14th – 16th – Return home

Waking up in the hotel the following morning I was surprisingly un-hungover so after getting my stuff together and checking out, I trotted back to the station and took the train back to Toronto airport and checked into my hotel for the third – and last – time on the trip. 

Not planning on just staring out of the window for the rest of the day I got myself a ticket for a night boat cruise and returned to the Toronto center. Walking around, enjoying the weather and killing time, I unfortunately realized that NomNomNom Poutine was closed on Sundays, so I had to find a different place to curb my hunger for one last pile of poutine. 

Belly completely filled with heavy poutine I trotted about until I ended up at the harbour where I boarded the boat and spent an hour or so travelling back and forth on the river taking in the full beauty of the downtown skyline. Definitely a better view than from the tower – especially because the windows were open letting you get an unobstructed view of the sights.

Walking along the waterfront in the evening.

Toronto skyline.

For the trip home I believe the easiest would be to quote my Facebook post from when I came home. Uncensored – sorry mom & dad; my language is foul when I get annoyed and you aren’t around.

My airport hotel was excellent; flexible check-out times so I was able to check out at 1400 so it fit with my departure. I had checked in to my flight in advance and I just needed to print my baggage tag at the airport and hand it in. 

The airport doesn't have dedicated bag-drop counters so I got in line in the BC check-in line - first in line. The order of people to go the counters next was controlled by two employees. When it was my turn - no it wasn't! An elderly couple had made their own line and rushed to the counter as soon as it was available, completely missed by the employees and I didn't realize what had happened until it was too late. I can't be mad at them, though, they obviously didn't see us/the "real" line because with their heads so far up their own asses all they would have been able to see was darkness. And they were Very Important Couple (tm) so of course they should be able to jump the line and ignore everyone else. And they took so FUCKING long. Finally I could hand over my bag and I was done in literally seconds.

Fast track scanner for security didn't work, so had to talk with a security guy - he let me through manually but pointed out it probably wouldn't have made a difference (next time I want a security guy that can count - the "normal" line was clearly at least 3 times as long). Success! Until my bag got randomly picked for thorough inspection - number 7 in line, and they all took a couple of minutes each. Waiting, among several large families including all generations, including toddlers and small kids. The fucking NOISE!

Finally got done and escaped to the lounge. Peace and quiet for a while. Delicious desserts. But why do they always only have ruby ports and not tawnies? :(

Went to the gate to board. The Very Important Couple (tm) was of course in front. Chaos, as another plane - even larger - was departing at the gate next to us half an hour later. We started boarding at departure time. Of course. And why is it SO FUCKING HARD for people to understand what order to board in? A majority in front of me were not BC so when they were turned away and told to wait for their group to be called they stood like deers in headlights and couldn't or wouldn't understand that they had to step away so others could pass them (WHAT? There are other people on this flight than ME?!? NO! That cannot be!!).

Finally got settled into my seat. 

There were problems with the on-board APU so they had to use one from the ground. It arrived quickly, but it turned out it wasn't big enough, so they had to call for a bigger one. It took close to an hour before it had arrived and we could pull away from the gate, and the mean time they couldn't run any cooling in the plane - and Toronto is/was mid/high twenty degrees. The fucking temperature in the plane... At least the entertainment system was turned on when we sat down and not as when I flew to Toronto where it didn't get turned on until after takeoff. 

The flight was a nice diversion from all the shitty things that lead to this. I do want to know who the fuck turns off the entertainment systems 5 minutes before arrival at the gate. I might be biased; I had 2 minutes left of an episode I was watching, perfectly timed for our arrival. I might have growled a bit too loud as the woman sitting in front of me turned around and looked at me.

Oh, didn't really sleep, either, so of course I was a normal pleasant patient human being arriving in Copenhagen.

Getting off the plane went well, arriving in the new part of the terminal (E for those in the know) but as they had closed the passport controls there they had put up a sign directing us to the control at C instead, including fencing so there was no doubt where to go. A group in front of me went in complete shutdown and blocked the entire hallway because having the employee who was standing there telling them what to do - basically just saying what the sign said - was apparently too much for them to handle. Again; deer in headlights. When I got tired of waiting for their braincell to reboot I started saying excuse me and pushing through which apparently kicked them into gear and they started moving again towards the escalator. For fucks sake (or is it "for fuck's sake"? I want to appear professional): you walk to the left and stand on the FUCKING RIGHT! It's not rocket science, uncultured swine!

