Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926. She will turn 90 years old this year. She is currently the world's oldest monarch and the longest reigning British monarch of all time. Queen Elizabeth II is not only the Queen of England, but also the Queen of Canada. Therefore, she visits Canada quite frequently and there are many statues and monuments in her honour across the country.
When we were in Winnipeg, Manitoba we visited the beautiful legislative building. On the east side of the grounds near Kennedy Street is a monument which commemorates the
Queen’s address to the
Manitoba Legislative Assembly during its
provincial centennial in 1970. The sculpture was created by Leo Mol who also has hundreds of other sculptures located in Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park. When the statue was relocated to the legislative building grounds the Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh were there for the unveiling.
Location: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada Address: Churchill Wildlife Management Area Date: Oct 2014 Website: www.everythingchurchill.com
We were ready for the second day of our Tundra Buggy Tour. You can read about Day One here. Our group decided that the best course of action was to head towards where we had observed a bear digging yesterday. Normally, we tried to travel along something that resembled a road.
Sometimes we had no choice but to take things off-road. Part of the route we took seemed more like we were traveling along a stream than across the tundra. The buggy crept through the water towards our destination.
Another Tundra Buggy was rolling along ahead of us when it suddenly stopped. Over beside some bushes was a polar bear sleeping right out in the open. He sort of woke up when our buggy stopped as well. It was only to take a big yawn.
It turns out that the buggy in front of us had stopped for more than just polar bear watching. The day before we had been wondering what would happen if a buggy broke down or got stuck in the mud and rocks. Turns out the answer would unfold right in front of us. Luckily the broken buggy was on a stretch of road. A pickup truck came by and pulled up next to the broken buggy. One of our guides exited our buggy, took his rifle from its case and bravely strode down the road to stand guard while the repairs were completed.
Fortunately the bear was still as disinterested as ever. The repairs were completed and our guide returned to the safety of his tundra buggy. The other buggy began to continue on its way. This seemed to finally arouse the bear who decided it was time to take a walk across the tundra. He walked around as we wondered if he would decide to come and check us out. Once again we were rejected by the bear.
We headed further along and reached the spot where a bear had been digging yesterday. We looked along the water's edge and he was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had moved on. We went a little higher up onto a rocky plateau and then all of a sudden there he was. He was busy chewing away on something in the grass. It seems his digging the day before has netted him a bit of a feast. One of our guides suggested it was most likely part of a whale, perhaps a beluga. The bear chewed his dinner for some time and then suddenly turned his back on us. We got the hint and our Tundra Buggy decided it was time to move on.
We had another great day out amongst the bears. As we headed back we passed the buggy that had problems earlier.
They waved a wave that said they were all glad that our buggy drivers
had come to their aid. We waved a wave that said we were glad it didn't
happen to us. No one wanted to spend the night stuck out on the
tundra. Actually that's not true. A night on the tundra does sound
exciting, but only when it is properly planned for.
Location: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada Address: Churchill Wildlife Management Area Date: Oct 2014 Website: www.everythingchurchill.com
Most people come to Churchill with hopes of seeing a polar bear, but as you walk around the town you hope that you will not have an encounter with one of these giant predators. The best way to see the bears is from the safety of a Tundra Buggy as it crawls across the rocky terrain of northern Manitoba. A Tundra Buggy looks sort of like two school buses welded together and then put up on some giant wheels from a construction vehicle. We spent two days inside one of these buggies in search of some big white bears.
We first had to travel from our lodge on red school buses. The buses took us into the Churchill Wildlife Management Area which was just outside of town.
We then had to transfer directly from the bus into the safety of our Tundra Buggy under the watchful eye of our guide. You never know when a bear may be nearby.
The first thing we learned is that polar bears can hide surprisingly well on the tundra. You would think that on a terrain that is mostly grey rock, orange moss, and shallow water, that these white animals would pop right out. In most cases they do, but if a polar bear lays flat it can hide behind even the shortest of bushes.
There are also many white rocks scattered across the tundra. We had a fun time playing "Polar Bear or Rock". Someone would shout out "Bear!" and all the binoculars and cameras would zoom in to inspect the area. Coming to a conclusion proved rather difficult. In one instance, after several minutes of observation, our entire group had determined one white lump to be just a rock. When we returned to that area later in the day we were surprised to see that the rock was walking around.
So far we had only seen a few signs that the bears were there. There were some tracks by the water's edge which were obviously made by some huge paws dragging across the sand.
In fact there were more signs that other Tundra Buggies had been roaming around than bears. There were huge tracks where a Tundra Buggy had taken a wrong turn and its tires had sunk deep into the muddy terrain. Our Tundra Buggy had also headed into the same area and then wisely decided against that route. We wondered what would happen if a Tundra Buggy broke down or got stuck in the mud or rocks? On the second day of our tour we would get our answer.
After much searching we learned that traveling in a Tundra Buggy looking for polar bears is a slow process that requires patience. A glimpse of white was spotted up on a rocky edge. Just as quickly it disappeared again. A helicopter flying overhead turned towards the area. We held our cameras up over our heads as high as we could and fired away. A bear lifted its head above the rocks and looked straight up at the helicopter. Then just as quickly it was gone. Perhaps it had wandered off down the rocks or just put its head down to take a nap. At this time of year polar bears are saving their energy before they face a long hard winter trying to survive out on the sea ice. As the water begins to freeze, more and more bears come to the shoreline waiting to step out onto the ice.
