Floe edge

This week was cultural activities week. On Wednesday the high school students loaded onto snowmobiles and qomatiqs (pronounced homatick; actually the q is somewhere between an h and a k)and headed out to sea until we reached open water on Hudson Strait. We were led by a couple of guides, and it wasn't a place I would want to go to without someone who knew the ice conditions. It was a really nice day weather wise, and everybody had a great time. The day before the grade 8-9 class made the same trip and the guides shot a couple of seals, but although we saw some seals, they were too far away and we didn't get any. I can't imagine any school board in the south permitting such a trip! This coming week I will accompany the grade 10 - 12 kids on a camping trip which involves a snowmobile trek of about 60 km to get to the place where we will camp. Apparently there are a couple of hot springs there which keep the water open all year round. The weather forecast for the next week looks quite nice so I'm hoping we'll have a good time. We got about 10 cm of snow yesterday, so the trails are much better for the machines again. After we get back I will only keep my machine for another week or so, and then I've promised to sell it. I will get a bit more than I paid for it, so really I've had the use of it for just the price of gas and oil for the winter. Wish we could make deals like that in the south. Anyway, I've included a couple of pics of the floe edge trip. Take care, and those of you on March break, enjoy the holidays.