Got through passport control - the officer seemed like the most competent person I had met since I checked in - and went towards the baggage pickup. Before that there are those one-way doors; there are two next to each other, and dear man who was short enough to be 12 but bald and grey enough to be 70: if you are aiming for one door go for that one. Don't, at the last moment, switch over to the other one without looking behind you, because it will result in me almost tripping over you and no stop fucking looking at me like that look where you are FUCKING going you are NOT alone in the world. 

Waited for my bag that never showed up so after an hour I reported it lost and went home. Apparently I was not the only one from Toronto that had a missing bag. Had to buy toiletries on the way home because someone in Toronto thought it was important to not send my bag with me (it's probably living its best life in Japan or on the beaches on Bali by now - asshole). Everything is hot and humid here with no relief. There is more wind out of my ass than in the air outside.

The worst part is that Very Important Couple (tm) did get their bags and left long before I gave up - but not before they found some of them on one of the carrousels that wasn't for our flight. 

But don't worry. I am different than before. I have grown. In spite of this I do not sit here and hate people.

Now I fucking hate everything.

For the record, the bag arrived 3 days later so I’m assuming it came over with the next same flight as I was on, and a few days later everything was back to normal. 

Once again big congratulations to Mira and Jeff for getting married. Big thanks for letting me be part of it and experiencing the wonderful wedding (and all the delicious food and snacks… and wine!). Thanks to Lisa for the fun company on my first night back in Canada. Big thanks to Angele for guiding us around Churchill and to the group for such a great time; Chris & Lorne, Dennis & Ruth, Kristi, Dorothy, Donna, Ana, Marina, Jenny, Jeanne and Hillary (and anyone I've unintentionally forgotten). 

Full album can be seen here.

12th – 13th – Wows and vows

I’ve always been a bit weirded out by train stations not letting passengers onto a platform until last moment or not informing the passengers of what platform the train will be arriving at until it has already arrived. Arriving at Toronto Union Station I got in line with a pile of other people who were carefully led onto the platform after showing our boarding passes when the train arrived. Seeing the platform the controlled access to it made a bit sense, as it was wasn’t raised and you were looking straight into the wheels of the train. The ride to Belleville was a pleasant less than 2 hours ride through the Canadian landscape.

On arrival it was a mere 40 minute walk in the blistering heat to get to the hotel where I checked in, settled in and left to have short walk into town and have a look around. A half an hour’s walk brought me into a town that felt almost dead – people were apparently not in a hurry getting out and about on a Friday afternoon. After having passed the marina and walked through a spot of green area I ended up in an Italian restaurant near the center, where their “garlic bread with mozzarella” should rather be sold as “bread with mozzarella with a clove of garlic next to it when toasted”. 

The ice seems unsafe in these hot conditions.

The following day I had a short walk mid-day before getting picked up at 1430 by a bus – a school bus, even – to take us to Potter Winery where a friend of mine who I met on my trip to southern Africa in 2013 was getting married. The location was gorgeous, the weather likewise, and the wedding went without a hitch apart from the part where the now husband and wife got hitched. With excellent snacks, food, desserts and wines I’d consider it a very success evening. The company was pretty nice, too. The party ended at 2330 when the last bus departed. 

10th – 11th – Toronto

I had a flight out of Winnipeg a bit past noon which despite a half hour delay went smooth and uneventful. We arrived in an orderly fashion but did end up having to wait for our luggage for close to 45 minutes. 

I checked back into the hotel and retrieved my bag in storage, trotted about for a bit before getting a ticket for a late entry to the CN Tower and grabbed a train to the city center.

Walking around Toronto.

Nathan Philip's Square with the city hall to the left 

and a large city sign if you've forgotten where you are.

I had planned to have dinner while in town but I realized I wasn’t really hungry so I ended up just having a walk around in the fading light until around 2130 where I could get into the tower and enter the viewing platform. An amazing view of the city below and in the clear weather you could see quite far. The view was partially obstructed by the countless hand-, finger-, cheek-, forehead- and other sticky prints all over the windows. And due to the interior light and people using flash there was so much reflection. Apparently there is an outdoor platform you can walk out on without the glass, but it was currently closed due to renovation. Ascending to the top floor there were fewer people and therefore a bit less chaotic and noisy. Some of the windows were angled downwards so there were less reflection, but due to their angles they let a ton of light in from the colored lights lining the tower.

