before. The snow here sounds hollow, as though there is miles beneath you. Even with the water flowing under this creek, I felt so removed from the world I know. Virtually everything here is a new experience! The tide break cracking constantly. And the deafening silence when a breeze is absent and the ravens aren't cooing.

Simply a wonderfully set up picture. Albeit, totally coincidentally as I was traversing the path but I couldn't resist despite the clicheness of these cultural landmarks.

Here's Marcus ahead of me approaching what was without doubt the most challenging pitch of the climb. Hard to really see the incline but trust me when I say, that it felt more comfortable to have all fours working upward rather than trying to stay bipedal.

Before too long, I was beginning to feel like we were truly alone in this deserted landscape. No birds, no weasels, foxes, rabbits or bears... just the odd set of tracks (not of bears). Although, I happened to visit the Parks Canada building to refund my fee for park admission since I didn't get to hit the park and while there I was told that a huge Polar Bear had wandered its way through the Ayuittuq park and actually broke into one of the emergency cabins. Perhaps I ought to be counting my blessings for not being able to make it.

So here we were, looking upward to the final stretch of ascent and debating whether to follow the beaten path from skidoos or trailblaze our own...

Sometimes you just gotta make your own path.

Just another beautiful landscape that led me to once again feel nothing but unbridled respect and admiration for this land

Finally! The peak! 700 metres above sea level and filled with a sensation of accomplishment! And shortly thereafter, tea, water, and granola bars.

Looking westward towards beautiful little Pang. Beyond is the opening of Pangnirtung fjord. First time I was able to see land beyond the opening.

Here we are looking eastward towards the park. For the first time I was able to lay my eyes on one of the many Scandinavian named mountains, Mount Overlord. Kinda hard to describe which one it is though.

Just trying to look a little closer...

Funny little story... as we were climbing I started thinking about how cool it would be to reach the peak and look down onto Pang to find a plane incoming. To my surprise, not landing but taking off was a First Air plane heading northeast towards Qikiqtarjuaq, a smaller community, remember when my luggage went there the day I arrived?

Just an interesting land marker at the peak. Funny too, in virtually any other environment, these could serve as a haven for all sorts of wildlife.

The fjord, again... sorry, but I just don't get tired of it!

Here was our lovely little winter picnic while we took in the scenery around us.

A hotspot for not only us... arctic hare and fox too!

But alas, it was starting to get chilly just sitting around so, the descent had to begin. But this is where the fun really begins!

Pretty sure we set a Guinness world record for longest butt slide down a mountain! Hysterically enough, you could still see our tracks all the way from town!!!

Eventually the terrain wasn't very accommodating for sliding so we took back to heel toeing it and snapping photos of the sights as they came... I couldn't resist snapping Marcus here with the beautiful colours of the landscape; monochromatic, but gorgeous.

Need I say more?

Saw this beautiful ice formation with such translucency and couldn't help but stop for a shot... or two... or three

So, in about a third of the time it took to get up we were back at sea level and so I stopped in at the highschool since I had some time left in the afternoon and had talked with Nicole about doing an art lesson with the kids. So, the day just kept getting better! I got to do a little teaching of one point perspective with the kids and fulfilled my intent to work with the kids here a little bit. On that note, while pictures might not have been available I did get a chance to do another art lesson just last night with one of the local kids too, but a house call! Again, a great and memorable opportunity!

Like I said earlier, pelts are just a very common part of life out here, and I thought it an opportunity to show you some more of the common game here. These are from left to right, Wolf, Polar Bear, Wolf, and Caribou.

As I left the school, I couldn't help but look back at my conquered 'foe' and longed for another chance to climb it...but not this trip. I'll have to wait till next time.

This evening Nicole treated me to a birthday dinner of my choice, Chicken Teriyaki, Parmesan pasta, and garden salad... and then, just when I was enjoying myself to the fullest already, came this:

Beautifully decorated and equalled with warm wishes from my incredible hosts. An absolutely wonderful way to wrap up my evening here in this exquisite land that while not bearing much resemblance to what most of us call home, still comprises such a large part of our country.

It has been an incredible experience, one that I wish anything but a conclusion to. I have found myself staring off longingly at the surroundings and hoping that some sort of technical difficulty might land me here longer but of course, life must continue in its designated fashion and now, I find myself motivated to continue my present endeavours so that one day, I may return here with more permanent intentions.

Thanks for sharing this experience with me everyone, and even greater thanks to Mike and Nicole for being not only friends, but sources of information, opportunity and discourse as I raised a seemingly infinitesimal number of questions about this unique life in 'the north'.

That'll be it for me gang. I'm off in the morning at 11:30 and inbetween then and now, I intend to pack, sew a patch on my bag and take my last looks until next time. The blogging torch reverts back to Mike and Nicole now.

It's been a slice... maybe two

Bryce

Morning everyone!

What a beautiful day for a birthday/hike up Mount Duval! Unfortunately, Mike is feeling crappy so, he may not be joining Marcus and I, which is really a shame. Hopefully, a little extra rest will go a long way while I'm getting things in order.
On the positive note for me, I hopefully won't be experiencing cold hands thanks to these puppies! Err, or maybe I should say, bunnies

My first pair!!! Amazing how much I learned in making these! After seeing all my mistakes and successes, all I want to do is make another pair! Funny, cause that's just what I have to do now for someone else! Once I get home I'll be hitting up the salvation army to find more furs for use.

Anywho, just wanted to show 'em off before the big climb! I'll post again later today with what I see!

Have a great day everyone!

Bryce