Picture Entry

I am conscious that the last two blog entries have been lacking the extra dimension that photos can give you. The internet speed seems much better this evening and so I decided to do a picture entry to make up for it. I know I said there wouldn't be another entry for a while but we decided to stay until this morning (tuesday). The main reason for this is that near Fort Simpson is Virginia Falls. This was once one of the seven wonders of the world so it really is a must-see if you are in the area. We have heard this from so many people that Mum and Dad decided we couldn't leave without taking one of the float plane trips to see them. It was an eight hour tour of the falls and some surrounding beauty spots that we went on yesterday.It was an amazing trip to some truly awesome places. Unfortunately I don't have time to upload the pictures and do another blog before we leave so I'm sorry but you'll just have to wait! I've got about two weeks on the water to plan it and I'll hopefully find an internet source in Wrigley to post it all on here.

We said goodbye to the Groenewegen family on sunday morning and moved into a very very nice B and B for our last two nights. The owners are very kind and took us at quite short notice and the house is beautiful. It is the Mackenzie Rest Inn (http://www.mackenzierest.ca/). We have been eating dinner at the local chinese restaurant "The Sub Arctic Restaurant" which has very good food. So far our stay in Fort Simpson has been fantastic and we don't want to leave!

( I (Fiona) say a huge thankyou to Diane for help with bite remedies and the use of her own for the trip. Also a huge thankyou to Reg and Lois of the Rest Inn for a true home from home. We are sad to leave Fort Simpson feeling we need more time to see all the people we have not had much time with. Many thanks to David from Simpson air for the amazing trip and help getting shopping today. Maybe I will have a go at blog writing along the way. Although Hannah is doing a great job.)


And, back to Hannah now! Here are some photos to illustrate our trip so far from being dropped off in Fort Providence to now. I won't include any of the Dene Indian camp we attended as it was a private affair we were kindly included in and I feel that to put up pictures of the people or the camp would be a little intrusive but everything else is here. Enjoy!

One of the waterfalls that Doug Swallow took us to on the way to Fort Providence



The sunset of our first night on the river



There are always tracks where ever we camp. Of Moose, Bear, Wolf. Some are old and some quitefresh
but we've never seen any of these animals yet



This was one of the hottest days. It was about 35 degrees all day. We had a rest day to break the tiring cycle of night paddling. Maya and I resorted to bikinis to keep cool and played cards all afternoon. I won :)



Food Time! Our food has to be light-weight and give us the right balance of protein and carbohydrate to get us through the day so the stores include things like instant mash, powdered milk, powdered egg, ready made pancake mix. We do have a block of cheese to liven up the mash and tins of tuna and corned beef are integral to our diet now. So is instant soup...

After that bad day on the water we looked like a couple of drowned rats who'd been through a wind tunnel

Trying to dry the medical kit after discovering the hole in the dry-bag

The Groenewegen Family who were so good to us. Thankyou for a lovely weekend!



Us with our purchases. Mum and Maya and I bought traditional moccasins. Dad, for some reason, bought a blue kettle from the local supermarket.



The front deck and view of the Mackenzie River from our B and B

Inside the B and B is beautifully decorated (and they make nice cookies)



This photo was given to us by the owners of the Mackenzie Rest Inn. It is of the sunset at midnight on the summer solstice at the float plane dock in front of the B and B. The float plane second from right is the one that we went up in yesterday.



And hopefully that's you all visually up to date with our adventure. I'll try to spread the pictures out between the blogs next time instead of giving you a picture overload. Sorry, that was bad planning on my part. This time we really are leaving and won't be in contact for a couple of weeks unless it's via sat phone. Please remember that messages from the Iridium website we CAN'T REPLY TO. So if you want to send a message send it via email. The Sat Phone email address is on the right handside of the blog in the information section. Miss you all, hope the summer is going well back home,

lots of love

Hannah