It is really annoying with all these viewing platforms where you’re stuck behind glass and I don’t know why I keep paying (often a good chunk of money) go gain access to them. Ah, well, vacation-me is less critical than after-vacation-me when it comes to spending money.

Leaving the tower at around 2330 I returned to the station to grab the train back to the hotel/airport, and thinking I had plenty of time I wasn’t in a rush. I arrived 12 minutes before the next departure which turned out to also be the last departure, so despite I had no problems making it in time I was very glad that I hadn’t spent more time getting back to the station.

The following day I went back to the center to spend the day walking around seeing the city. The sun was out and the temps were high, but the many tall buildings gave some nice much needed shade. There are a lot of large tall buildings in the center – many more than I expected, I think. The roads were pretty wide so it’s fairly easy to get a good view of them despite standing near them. I tried booking a spot on a night harbour tour to get the skyline from the water, but due to a power outage in that part of the city (I thought I was in Toronto and not Toroffto?) they only took cash. Too bad. I grabbed some delicious poutine at a small booth called NomNomNom Poutine – which certainly lived up to their name. Fries, cheese curds, meat and gravy – what’s not to like? 

Poutine. Way better than it looks.

Trying to get out of the heat and maybe resting my legs I spent the afternoon in the Toronto Aquarium. There wasn’t much you wouldn’t see in any other aquarium around the world, though they did lead the guests past the water treatment and purification systems which introductions to what the various parts did, which I thought was pretty interesting. 

Mandatory "jellyfish in front blue background"-shot.

For dinner I ended up in the financial district in a basement restaurant where I had a delicious burger (priced as one would expect for a nice place in the financial district) with a dessert consisting of an excellent pile of 5 small donuts. While they called them donuts I’d argue these were closer to donut holes stuffed with cream. 

9th – Back in the buggy

Before leaving the hotel at 0800 we checked out and left our luggage which would find its own way out to the airport. With that done we headed out to the buggy deck to go on a 6-hour buggy ride in the protected area – the same area where I spent a few days on my last visit.

Starting off with clear weather we kept our eyes on the surroundings, but we soon had to realize that the majority of what we would end up seeing would be bird life and less mammals. We did get to see a few caribous and at one point when taking a break our driver spotted a bear 1+ km away. Else we saw plenty of geese, tundra swans, ptarmigans, bald eagles, various types of ducks and numerous other more or less recognizable small birds.

Caribou.

Sandhill cranes.

Being on flat terrain the starting clear weather gave good conditions to spot anything, and despite it being a bit chilly and with the occasional breeze it was still nice standing outside on the rear outside platform. A few hours in, though, it deteriorated with rain, wind and decreased visibility. It made it harder to see things at far distances, but despite it clearing up again we did get the rain on and off for the rest of the tour.

Tundra swans.

Willow ptarmigans.

Finishing the tour we headed towards the airport to fly back to Winnipeg. On the way there we were informed that because the Churchill airport’s weather updates are a bit slow Winnipeg hadn’t been updated on the weather changes; the bad weather we had had had been present in the entire area preventing anything from landing and taking off from Churchill. So driving towards the airport expecting the plane to almost arrive in Churchill it was still sitting in Winnipeg.

Bald eagle taking off.

This meant we had some unplanned extra time which was spent as each wanted; buying souvenirs, getting coffee, and I and a few others drove around and saw the shacks, non-permanent buildings in town (where the mayor also lives), and had a look and walk in the activity center.

As requested by the airline we showed up in the airport in good time where we sat waiting for more than an hour for the plane to arrive. It finally showed up, we boarded and flew back to Winnipeg where we arrived almost 2 hours later than planned. Luckily the hotel was only a 5 minutes’ walk from the airport. Here we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways which meant that most people checked into the hotel for the night, but others who lived nearby left right away after getting their bags.

8th – Dogs and (more) whales

We all gathered at 0730 to go to breakfast together before leaving to visit Dave and his sleigh dogs. Dave, like last year, was a great story teller and talked about the principles and practical execution of dog sleighing. It was also part of the plan to do the Ididamile ride but now in carts as opposed to sleighs used in the winter – for obvious reasons. Unfortunately, due to the heat – I’m guessing 25-30°C at the time – he refused to let the dogs work as he pointed out they are built to work at -30°C. As he stated “Not even if the queen of England came by and wanted a ride!”. Instead we got to come into the pen and walk among the dogs and give them all the scratches they wanted – and they wanted lots!

