August 21, 2005

Preparing for the trip to Wunnumin Lake turned out to be ten days of non-stop packed activities, mostly errands of course. Canadianizing our car, checking teeth, medicals, storage and shipping became our modus operandi.

The anticipation of making the right choices in what to carry with us on the plane, what to ship, and what to store was the hardest. Imagine having to reduce your possessions to three bags!

Finally we were on our way, with Moopy firmly ensconced in his travelling bag. The trip was quite uneventful, Toronto to Thunder Bay, an hour delay and onto Sioux Lookout. The planes did get smaller the further we went.

We overnighted in SL, a good idea as it gave us the opportunity to set the clock back one hour and smooth into the new time frame. A good steak dinner helped too…

We began our Friday with a morning walk in the vicinity of the hotel, which provided some good sights of planes on floats and homes with lakefront views.

At noon we began the last leg of our journey, Sioux Lookout to Wunnumin. I was very happy to find out that two of my three bags were arriving with us; the third made it the following day.

Ricardo, Moopy and I got very busy as we arrived to the house; unpacking, cleaning, investigating and shopping somehow got all done. Initial challenges are slowly getting solved; you really begin to appreciate even the smallest of comforts. Hot water was my happiness on day two, still waiting for the phone….

The Wunnumin reserve has had a festival over at the arena and school field (Lydia Lois Beardy Memorial) for the past week, and Friday night held a display of fireworks as good as any big city ones. On Saturday Ricardo and I went to watch some baseball games, and were quite impressed when a Cessna Caravan over flew the school field dropping ‘scavenger money’ that could be redeemed at the kiosk. On Sunday another walk round the area, I mean literally round as we began in one direction and virtually did a 360. The lake was choppy, windy conditions prevailing. It feels like fall weather, the wind brings a bite from the lake, can’t wait for winter…..

Although we’ve only seen huge black crows, the wildlife in the area consists of moose, wolves, the occasional black bear, beavers, muskrats, ducks, and a variety of birds as well as plenty of fish: a virtual paradise for the anglers and hunters. My boss assures me that the wildlife doesn't come into town....he hasn't been in the school then!