Today was a beautiful day. It is July 17th and I decided that a walk to the “waterfall” would be good. I also went last weekend, but it was raining and horrible. My thought was that the bugs would not be there to bother me. Wrong again. This weekend the wind was blowing at 35-50 km an hour so the bugs were not too bad. They were so bad this week that yesterday I ordered the “original bug shirt” which I am hoping will come asap. It has screens so you can zip up a hood and not be bothered by bugs in your face. It also has screens in the sides so you have lots of air and mobility.
In the south we would call the “waterfall” rapids. They are beautiful and the walk is probably about 2-3 km, along the Inukjuak River. Going along the road from this house to the beach I followed the road to the airport. This is a friendly little town and everyone says hello, or waves from their atvs and cars. The road is paved, but has large potholes that everybody drives around, so you have to be careful when you are near these, and give vehicles a wide berth.
As soon as the houses end the flowers start. It is quite amazing how large they are in comparison to Rankin. Today I was thinking that some of these very large flowers looked like the Arctic Saxifrage in Rankin, but much bigger. As you approach the turnoff for the river and sandbank, where there were people fishing, there were many more flowers and bushes.
The walk itself is along the river, and you can either walk along the top of the bank or on the rocks by the water. I chose to walk along the rocks today, and last weekend walked part way along the rocks as well. Only problem last weekend was that they were quite slippery. Today, they were not, but you had to watch your two feet much of the time, to avoid them moving...same as on any river trail.
Of course, there was no shade today. There are no trees. This week I did a comparison of latitudes because I was interested in where villages were in relation to each other, on opposite sides of the Hudson’s Bay. Although Inukjuak has no trees, it is further south than Churchill, which does, they are only a few minutes of latitude apart. Puvirnituq is about 2 degrees north of here...about 140 miles and Rankin is about 4 ½ degrees north of here, so about 310 miles north of here. It is obvious that latitude is not the only factor in “no trees”. The breeze was beautiful and part way there I took off my jacket, and rolled up my short sleeves to try and get a tan.

From the time I turned off the road until I was back in the village birds were screaming at me. I think they nest in the small bushes or rocks. They were most annoyed with me travelling through their territory. I would have liked a photo, but they were not sitting still long enough for that. If they were bigger I think their tactic would have been dive bombing!!
As you get further along the river, there in one section where walking on the rocks is difficult. I did it today but last weekend did not. I chose to walk along the top of the embankment instead, where there were masses of small bushes, lichens, and berries. At first I thought I was walking on moss, and then looked more closely and realized that they were berries, which now I know to be cloudberries, and they make wonderful tea.
Today the walk was along the river itself, and sitting on some of the rocks just watching the world go by. Last weekend there was a man fishing, in the rain, on the other side of the river, by the falls. He got there by red kayak, and during the week, when discussing weekend activities, realized it was one of the docs who is here. He if permanent, more or less, going to a number of villages but living basically in Inukjuak, and has the comforts to make life fun here. He said he caught two fish, and there was a huge one that got away.
One can well imagine that large fish inhabit this river. It is deep in sections, and quite flat, as is the land here. There are seals that come and hunt/fish in this area, and I was very excited this week to see one while out, just fishing around the river. I suspect that is not a good activity for seals here, as they are hunted and eaten. However, hopefully, that one was not. I know it is not terribly exciting to see seals when you live on the east or west coast, however, as I had seen almost no wildlife in the Arctic, it was great to see...even a seal.

There are actually two rapids, not very far apart. They are quite pretty, and I expect would be fun to “run”. Today the whole area was green and verdant. It was surprising how much greener it can get with rain, only because it already seemed so green.
Both walks I came home by the top of the embankment. Last weekend was a mass of bugs. I had on a waterproof/windproof jacket with long sleeves, and spent my time trying to keep them away from my face. It was so bad that when I tried to take a picture, I had four mosquitoes on my hand. Quickly put my camera away and pulled hands back into my sleeves once the picture was taken. Today it did not seem to be too bad, but surprisingly, since there was so much wind, there were little flies up on the embankment. Luckily they were nothing like the mosquitoes last week.
I came home very happy to have gone both times, and enjoying the beautiful sunshine, today, and the lovely scenery.

