In order to get to know better the only male of our little dog team, today I tied Elvis to the sledge for scientific field work. Obviously, he was confused with my strange activities on pack ice. But he stayed in my tracks and pull nicely the precious sledge for about ten kilometres. In the night, by -30°C, with northerly wind, I was not talking much... maybe a good drawing would be better?

Posted Dec 2011 13 at 20:00 [en - fr]

Tue, 13 Dec 2011, Et de 2, et de 3, et de 4 !

Elvis, Bella and Marly, brother and sisters of Unnuaq (night in Inuktitut, name given to our first dog), arrived yesterday night! Laisa and Norman played again Santa Claus: three dogs, a better seal net than our 25m long fishing net, two seals to feed the dogs, warm parkas for everyone, fruits and vegetables (grapes, tomatoes!...), stuffed animals, sweets and tooth paste (!) for the kids, and even a little Christmas tree (even so artificial). Totally unexpected visit and gifts, we are very moved with so much generosity. Also, Laisa is offering us to come to her place in town for Christmas, and our surprise guests already brought a huge sleigh to carry crew and bags from Vagabond to Grise Fiord. We only need to fill it up! Norman will try to pick up the full sleigh on 23 December, if conditions are good. No sooner had we shared a cup of tea than they left again, in the moonlight, to join the two hunters they left back on the ice. Not far from our fjord, they saw fresh tracks of a female polar bear with her two cubs.
Saturday night, not long after the beautiful moon eclipse, and while we were setting up some tinsels in the wardroom, Laisa, her husband Aksakjuk, and two young boys already turned up. It was a great pleasure to see them again, to discover all they had brought spontaneously for us (mail, fresh food, fruit juices, anorak and kamiks for Aurore...), and to listen to news from the village. Hunting is going on well (polar bear, seal, caribou, hare), the school is open again after two weeks closed because of water pipe problem, and preparations for Christmas are intensive.

Posted Dec 2011 13 at 08:00 [en - fr]

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