True to form I am very much behind with the blog. We have actually been in Norman Wells for about two days and leave sometime this evening but I was so busy trying to type up the float plane blog that I completely mismanaged my time so this one will be a little bit rushed. Anyway, enough excuses, I'm very sorry.
As you might have guessed from my last mention of Tulita we really liked it there. We were welcomed by everyone from Valerie who gave us an impromptue tour to Kim who managed the hotel and went out of her way to help us. She let us store our gear, took it all down to the beach for us and then took us to the village dump so we could see the resident Black bears. Funny how our first glimpse of a Black Bear was in a rubbish dump but at least I know what one looks like now. They were gorgeous: really cute, with glossy coats and a relaxed trundling walk.
While we were in Tulita we were invited to go and meet the chief. We were pointed in the direction of the family support centre where they have a community lunch every friday. I think it's a brilliant idea. We walked in and there were quite a few people still sitting around talking and eating. It was really cosy and friendly and had that community spirit we really liked in Tulita. The hotel we were staying in is actually owned and managed by the community: it isn't a private buisness venture.
The chief was there and we talked with him. He was really welcoming too and a lady who was staying at the hotel was sitting next to him. The conversation was yet another interesting one and I was reminded of what Chuck had said about doing interesting things leading to meeting interesting people. I feel a life motto is being formed here!
We didn't leave Tulita until about half six in the evening and we paddled until about eight or nine when we stopped for dinner. Admittedly we didn't make very fast progress at first. The sun was hot and sucked out all our energy and we were lazy from too much good food that wasn't instant mash. The meal we cooked was actually a good one even if it did have sand in it but we had left over pecan tarts for after which was lovely. We paddled on into the evening. The map stopped shortly after for about five or six miles so we just had to guess where we were. The current picked up and we were cruising along quite nicely at a good six knots when Maya noticed smoke and people on a beach. We decided to do the northern thing and be friendly so we called in to say hi. It turned out they were a party of people from Norman Wells out for a cook-out BBQ and to watch the sunset and the moonrise. Apparently it only takes forty five minutes from there to Norman Wells by jet boat: not that helpful to us paddlers who can only paddle three knots. There were burgers and vegetables and beers and juice which we were kindly offered. The conversation flowed as we watched the sun set and the moon rise behind the same mountain and, having arrived at half ten, it was around half two in the morning before they left for Norman Wells with the offer of a lift to a hotel and somewhere to store the canoes if we needed it.
We decided to camp there that night as we were tired and even though we hadn't done many miles we were still only 25 miles from Norman Wells which is a managable day's paddle. Evenings like this are what characterise our trip I think. When we meet people who are friendly like that we just have to pack in the paddling and stop and enjoy the company because that is, it seems, what the North and the river are about. It isn't about paddling a great distance it is about what we do along the way. One of them had made an interesting point that night. he said that in the north everyone is so easy to talk to because there are so few people. There are only about 32, 000 in an area that covers a third of Canada so to see someone is a special thing and of course you just HAVE to go and say hi. I think it might be hard when we get back to Britain and people aren't so open all the time.
The next morning we fully intended to get up and sorted and paddle to Norman Wells but the sun was hot and we had no energy. It took us about three hours to have breakfast and wash up. On top of that Dad was feeling decidedly ill, but we don't know why, so we stayed another day putting up a sun shelter to keep a little cooler and stop the cheese melting anymore than it had.
The morning after that we got up at quarter to five. Well, Mum and Dad did, but, seeing the weather coming in as the wind whipped up again, they told us that we weren't going anywhere so we stayed yet another day. This one was punctuated by storms and I did the washing up in the rain water that was dripping off the cooking shelter. It's the cleanest those plates have been in a while. I can't say I minded the storms though. It was a nice change from the sweat filled heat of the day before and we still had lots of goodies from Tulita. Maya toasted a cinnamon and raison bagel over the camp stove for me and we polished off the rest of the enormous pack of oat cookies.