THE FIRST WEEK IN INUKJUAK
First weeks in new communities and at new jobs can be challenging. Inukjuak was no exception. I arrived Friday afternoon, and later than expected, since I was not expected! Nobody met me at the airport, and there are no taxis here. The health centre has a driver who picks up and drops off, and in a pinch, so do nurses and other staff.
My first afternoon started at 16:00 and everyone left at 17:00. That seems to be the same all over the Northern areas. The midwives were still seeing some clients on Friday afternoon at this time, because they had three births last week, so we still doing post partums. And all visits were done in Inuktituk. It was interesting to watch, as the student midwives conducted part of each visit.
At 17:00 I was given directions back to my house...not too difficult as Inukjuak only has a population of 1700 so is quite small. I walked up the road from the health centre, past the co-op on the right, and the municipal office, also on the right, then the school was on my left and I turned right just by the church. There is only one school and only one church in this village, so that was easy. My building was the green one just down the hill from the church. It was easy. But I needed groceries, and was told that the Northern, just below (down the hill) from the Co-op had more produce and better prices. Prices were much better, on many things than Rankin Inlet. Of course I was not as far north. Transport prices depend on how far north you are, at least in Nunavik. That was not so noticeable in the Kivalliq, the region where Rankin, Coral Harbour, Repulse Bay and Arviat are located.
The weekend was a write off. I got settled, cleaned, went shopping and for a walk. I had no internet service and no TV so was a bit on my own. It worked out fine though. Read all the “Welcome to Inukjuak information and the orientation to the work here. Found out on Monday that it was almost all old and not relevant anymore!! It talked about the role of the “southern” midwife being to teach and supervise the students, plan education for the midwives and help out as necessary. By Tuesday it was very clear that I was here as a locum, and mainly to be a second midwife at births.
I was asked what my specialty was. The student who was here this week actually came and asked me to do something for her on routine lab work. The program here is totally apprenticeship, and although there is quite a lot written, doing a hand out on the routine lab work here was very useful to me. There are tests they do here routinely that I have not heard of previously. So, my computer came to work with me, and I prepared a handout of all the tests routinely done here, and why they are done.
The biggest insight for me was that the Midwives are not necessarily familiar with why they do tests, but just that they are protocols, they have been told to do them, and they do. So, the job entails being on call for births, doing the odd bit of education, and sitting on your thumbs, or doing whatever has not been done. There are three midwives here, two student midwives and they appear to do about 40 births a year.
The health centre staff work largely in French. (This is Quebec after all.) The nurses and doctors are bilingual, English and French. The Inuit are largely bilingual, English and Inuktituk. There are also clerk/translators who work the front desk and help as necessary with translation. The health centre is very friendly.
The town is small, and the Midwives said that Inukjuak has the largest population on social assistance in Nunavik. The houses all appear in relatively good condition. In this community there is no pumped water or sewage. The water and sewage trucks come to the houses every day but Sunday. (We do not do laundry on Saturday or Sunday because of this.) The water comes from up the Inukjuak River, and I am not sure how they get it here. When walking today I saw a building called the water building, and am wondering if water is actually pumped there and then delivered by the trucks. Sewage is taken daily, by small tanker truck, to the sewage lakes. It is allowed to settle there, and I understand that it goes from there to the ocean, eventually.
In orientation books it said that you need to boil the water before you drink it here. By Monday I asked the midwives if they did this for their families. No, they did not. They suggested that I might want to because my body might not be used to some bacteria they had here. I had boiled water before making tea and coffee, and had already started a routine of boiling a kettle in the evening, then moving it to the Brita in the fridge before I want to bed. That way I had boiled drinking water. What I did not realize is that the water is to be boiled for fifteen minutes before you drink it. There would be nothing left! I am now boiling water for tea and coffee, and at night boiling some for the brita. So far, I have no stomach bugs from the water.
Roads here are mostly paved. The people drive, mostly, ATV’s. These do not have to be licensed, and nobody wears helmets. There are some cars on the road, maybe one to every seven or eight ATV’s. The boats are bigger than they were in Nunavut. There are lots, and they use E-Z loaders and pull the smaller ones behind their ATV’s. Today, while walking, I watched a woman with a trailer behind her ATV, pulling camping gear and children. The average number of people on an ATV is probably 3. Although lots of people are sole drivers there are also lots with three and four people on them.
There are few dogs visible here. Apparently they all live out of town, where they will not bother anyone with their howling, and someone goes out and feeds them every day or two. I have seen no cats, and no wildlife, other than birds and bugs.
Although it can be windy here, it is nothing like the places I visited in Nunavut. There definitely are bugs, and I am using bug spray, which is not making a lot of difference. There are mosquitoes, same size as in the south, and black flies, and these tiny bugs that swarm you when you walk. It is annoying, but part of what I should have anticipated. Bugs bother the Inuit as much as they bother the southerners. Yesterday someone left the back door of the health centre open, because it was muggy. We closed all our doors, and still somehow we were swatting moszies all afternoon. Finally one of the Midwives declared that if there were two more we should close the door. It was closed about three minutes later!
The land here is beautiful. There is more definition that Rankin had. Inukjuak is on the end of a peninsula between the Inukjuak River and the Hudson’s Bay. There are Islands off the Bay side. It is not as cold as Rankin, being further south, and so has more flowers and bushes, and they grow larger. Today, while walking, I saw lupins and daisies. The daisies were 3-4 cm across, which is very large by northern standards. There was also Arctic cotton, but it was a good fifteen inches tall. The lupins were not huge, but were over a foot tall, with beautiful purple and pink colours. The only flowers that reminded me of Rankin were tiny white stars, and they are the same size, but taller. I suspect the height is due to less wind and less cold. There are also grasses, not to make a lawn, but marsh type grasses. When you look across the river you see grass green.
The weather is cool. It has been foggy for several days, rained twice and have needed my hoody and waterproof jacket two days. Two days it was also warm enough to not have on a hoody...except for the bugs. The teens and children swim in the river. One of the interesting things is an upside down sled, extended, and used as a pier. Watching some teens one day is when I realized they dislike the bugs as much as others. The swearing as they got out of the water and were trying to swat them was English. I had thought all the words myself!
I am understanding why the “southern” midwives say they use Inukjuak as a retreat. There is a hotel here, but no restaurant or coffee shop. There is no industry. The people fish, hunt and carve, or not. There are a few jobs in the Co-op, the Northern, the arena, pumping gas, sewage and water and for the municipality. There are a few jobs at the health centre and at the half way house for mental patients. Other than that, there is not much happening here, relating to work.
This village, like many Inuit villages, has a much smaller population in the summer, because the families are out on the land. Where exactly, I am not sure. Walking today, I did get to the outskirts of town, which is not far, and the roads turn to gravel and there were many ATV’s and some cars going along them. If I am lucky, maybe it will be a trip I take before I leave this little village. In the meantime I am enjoying what is here and the slow pace of the workload and friendly smiles and hellos of the people.