We finally spotted an active polar bear out in the open, way over on the other side of the water. Our guides let us know it may take about an hour to get over to where we could see him better and they could not guarantee the bear would still be there. We took our chances and after bumping and crawling along around to where the bear had been, we pulled up onto some rocks.
Our gamble had paid off as the bear was still there busily digging through whatever had washed up on the shore. You could see the grooves from where the bear had been digging most likely for many hours, if not for days.
We spent some time admiring this bear at work and then it was time for our buggy to make the long trek back to our red school bus. From there it was a drive back to our lodge for the night. Tomorrow would be another day spent bouncing around the tundra in search of the bears and we could hardly wait.
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Address: Trans-Canada Hwy (MB-1) and (MB-206) Date: Oct 2014
Somewhere between the eastern edge of Newfoundland and the western side of British Columbia is the longitudinal centre of Canada. We had flown to Winnipeg, Manitoba and when we heard that the longitudinal centre of Canada was a short drive to the east, we set out for a drive. We did this despite the fact that our actual destination was in Saskatchewan to the west. The drive took us about 20 minutes from Winnipeg until we reached the signs. The nice thing about the Trans Canada Highway is that it is not very busy and the Manitoba terrain allows so that you can see the signs coming from quite a distance away.
There are actually two brown signs on each side of the highway. Two on the east side and two on the west side so no matter which way you are headed you will pass them. We slowed down with our camera ready and fired a few shots out the window. Since we were headed west we had to head down the highway a bit for the next chance to turn around. As we passed the signs again we fired away. The end result is that the picture at the top of this post is the best one of the bunch.
The reason that there are two signs is because Canada has two national languages, English & French. That means there is one sign that reads Longitudinal Centre of Canada and another which says Centre Longitudinal du Canada. We are not sure why they did not combine them into one sign with both languages as is usually the case. Perhaps they could not agree on the actual spot. Is it the first sign? The second sign? Or somewhere in between? At any rate we drove past them all.
The signs mark the point 96 degrees, 48 minutes of arc and 35 seconds of arc. Don't be confused thinking that the ' and " mean feet and inches. There does seem to be some debate as to if this is the actual spot, but we will trust the highway signs as they have always helped us get where we were headed. Also debated is the exact centre of Canada. This would be where the longitudinal centre meets the latitudinal centre. Since the majority of Canada is unpopulated, this is located somewhere up in the territory of Nunavut. It is well above any of the provinces and not anywhere you could drive to. We would place it roughly in line with the country of Iceland.
Next time you are in Winnipeg, Manitoba or headed that way, maybe we will meet you in the middle.
Location: Churchill, Manitoba, Canada Address: Joe Buck's Ridge Date: Oct 2014 Website:www.everythingchurchill.com
We went to Churchill to see polar bears and Northern Lights. We succeeded in seeing polar bears. The Northern Lights are caused by charged particles entering the Earth's atmosphere. The resulting collision causes the much sought after light display. Usually it manifests itself as greenish lights causing waves across the sky. Unfortunately, for the three nights we were in Churchill, the skies were cloudy. We slept in our room each night with the curtains drawn back despite the glare from the street lights. All of this was in the hopes of catching even a glimpse of this spectacle.
While we were in Churchill, we went dog sledding with a company called Bluesky. They are located to the south-west of the town. As we waited for our chance to go sledding we could see the lights from the town to the north. The lights were giving off a yellowish green glow visible through the trees. The picture below may be able to fool some people into believing we had captured the Northern Lights, but not us. We hope to head north again soon and give it a try once more. Perhaps in Iceland?
Location: Churchill, Manitoba,Canada Address: Kelsey Blvd. Date: Oct 2014 Website:www.everythingchurchill.com
Churchill, Manitoba is the polar bear capital of the world. This means that occasionally you may see one walk right down the main street and you should always be on alert. While we were in Churchill we didn't encounter any bears in town, we did however have this very unusual experience.
We had just exited the Parks Canada Visitor Centre when we spotted something big and white walking down the street. It was someone dressed up in a polar bear costume. We wondered where could they be going? We hurried up to the main street to see what was going on. As we turned the corner what should be headed our way but a frog driving an ATV. Of course. The frog waved to the polar bear.
And the polar bear waved back We got the impression that they knew each other.
The bear continued up the road and as he walked along he waved at everyone he saw. When we recounted this story to one of our tour guides, they were quick to point out that it is against the law to impersonate a polar bear in Churchill. Even if it is a cute, big headed one that walks upright. As we mentioned before the real bears often end up in the middle of town. You run the risk of being tranquilized and hauled off to Polar Bear Jail. Our guide was unaware of any penalty for impersonating a frog.
By the time we caught up to the action the bear had headed into Gypsy's Bakery & Restaurant. The frog had parked his ATV and joined the bear inside. As we walked up to the restaurant we noticed the camera crew that had been filming the entire event. We also noticed the Japanese flags on their vehicles. We are not sure how they obtained their vehicles, but we do know that there are no roads to Churchill. Anything that arrives in town comes either by train or by plane, so vehicles are usually hard to come by.
When we finally entered the restaurant, the polar bear and the frog were with another woman who had grabbed a few people and they were holding a sign that said "Happy Birthday Peace The 15th Anniversary". As the woman tried to explain that she wanted everyone to sing Happy Birthday, more people crowded into the doorway of the restaurant. As everyone was just standing around, the restaurant owner asked if we would either come in or go out. We chose out, and made our way back out onto the street.
Seeing a polar bear in Churchill is a common sight indeed, but this bear lead us on an unusual journey that may never be explained.
Queen Elizabeth II Statue
