5th Aug.
We are in Qikiqtarjuag late afternoon. The dingy was launched and Steve, Ding and i went ashore, mainly to obtain wifi and have some supper. Terje decided to stay aboard, in his own words he has little interest in the w.w.w or tinternet to the rest of the world.
We loaded up with Bear spray and into the dingy we sprang (well eased ourselves !!!)
Hurtling into the harbour (Steve does'nt like going anywhere slowly - hence his never ending accumulation of speeding fines, LOL) we came to rest at the pontoon, a make-shift fish quay. A few children came to meet us and i was shot several times (plastic ray gun) by a young gentleman looking very much like Darth Vader in his hoody etc etc.
We conversed with one of the local fishermen and were directed firstly to the RCMP station and then the hotel. Off we trundled; in the RCMP station we met 2 officers, the first about our age (in his prime ....) and the other a lad in his early 30's i'd say. Both really interested in our trip and genuinely pleased to meet us all. We discussed the ice to the north and if there were any issues with polar bears around the village...............it seems it's fairly safe. The older guy had only just arrived himself, as a relief officer last Friday.
There is a landing strip at the settlement, which brings in some supplies, but also, in the summer tourist from Canada and the USA. One family were flying in today to stay in yurt village about 40 miles south.......cost $8,000 each !!!! And that was from the village, they had to get there themselves. So the village is making some income from tourism, but mainly they fish and hunt seal. The local delicacy is seal fins..............you'll love this...to do them properly, they have to "mature" for a month. The skin then just peels of easily, leaving a pinky flesh with waht looks like toenails .....just like a foot. WE only saw pictures of them..........so sorry no photos. The flesh is then eaten raw...........the lady in the hotel said..."yummy"......Louis said................"they are foul & smell even worse "........guess it's just what you're used to.
Then off to the hotel. On the way we were stopped by ladies trying to sell us the local arts & crafts and eventually i succumbed...........2 felt tapestries for the twins and a set of seal tooth ear rings, not sure who for yet !!!
In the hotel we had very limited wifi and could only manage emails...............no photos, downloads, skype etc etc. Anyway, i managed to connect with Bryn on "Whats app".......so that was cool......hopefully Gemma will pick them up tomorrow.....seems all is well in the rest of the world. Bryn had new photos of his bathroom conversion................phew....amazing.
Tomorrow is a jaunt into the National Park, a fjord back down the coast called "Coronation Fjord"................looking forward to that, it has a glacier at the end.......should be good.
We managed to persuade Louis (the Manager & Head Chef) to re-open the restaurant in the hotel (a somewhat grandiose word for what was ostensibly a cafe with bench seats and formica tables............spot on for us lay abouts !!!!).
He made us the most amazing rump steak......cooked to perfection......simply divine !!!.
We asked if there was any fish for sale, so the lady with Louis (not too sure of the relationship) went to the phone and went the local radio asking if anyone had any fish for sale.Gordon Bennett within 5 minutes a guy was stood by us with 2 huge Arctic Char. We decided one was ample and asked how much........$40 was the starting price.......anyway we got it for $30 in the end. This mind you for a fish of approx. 8 Kg..............beutiful. We ummed and arrrd for a while about how to fillet it .........Louis overheard all the discussion and came over and said, just give it to me i'll fillet it for you................streuth Louis......thought you'd never offer !!!!!
After our superb meal, i did (trust me........big mouth) offer to help Louis fillet the fish.
To be fair it was very interesting, we cut off the head behind the gills and the he set about slicing down the backbone showing how to maintain a flat blade at the backbone and let the knife (has to be sharp) do the rest.
Voila, (Louis is French Canadian - from a small village outside Montreal) the first was sorted, he left me to run my finger down the flesh and remove any bones protruding. Onto the other side and we soon had it cut into two massive pieces. What next i asked, how big do we make each fillet. Straight away Louis put 4 fingers (big hands i might add) at one end and promptly cut 6 huge fillets with the width of his 4 fingers as his guide. He handed me the knife.......now you do the other one................simples !!!! We soon had 12 enormous fillets. These are Arctic portions announced Louis, with a wry grin........what a dude!!!!
As Louis was disposing of the remnants of the fish, he asked if he could give the head to one of the old ladies in he village, of course we responded. He went on to explain that she boils them whole for hours, when she is happy with it, the fish is lifted out and Louis said you would never know it had been a head............all lovely flesh and loads of fish sauce, just brilliant.
We froze some of the fillets and had 4 for supper..............just ace !!!
