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kevin_standleeHere is the posting that I would have made had Flickr not gone down earlier.
After arriving in Churchill an hour early, I had to deal with getting our eight-passenger van from the rental agency. I telephoned their number, which led to an owner in Winnipeg. Apparently, due to the derailment on the Thompson subdivision and the other cancellations they had, they assumed that the whole train was canceled. I explained that our group had come from Winnipeg and we weren't affected by the derailment. This surprised her. Anyway, she called her daughter, who a few minutes later arrived and drove me to their agency, where I checked out the van. I asked how I was supposed to refuel it and what the service charge for having them do it was. She explained that they don't have a service charge and that due to there being only one gas station in Churchill, and it keeping strange hours, it was easier if they just took care of it. Besides, the car rental company is next door to the gas service company.
I drove the van back to the station, where the others had been looking through the small museum run by Parks Canada inside the train station, except Lisa, who took over the guard duty when the station staff almost had the unattended pile of luggage impounded. We loaded everyone and everything up and drove the short distance to the AirBnB house we had rented.
This is the Beluga Beach House. The rental van is parked outside.
The house has a full kitchen/dining area, including an electric stove and a full refrigerator, plus a dishwasher, two coffee makers, and a hot water kettle. There are also plenty of supplies, some of which from the house owner, and others from previous guests buying too many non-perishables and leaving them behind. (We'll probably end up contributing to that supply.)
Besides the dining area, there is a living room area with a television set, a bookshelf with games and other reading material.
There is a washer and dryer, and the owners supply laundry detergent and other related supplies.
One of the two bathrooms has a walk-in shower.
The other has a tub/shower combination. Both are workable, and the owners supply towels and other linens. I would not have objected to some towel bars on which to hang the towels. I had no problem with the water pressure or temperature of the tub/shower.
Two of the bedrooms have bunk beds.
Two of the bedrooms have queen beds.
One issue we had was that only certain rooms' windows have screens, and due to the ferocious mosquitos that infest this part of the world in the summer, you couldn't possibly open the window if you wanted fresh air unless you had a screen on your window. Lisa and I had a room with no screens, and it has been unseasonably warm here, so the room got quite stuffy.
Theoretically, each of the four rooms in the Beluga Beach House can be rented individually. We had only six people, but we went ahead and rented the entire house, which saved a lot of bother since we all know each other. It still was less expensive than hotel rooms. With the self-catering facilities, we all went to the grocery store and got various food to suit ourselves. Groceries are expensive here, and due to that derailment, the stores were under-stocked. (This would be corrected by flying in some things.)
After getting settled into our room and getting our groceries, Lisa and I walked back down to the station. (Central Churchill is not large.) Neither of us had been able to look at the Parks Canada museum. We had a lovely conversation with the Parks Canada person at the desk, who was a fan of SF and F but did not know a lot about conventions. We filled him in and pointed him in the direction of our conventions and encouraged him to attend one if he gets an opportunity.
Kuma Bear got to meet a polar bear. None of us want to meet a live polar bear this close and personal.
This is a map of the rail line from Winnipeg to Churchill on which we rode.
Click through to see more of the photos we took here.
While walking between the station and the Beach House, we walked past Hudson Bay Helicopters, which does helicopter tours. I'd tried to contact them without success before our trip, but apparently they hadn't been able to hear my telephone number. We inquired about availability and costs. A 30 minute tour for two people would cost CA$880. That's a lot, but not impossibly expensive. We made a reservation for 5 PM.
That price included the cash discount and would be more expensive by credit card. Putting our heads (and bank accounts) together, we determined that we could get enough cash to pay for it by taking close to our maximum daily limits from both accounts. We walked to the RBC banking center and pulled enough cash to pay for the trip.
We arrived early in order to watch the safety briefing and then it was time to go.
Our short trip took us over Churchill...
...Out over the surrounding area...
...Over the wreck of the M.V. Ithaca...
...Over Fort Prince of Wales...
...and the railroad station (with the train on which we arrived sitting on the platform).
I sat in the rear seat.
Lisa sat up front in the left seat. (Helicopters are generally driven from the right seat.) Kuma Bear got to sit in Lisa's "jump seat."
Lisa was absolutely delighted to get this trip. She did take fixed-wing pilot training when she was younger, but had never been in a helicopter and has always wanted to ride in one.
Click through the various photos to see the others, including one that includes the cost of the rides for various group sizes and ride durations.
Later, we did a little train chasing.
Our train from Winnipeg returned to Churchill, leaving at 7:30 PM. It goes slowly (the track is sitting on permafrost and not good for very high speeds) and after it left the station, we were able to get ahead of it by driving down to a grade crossing south of the town. We weren't the only ones there taking pictures.
Returning to the Beach House, we made dinner from some of the material we bought earlier today and turned in to sleep in our (regrettably stuffy) room.
Thursday was a banner day and Lisa was very happy to have achieved a major bucket list item. The rest of the weekend is expected to be very busy as we try to squeeze a lot of activity into very little time. This house is nice enough, and to some extent I wish we could stay a week instead of only two nights; it would make the stay a little bit pressured.