We returned to Churchill where we had and 1½ hour break before lunch, so I went down to the beach in the hopes of seeing anything interesting. I managed to see a swimming polar bear in the distance (had I been there ½ an hour earlier I would likely have seen it pass right by the beach), multiple belugas, terns and the occasional seal.

Far out, but probably the most out-of-the-water beluga on the trip.

A non-flying fly.

After lunch we had app. 3 hours off until the next point in our itinerary, so our guide & driver took us out of town on the hunt for wildlife. We ended up primarily seeing birds; a few bald eagles including juveniles, ravens and a harrier.

Young bald eagle (they get the white head at around 4-5 years).

Returning to town once again we went out in zodiacs for an 1½ hours to get closer to the whales. We started off, though, with returning to the point at the Prince of Wales Fort where we got to see a single polar bear and not much else, before going up the river to the estuary where the whales were all over and we just drifted along and looked at all the whales when they came up for air. There were quite a few juveniles among them that could be recognized by their grey coloration, they don’t turn fully white until they reach an age of around 7.

Polar bear butt (and - I assume - the rest of the polar bear hidden behind).

Belugas.

Young beluga before getting its white coloration.

It was amazing to see how fast the weather changed. When we were heading out it was still sunny and warm, but when circling the point at the fort the mist suddenly rolled in and within 10 minutes the visibility dropped to less than 100m. At one point when going to the estuary we could see no land or markers for a while which felt pretty disturbing. This behavior wasn’t a rare occurrence so our driver didn’t hesitate at any time when navigating.

Returning to land we went to have diner and in the meantime the mist had rolled up through the town and everything looked quiet and eerie. When leaving for the hotel we were informed by our guide it was perfect polar bear weather so she highly recommended us to take the bus back even if it was less than a 5 minute drive. At this point the streets were mostly abandoned – it was around 2100 and the recommend staying inside from 2200 – as to confirm it was definitely safest to stay away from streets and especially back alleys. 

7th – Bears and belugas

At 10 we were picked up and brought to the Polar Bears International House where we received a presentation on polar bears; life, habits, reaction to change in climate and environment, etc. As opposed to last year they served cookies during this visit!

Lunch was a brunch buffet, a nice change to the usual ordered meals. After the meal we left to go out in a boat to cross the channel to get to the Prince of Wales fort where we did an hour’s walk and we told about its history and usage. It was a couple of 100 meters walk from the boat with several stops along the way for a few talks – and arriving at the fort we were hit by heavy rainfall. It didn’t last long – only a few minutes – but in that time we lost visibility and got very wet. There were discussions whether to return to the boat but the rain subsided and we stayed for a bit longer as originally planned.

A pair of terns.

... not a tern.

Being in bear country there were lookouts and patrols spread out around us and we had a guard with us at all times. It was standard precaution, especially now that it turned out one had been spotted in the forts vicinity. It could be seen when standing at the fort in the distance, and while we had the downpour it actually got up from the rock it was partially hiding behind and walk around for a bit before laying down behind another rock and disappearing from view.

Returning to the boat we were supposed to do a one-hour beluga cruise. The whales were surfacing all over so you couldn’t not see them buy just looking over the waters. So instead we started out by heading out to where the bear had been spotted – but instead we found two separate bears in the area. We spent maybe half an hour with them – one was just lying down while the other was moving around – before heading out to try to get close to some belugas.

A not quite adult cute-but-will-kill-you polar bear.

Getting close to the animals wasn’t particularly difficult, but seeing anything but their backs when they arched above the waterline was close to impossible. Fortunately, there were plenty of arctic terns around to distract from the failed attempts to get a good face shot of the whales. 

Arctic tern.

A peak of a beluga.

Returned to land – and the hotel – we had a short rest before dinner. During dinner a couple in the group talked about that the previous night they had gone down to the beach and in the process seen a snowy owl. I decided right there and then to try and do the same that evening, but all I ended up getting was more belugas, terns and a bonkers amount of flies and mosquitos. 

6th – White animals

Lingering jetlag let me wake up a few minutes before my alarm went off which made the start of the day a bit more pleasant than I had planned. Got ready and had the breakfast pack we were given last night before meeting with the group in the reception at 0600. We returned to the airport, did a very short check-in and eventually flew north to Churchill. It was a slightly odd plane; it was a 3+3 but the front half was made for freight so there were only seats in the rear half of the body. But with the limited traffic to Churchill optimizing the freight/passenger transport this kind of setup makes perfect sense. 