The settlement from the sea
ice in the harbour
the view across the strait
We are in Qikiqtarjuag late afternoon. The dingy was launched and Steve, Ding and i went ashore, mainly to obtain wifi and have some supper. Terje decided to stay aboard, in his own words he has little interest in the w.w.w or tinternet to the rest of the world.
We loaded up with Bear spray and into the dingy we sprang (well eased ourselves !!!)
Hurtling into the harbour (Steve does'nt like going anywhere slowly - hence his never ending accumulation of speeding fines, LOL) we came to rest at the pontoon, a make-shift fish quay. A few children came to meet us and i was shot several times (plastic ray gun) by a young gentleman looking very much like Darth Vader in his hoody etc etc.
We conversed with one of the local fishermen and were directed firstly to the RCMP station and then the hotel. Off we trundled; in the RCMP station we met 2 officers, the first about our age (in his prime ....) and the other a lad in his early 30's i'd say. Both really interested in our trip and genuinely pleased to meet us all. We discussed the ice to the north and if there were any issues with polar bears around the village...............it seems it's fairly safe. The older guy had only just arrived himself, as a relief officer last Friday.
There is a landing strip at the settlement, which brings in some supplies, but also, in the summer tourist from Canada and the USA. One family were flying in today to stay in yurt village about 40 miles south.......cost $8,000 each !!!! And that was from the village, they had to get there themselves. So the village is making some income from tourism, but mainly they fish and hunt seal. The local delicacy is seal fins..............you'll love this...to do them properly, they have to "mature" for a month. The skin then just peels of easily, leaving a pinky flesh with waht looks like toenails .....just like a foot. WE only saw pictures of them..........so sorry no photos. The flesh is then eaten raw...........the lady in the hotel said..."yummy"......Louis said................"they are foul & smell even worse "........guess it's just what you're used to.
Then off to the hotel. On the way we were stopped by ladies trying to sell us the local arts & crafts and eventually i succumbed...........2 felt tapestries for the twins and a set of seal tooth ear rings, not sure who for yet !!!
In the hotel we had very limited wifi and could only manage emails...............no photos, downloads, skype etc etc. Anyway, i managed to connect with Bryn on "Whats app".......so that was cool......hopefully Gemma will pick them up tomorrow.....seems all is well in the rest of the world. Bryn had new photos of his bathroom conversion................phew....amazing.
Tomorrow is a jaunt into the National Park, a fjord back down the coast called "Coronation Fjord"................looking forward to that, it has a glacier at the end.......should be good.
We managed to persuade Louis (the Manager & Head Chef) to re-open the restaurant in the hotel (a somewhat grandiose word for what was ostensibly a cafe with bench seats and formica tables............spot on for us lay abouts !!!!).
He made us the most amazing rump steak......cooked to perfection......simply divine !!!.
We asked if there was any fish for sale, so the lady with Louis (not too sure of the relationship) went to the phone and went the local radio asking if anyone had any fish for sale.Gordon Bennett within 5 minutes a guy was stood by us with 2 huge Arctic Char. We decided one was ample and asked how much........$40 was the starting price.......anyway we got it for $30 in the end. This mind you for a fish of approx. 8 Kg..............beutiful. We ummed and arrrd for a while about how to fillet it .........Louis overheard all the discussion and came over and said, just give it to me i'll fillet it for you................streuth Louis......thought you'd never offer !!!!!
After our superb meal, i did (trust me........big mouth) offer to help Louis fillet the fish.
To be fair it was very interesting, we cut off the head behind the gills and the he set about slicing down the backbone showing how to maintain a flat blade at the backbone and let the knife (has to be sharp) do the rest.
Voila, (Louis is French Canadian - from a small village outside Montreal) the first was sorted, he left me to run my finger down the flesh and remove any bones protruding. Onto the other side and we soon had it cut into two massive pieces. What next i asked, how big do we make each fillet. Straight away Louis put 4 fingers (big hands i might add) at one end and promptly cut 6 huge fillets with the width of his 4 fingers as his guide. He handed me the knife.......now you do the other one................simples !!!! We soon had 12 enormous fillets. These are Arctic portions announced Louis, with a wry grin........what a dude!!!!
As Louis was disposing of the remnants of the fish, he asked if he could give the head to one of the old ladies in he village, of course we responded. He went on to explain that she boils them whole for hours, when she is happy with it, the fish is lifted out and Louis said you would never know it had been a head............all lovely flesh and loads of fish sauce, just brilliant.
We froze some of the fillets and had 4 for supper..............just ace !!!
The settlement from the sea
You just can't resist rug mafia or little old ladies with crafts can you. lol!
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