Flying used to be exciting. Sometimes it still is, but more in the destination than in the flying itself. The first three or four times I flew to Europe, there was adrenaline pumping just getting on the plane. It is not like that any more. Now it is getting organized, figuring out what I need on the plane, or what I have to take because of weight restrictions, and just doing it. Lots of waiting, in the check-in line, in the security line, at the gate, going to have ID checked, and finally, at the plane itself, waiting to get to my seat.

Still the idea of the new place is exciting, and coming to Inukjuak was no exception. Leaving Vancouver is always interesting. The mountains and ocean are beautiful, as long as you can see them before cloud cover. On this trip the cloud cover was quite low. So, it was sea, low levels of mountains, and then clouds. I had a good book, “Plain Truth” by Jodi Picoult, and was very glad. I had some snack food. Had planned to have sandwiches, but had managed to burn the cauliflower, while I was multitasking before leaving. Obviously my multitasking ability is disintegrating, or maybe it was just trying to get one too many things organized. I did have cherries.

Over the prairies the clouds dissipated somewhat, so patchy fields could be seen some of the time. Then we hit clouds again, so could see patchy lakes through northern Ontario, and haze over the Ottawa Valley. The allergy index there much have been really high on the first of July, as we could see the shimmer and colour of poor air quality. Then finally we arrived in Montreal.

The airport was much smaller than I remembered, but have only used it previously on international flights, and this was domestic. It took over half an hour for the luggage to begin to arrive, and about two thirds of it was off in another ten minutes. And then the rest of us waited. Finally it all came. However, the end zipper on my hockey bag had broken, so the whole end was open. Don’t think anything fell out, as it was wool and food, but probably will not know for sure until I realize that one specific thing is missing. Had thought that if it opened there might be wool unwinding all over the conveyor belt...now that would have been a sight.

Outside the terminal I asked somebody where the hotel shuttles came. They told me and I went to look for mine. There were two...one for the Hilton and one for another hotel. Finally I asked someone if he knew when the one to Quality Inn came by. He asked which Quality Inn? I got out my paperwork and he said that was his hotel. Turned out the sign for the Quality Inn was small and on the door of the shuttle to the Hilton. They are next door to one another. So, got my own personal shuttle to the hotel. The driver was great. He helped with the luggage, and after a tip he found me bags for the items in the pocket of the hockey bag.

I checked in, and pushed the airport style luggage carrier to my room. On the way there was a man carrying two “Coronas”. I asked where he got them, and he replied, “In the Bar of course”. Of Course. In Quebec you can carry your drinks to your room, and enjoy them there. I went to the bar, and enjoyed my corona there!!
It was now 23:30 Quebec time. I had a 05:45 wake up call as I was catching the shuttle back to the airport at 06:30. The driver had suggested that I could go at 06:00, which was appropriate for an 08:00 flight, but that if I did mind going quickly, the later shuttle would be fine. Problem was that in BC it was only 20:30. I read, watched TV and turned off the light about an hour later. And of course, nothing happened. So by 04:15 I gave up, got up and messed around in the room until the wake up call. Had morning coffee, decaf, in the room, and headed downstairs, having repacked my baggage, for 06:20.