Finally, the wind died down in the evening and we set our alarms for a 4:30am start. When we woke up we packed up the tents and the cooking shelter, had breakfast, two cups of tea and called various people and were on the water by a respectable half seven. From there we paddled past a group of islands called Halfway Islands which I took to mean we were halfway from Tulita to Norman Wells but that might be incorrect. We stopped and shared a cereal bar and continued until eleven when we pulled over to make lunch. Again we had a feast because the journey from Tulita to Norman Wells was so short we didn't really have to conserve food. We had two types of packet soup and a packet of Ritz crackers with tuna and cheese and spreadable cheese. Full and happy we slept in the sun for a while before continuing on. We were about twelve miles from Norman Wells by this time and making good progress. Having started again at half one we paddled until three, stopped for a chocolate bar and called ahead to someone we had been put in contact with in Norman Wells.
Do you remember the family we met in Hay River who visited us in Fort Simpson? Well Kathleen had organised for her Dad to help us cart our stuff to a hotel and store the rest in his yard which was very kind of them. We warned them we were coming and arranged to meet them at the first docking area at five. We paddled on and were making good progress (lashed together and all paddling we can squeeze an extra knot out of our little boats) until the wind picked up so, as it happens we didn't get to the dock until half five. Greeted by Kathleen's Dad, Dave Marsh and his wife, Mary we were glad to have finally made it despite all the set backs. Mary had snapped some excellent action shots as we came in, you know, wind and waves and frowning faces. They loaded up our personal kit and Mum, Maya and Me into their truck and took us to the Heritage Hotel where we would be staying. Then they went back for Dad, secured the boats and took the rest of our kit to be stored in their shed. They really have been so kind to us and even invited us over for dinner last night. We had a barbeque and they let Maya bake some cookies to take with us on our trip. They also gave us a homemade loaf of bread to take which I am really looking forward to eating.
Yesterday, before dinner at their house, we had been to the Museum which has a mine of information about the Dene people, the Oil trade in the town and the Canol trail which was built in 1943 from here across the Yukon border incase of a Japanese invasion. It piped oil, but was never needed and so was taken down. It must have been heart breaking for the men who spent seven months building it in the most severe conditions of extreme heat, cold, isolation and bug infestation and then it was never needed.
We spent hours in the shop looking at the local crafts too. There are some truly beautiful pieces of clothing from moccasins to mukluks and mittens, delicately beaded and trimmed with the softest furs.
Today we are packing up and, yet again, Mary and Dave have come to the rescue and are letting us use their house to fix the broken zip on our Tipi. We will then go to the Northern Stores to stock up because from here North it becomes a bit more remote and sometimes stores run out of certain foodstuffs we might need. This being so we have to pack for thirty days food to be on the safe side. There are only two more settlments left on our paddle North because we have decided to get out early at Arctic Red River and hitch up the Dempster Highway to Inuvik. Ther next settlement of Fort Good Hope is about nine days away allowing for us being storm bound a couple of times. I think the good weather pattern we had early in the trip has broken and storms will be even more frequent. Mary has put us in touch with her brother who says we can camp on his lawn and store our canoes there too so at least we know we have a place to stay.
I must say I will be sad to leave partly because the people we met here have been so lovely and partly because the food at the hotel is amazing. I had a very juicy steak and fries and onion rings and garlic toast the first night we were here and for breakfast there is cereal, fruit (I had strawberries!) and pastries. This trip has increased my appetite a lot. Which is probably a good thing though when I get home I'll have to actually start doing some excercise othwise the consequences will be disasterous.
We have to leave the hotel now, litrally, the others are packing the truck as I write and I have no more time to upload photos and no way of getting another internet connection before we go. To make up for it I promise that there will be a picture entry, when I can make one, covering Wrigley to Norman Wells.
So, that's all for just now and I'll try and update the blog in Fort Good Hope but I doubt I'll be able to find an internet connection so don't be alarmed if this is the last one for quite some weeks. Hope your summer is going as swimmingly as ours.
Lots of Love,
Hannah
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