Day 5 November 16 - Arrival into Churchill

Tuesday, November 16

It was a harder night sleeping last night but time went fast. It is now 5:45 am and the train guy just came by and said "30 minutes to Churchill, 30 minutes to Churchill". Whoa the train is going to be early by 30 minutes!

It is still pitch black out but as the train begins to back into Churchill the lights of the town become visible. It is maybe 5 miles away or less.  

I can see snow outside and the outline of trees but it is to dark to see much more. Looks like a lot of rabbit tracks in the snow, but that is about all i can see.

The train car has come alive with activity. Everyone is packing up their carry on bags and making sure they have everything. The train is going forward again after a track change so we must not back into Churchill. Okay going backwards again and a little faster and the towns lights are getting closer on the left side of the train.

I am not sure what to do first as it is to early to check into the hotel so we'll have to waste a few hours before we head over there. Maybe we can at least leave our bags there while we wait.

I talked to the rail lady that helped get the luggage off the train; all luggage arrived with the train, and she said the train usually gets in around 9am so this was unusual. As we talked her phone rang and it scared her as she had just gotten it. She said she was the 99th person in Churchill to get a phone. The town has around 600 people so it isn't like the States.

We decided to take a taxi to the hotel, even with it being only a few blocks away, with the snow and the luggage it was worth the $8 to have the cab take us here.

7:30
We dropped our bags off at the Polar Inn and the room was not ready yet so we decided to go and have breakfast.
 
Breakfast at the Seaport Lodge and Cafe which is less then a block from the Polar Inn. Eggs,toast, potatoes and sausage was what Dad and I had and Mom had Eggs Benedict. Is was good and the price very good at around $6.50 a piece.

After breakfast we walked Southdown Kelsey street to the Great White Bear Tour to check in for the next two days of tours. The owner said that this was the last week of tours as the bears will soon be out on the ice and not back until July.

She had a lot of good information. Dress in layers as the buggy rides are warm, but the viewing patio will be cold. She said that yesterday they saw over 30 bears and moms with cubs, so it should be a great last week of tours.

She was a retired school teacher from Winnipeg and they retired in Churchill after a visit here. She said the bears are everywhere in town now so be very careful. Last night one broke into a house in town and came right through the living room window!

She said it is pretty safe in town but stay away from the bay as well as the river. The shop had a lot of souvenirs and I will have to stop back as the prices seemed good. 

So we checked in and went outside and Dad said that he just heard shots, which means there is a bear in town. Pop pop and a number of trucks go speeding north towards the bay area.

As we walked back we say a lady walking two beautiful Newfoundland dogs.huge animals. As we approached i asked if they were friendly and she said, "wait for them to come to you as you look big to them and they would attack. We all stood still and within seconds they trot over to us. Friendly huge dogs. 

The owner was flying out today for a month in Toronto to see her kid so she was taking them for a walk. They each weighed around 175 pounds so four times as big as Brandy. Just big and furry dogs. I loved them. The owner got them to sit pretty and Mom took a picture.

Everyone in town has been so friendly and saying hi or ey!

We tried to go to the store but that doesn't open until 10am so back to the hotel to wait for our room. We found out that we can keep our room until 6pm so we don't have to worry about where to put our luggage before the train leaves on Saturday. This will be good.

So we wait. Mom is playing solitaire and Dad is reading about polar bears. This really is a trip of a lifetime and I am so excited to go and see the bears tomorrow.