Other than a 15-minute delay the 2½ hour flight was uneventful and on arrival our luggage was collected by the travel company and we boarded a minibus – our home away from home during our stay here.

We passed by the polar bear holding cells where we got to see the traps they use to catch the bears that get too close to the towns and settlements, followed by a short drive around town until lunch right across the road from our hotel.

What happens to a tree exposed to constant winds?

While driving around we stopped by the beach where a local guide (who had joined us at the airport) had a little talk about something I don’t remember anything about. But when sitting in the bus half-listening looking out the window I realized that what I thought was waves looked suspiciously not like waves. I noticed others in the bus also looking out at the water but didn’t react to what they saw so I assumed first I was wrong – but with a closer look I realized that I was not. I grabbed my camera and on my way out of the bus the guide confirmed that yes – what we could see close to the shore was in fact a large pod of beluga whales. When realization hit the rest of the bus everybody piled out to have a look and photograph the view.

Because it's not only wildlife in the cold north.

After lunch we visited the Itsanitaq Museum and the Parks Canada Visitor Center. The former contained a large collection of carvings from the Inuit people, from Pre-Dorset to modern times. At the Visitor Center we were given a presentation by a local girl who talked about the fur industry in and around Churchill and how her family had been involved as the local Inuit people had been heavily included in the trades. 

Local corona restrictions.

Following this we checked in to the hotel, had dinner and went to rest.

Until the phone rang at 0100 as northern lights had been spotted. Within 5 minutes we were all piling back into the minibus and drove down to the beach. It wasn’t massive, but it was definitely there. It was also at that point I had to accept the fact that I hadn’t taken northern lights into consideration so I hadn’t packed the equipment necessary for such a situation – not even a tripod or gorillapod! A bunch of blurry photos – but it’s there. 

4th – 5th of August – Getting to Winnipeg

Flying out and leaving home was as easy as usual especially after a direct connection between Copenhagen and Toronto had been established. It was surprisingly small plane for the distance; a 1-isle A321 Neo, BC was 1+1 or 2+2. It was absolutely no problem; I was just a bit surprised and expected a larger plane.

Arriving at 1500 I had planned with a friend to meet after settling in at the hotel, so when we were getting close to landing I sent her a mail updating her with the current situation. That jinxed it, of course, because less than 5 minutes later the captain informed us that due to a thunderstorm having passed through the area we were put in a holding pattern above the airport. The plan was to stay there for half an hour and another 15 minutes to get down but it took close to an hour before we managed to land, having been queued up behind numerous planes also waiting for the thunderstorm to pass. 

The original reason for returning to Canada so soon since the last time is because I have been invited to a wedding outside Toronto (and that voucher I won during my last visit). The wedding gift is two bottles of Danish whisky; wrapped in bubble-wrap, a plastic bag thoroughly tied so it’d hopefully keep the bag dry if any of the bottles broke along the way, everything wrapped in a towel before putting it all down among the clothes in my bag. I was fairly confident that they would be fine, but my heart skipped a beat (or more) when I picked up my bag in Toronto and realized that it was wet. It took a lot of internal convincing to make me settle down and acknowledge that everything outside was probably wet due to the thunderstorm, and had it been due to the whisky it would have been able to smell it – which I couldn’t. Safely arrived at the hotel a few minutes later (staying at a hotel located near the terminal train is really convenient) I unwrapped everything and confirmed that everything was in order. Phew!

An hour later I got picked up by my friend and we ended up in a nearby steak restaurant for a delicious meal before returning to the hotel. It was so much fun meeting up again after 6 years. 

The following morning I left all the wedding-related luggage at the hotel before returning to the airport and flying out to Winnipeg to meet up with the travel group the same evening. We started with an early dinner where we were introduced to our guide and a rough introduction of the tour itself before we a couple of hours later boarded a bus looking like a trolley that took us on a 2½ hour tour through Winnipeg. It was quite interesting despite having a historical focus but I found myself nodding off several times – through that was likely just due to the jetlag hitting and not the tour itself.

Our tourbustrolley.

We walked through a back road where an artist had painted northern wildlife on multiple buildings.

Returning to the hotel I prepared myself and my bags for a very early morning and crashed in bed.