After arriving in Churchill an hour early, I had to deal with getting our eight-passenger van from the rental agency. I telephoned their number, which led to an owner in Winnipeg. Apparently, due to the derailment on the Thompson subdivision and the other cancellations they had, they assumed that the whole train was canceled. I explained that our group had come from Winnipeg and we weren't affected by the derailment. This surprised her. Anyway, she called her daughter, who a few minutes later arrived and drove me to their agency, where I checked out the van. I asked how I was supposed to refuel it and what the service charge for having them do it was. She explained that they don't have a service charge and that due to there being only one gas station in Churchill, and it keeping strange hours, it was easier if they just took care of it. Besides, the car rental company is next door to the gas service company.
I drove the van back to the station, where the others had been looking through the small museum run by Parks Canada inside the train station, except Lisa, who took over the guard duty when the station staff almost had the unattended pile of luggage impounded. We loaded everyone and everything up and drove the short distance to the AirBnB house we had rented.
This is the Beluga Beach House. The rental van is parked outside.
The house has a full kitchen/dining area, including an electric stove and a full refrigerator, plus a dishwasher, two coffee makers, and a hot water kettle. There are also plenty of supplies, some of which from the house owner, and others from previous guests buying too many non-perishables and leaving them behind. (We'll probably end up contributing to that supply.)
Besides the dining area, there is a living room area with a television set, a bookshelf with games and other reading material.
There is a washer and dryer, and the owners supply laundry detergent and other related supplies.
One of the two bathrooms has a walk-in shower.
The other has a tub/shower combination. Both are workable, and the owners supply towels and other linens. I would not have objected to some towel bars on which to hang the towels. I had no problem with the water pressure or temperature of the tub/shower.
Two of the bedrooms have bunk beds.
Two of the bedrooms have queen beds.
One issue we had was that only certain rooms' windows have screens, and due to the ferocious mosquitos that infest this part of the world in the summer, you couldn't possibly open the window if you wanted fresh air unless you had a screen on your window. Lisa and I had a room with no screens, and it has been unseasonably warm here, so the room got quite stuffy.
Theoretically, each of the four rooms in the Beluga Beach House can be rented individually. We had only six people, but we went ahead and rented the entire house, which saved a lot of bother since we all know each other. It still was less expensive than hotel rooms. With the self-catering facilities, we all went to the grocery store and got various food to suit ourselves. Groceries are expensive here, and due to that derailment, the stores were under-stocked. (This would be corrected by flying in some things.)
After getting settled into our room and getting our groceries, Lisa and I walked back down to the station. (Central Churchill is not large.) Neither of us had been able to look at the Parks Canada museum. We had a lovely conversation with the Parks Canada person at the desk, who was a fan of SF and F but did not know a lot about conventions. We filled him in and pointed him in the direction of our conventions and encouraged him to attend one if he gets an opportunity.
Kuma Bear got to meet a polar bear. None of us want to meet a live polar bear this close and personal.
This is a map of the rail line from Winnipeg to Churchill on which we rode.
Click through to see more of the photos we took here.
While walking between the station and the Beach House, we walked past Hudson Bay Helicopters, which does helicopter tours. I'd tried to contact them without success before our trip, but apparently they hadn't been able to hear my telephone number. We inquired about availability and costs. A 30 minute tour for two people would cost CA$880. That's a lot, but not impossibly expensive. We made a reservation for 5 PM.
That price included the cash discount and would be more expensive by credit card. Putting our heads (and bank accounts) together, we determined that we could get enough cash to pay for it by taking close to our maximum daily limits from both accounts. We walked to the RBC banking center and pulled enough cash to pay for the trip.
We arrived early in order to watch the safety briefing and then it was time to go.
Our short trip took us over Churchill...
...Out over the surrounding area...
...Over the wreck of the M.V. Ithaca...
...Over Fort Prince of Wales...
...and the railroad station (with the train on which we arrived sitting on the platform).
I sat in the rear seat.
Lisa sat up front in the left seat. (Helicopters are generally driven from the right seat.) Kuma Bear got to sit in Lisa's "jump seat."
Lisa was absolutely delighted to get this trip. She did take fixed-wing pilot training when she was younger, but had never been in a helicopter and has always wanted to ride in one.
Click through the various photos to see the others, including one that includes the cost of the rides for various group sizes and ride durations.
Later, we did a little train chasing.
Our train from Winnipeg returned to Churchill, leaving at 7:30 PM. It goes slowly (the track is sitting on permafrost and not good for very high speeds) and after it left the station, we were able to get ahead of it by driving down to a grade crossing south of the town. We weren't the only ones there taking pictures.
Returning to the Beach House, we made dinner from some of the material we bought earlier today and turned in to sleep in our (regrettably stuffy) room.
Thursday was a banner day and Lisa was very happy to have achieved a major bucket list item. The rest of the weekend is expected to be very busy as we try to squeeze a lot of activity into very little time. This house is nice enough, and to some extent I wish we could stay a week instead of only two nights; it would make the stay a little bit pressured.
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