The evening before had packed all the excess into plastic bags inside a big plastic bag. Realized in the early morning that Inuit air was not concerned about how much bags weighed. I did not have to worry about overweight the same way, and the overweight piece had been the hockey bag. I put bags of wool into my suitcase and managed to get it all in. My hockey bag looked a mess, but it was closed, and nothing would come out the middle part. (And it will be replaced before my next northern exploit).

I went to the airport, and checked in. The small misadventures occurred again. The quote I had of $6.15 per kg for overweight was to the first destination of the plane. There were four, and Inukjuak was last, so it was $13.00 per kg. Oh well. I had already decided that it was all coming. I only had 53kg, which was 23kg overweight. I did not mind. Luckily, they do not weight your carry on baggage!!
Went to the gate, and thought I would check out the one concession stand in this small part of the airport. They were very slow so did not get the yoghurt parfait, and was later very glad. Our flight was called. We walked to the plane, following the instructions to stay within the white lines. (For those of you who have not flown in small planes, they do not come to the regular gates. You go outside, rain, shine, or snow, and walk to them, and up the stairs. Usually they are also parked at the ends of the terminals, so you have to walk further to get to the gates they are at.) There was no seat designation, and I had two seats to myself the whole way to Inukjuak. I must have been giving off the “leave me alone” vibes really well.

And then the adventure began. Leaving Montreal was great, and there was lots to see as there is leaving any big city. However, clouds were probably at about 2000 feet, so once above them, it was time to read again. There is a magazine in the north called “Above and Beyond”. I think First Air actually publishes it, but they had it in Inuit Air flights. It was a particularly good issue, with an article about an elder who lived in various places in the North and about finding dinosaur bones in the Arctic.

Almost as soon as we left we were served breakfast. They offered hot or cold. The hot was eggs, so I chose the cold. It was vanilla yogurt with oranges, orange juice, a croissant with three kinds of cheese, fruit and cretons. A very nice breakfast, and was so glad that yoghurt parfait had not been purchased.
As we went over northern Quebec the cloud cover disappeared, and we could see the forest below, and many lakes. It was beautiful.

Our first stop was to be Kuujjuarapik, and it was a three hour flight there. As we were getting closer it was noticeable that there were still trees. Once we landed and could see them, they were Churchill type trees, but with greater girth. They were mostly 3-6 feet high, but quite round, as there was less wind there than in Churchill. There was also masses of water, but the rock underneath the surface was mostly red, so it was like looking down on these red lakes with tiny trees all around. When you fly in BC the trees do not seem individual, because there are so many. Flying into this village the trees all looked completely separate.

We had to refuel in Kuujjuarapik, and were told it would take 30 minutes. I got out my camera to take pictures of the trees. Went out of the terminal and put the camera on, and to my eyes to focus...battery empty. So, you will not see pictures of the little Christmas trees.

After about an hour we were to get back on the plane. I was surprised because in this airport they had security. There was nobody manning it, but there were lots of signs about what you could and could not take. Our plane only had 30 seats, so perhaps they have some larger planes and have security for those. This is the first northern town where I have seen anything about security.

We then had a thirty minute flight to Sanikilluaq. Sani, as it is affectionately known in Rankin Inlet, is actually part of Nunavut, rather than Nunavik (northern Quebec). It is on the Belcher Islands. Flying into the area was really interesting. There were small icebergs all over the area, and probably the sea ice was just breaking up. There were also patches of snow everywhere. (It was July 2nd so thought that might have all disappeared.) We did not get off the plane, and could not see much of the village from the airport.

Our third stop was thirty minutes away in Umiujaq. There were lots of snow patches going into the airport but no ice. Again we did not leave the plane.
And finally we were on to Inukjuak. I realized that I was getting excited. Lots of anticipation about what this village would be like, where I would be staying for a month. There were patches of snow, but no snow ice. The terminal was tiny and very crowded. They had a conveyor for the luggage but it was about 6 feet long so everything was taken off as it arrived. There were lots of people in this tiny space, and outside smoking. Turned out that this flight turned around and went back, and everyone had to change flights, to go further north.

My luggage finally came, but there was nobody from the health centre to pick me up. I sighed and asked at the desk, when they were less busy, for the number to the health centre. They said someone had been there, but had left. I tried to call. Kept getting the “please hang up immediately and try again later” message. Of course, it was said first in Inuktituk, then in French and thirdly in English. As the flights left, and there were only two or three of us left in the terminal I went and talked to the clerk again. I had not been calling the area code. This time I got through first time.

The health centre had been expecting me on Saturday, and not on Friday. They came to get me, dropped my luggage off at my apartment (a one bedroom, for me only), and drove me to the health centre.

Once again flying has taken me to another adventure, and another place and time. I am truly looking forward to this month in Inukjuak, with the midwives, the beautiful scenery, the lovely women, and just being North again.