Hello all, We have arrived at camp – along with 400 plus other people. It was about a 4 hour bus ride from Winnipeg to Dauphin. We have set up our tents, settled in, had our first camp meal of perogies, meatballs, corn, and cake for dessert. There was then a mad flurry of badge trading, with everyone acquiring some traders from patrols from across Canada. We had opening ceremonies with Ukrainian dancing among other entertainment, and now it is off to bed. We will aim to post a couple of times from camp, but it likely will not be every night. Wifi is slow and sketchy!
This morning we first went to the Winnipeg Mint which was cool, since I never really knew how money was made. After, we got to go to the Human Rights Museum (since we didn’t get to yesterday), which I was really happy about. The museum was really big and had beautiful architecture! I tried walking through the whole thing and overall I think my favorite parts were the WW2 gallery and the youth art gallery which showcased many different art pieces done by youth in Manitoba that followed various themes around equality and human rights.
Today we went to a few different places. One of my favourites was the Human Rights Museum. First of all, the building was really beautiful and architecturally interesting. My favorite gallery was the area where there was a bunch a different smaller galleries about different infringements on human rights in Canada, which I though was eye opening to really see how many different ways people can be discriminated against. We also stopped at the zoo here in Winnipeg. We got to see all types of animals like polar bears but my favorite was the seals. Their enclosure was also cool because you were able to walk through a tunnel under their water and they could swim over you.
We had another busy day of sight seeing today. We first visited the Royal Canadian Mint. There are two facilities in Canada – one in Ottawa that makes coins of silver and gold, and the one in Winnipeg that makes the coins for circulation or regular use. Besides Canadian coins, the mint also makes coins for over 80 other countries around the world, producing about 15,000,000 coins per day! (Paper currency is printed in Ottawa at a different kind of facility – the mint only “mints” coins). After the mint, we headed to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. On our way, we watched part of an air show with lots of planes flying overhead, which was also pretty cool. The Museum for Human Rights is divided into many sections over 8 floors. It is pretty all encompassing, but really only touches on so many human rights issues. As a human race, we face human rights violations every day, from race, religion, gender, ethnicity, disabilities, war atrocities, the list goes on. The work we do as humans to change the world to be a better place will be ongoing for life, and while we can’t change the past, when we learn and know better, then we need to do better. Individually, we can’t change everything, but we can all do little things to make the lives of others safer and more acceptable and comfortable. The museum is huge, and each of us found different areas that both made us uncomfortable and made us think of things we can do to be better. After the museum, we headed to the Assiniboine Zoo. It is a large place, but for many of us, the polar bears were something we wanted to see. We will be getting two of the polar bears from Winnipeg at the Calgary Zoo later this year. We also saw many other animals both of Canada and around the world. We then headed out for dinner and then back to the hotel to organize and pack so we can head off to camp tomorrow. We will do our best to post from camp, but until we get there, we are unsure of what our connectivity will be!
Canada is huge! We started the day in Regina, cleaning up and saying goodbye to our home of two days, and went on a tour of the Saskatchewan Legislature building. It is, architecturally, a beautiful building. Saskatchewan joined Canada the same year as Alberta did – 1905. The building was constructed shortly after, and has materials sourced from around the world (including marble from 34 different sources). The wooden carvings throughout were completed over four years by a 17 year old Scottish lad and his 3 assistants. The building also houses some beautiful art works, including the five Speakers of the House from the original Northwest Territories and many Chiefs of the Indigenous nations of Saskatchewan. After our tour, we headed out for Winnipeg. Similar to our drive from Calgary to Regina, we passed by many miles of flat landscapes. Lots of fields of crops, including corn, wheat, potatoes, among other things. We stopped for a picnic lunch in Virden, just acrosss the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border, and the again for a leg stretch in Portage la Prairie, where we visited the World’s Largest Coca-Cola Can! We had a quick dinner, and then were to go to the Museum of Human Rights, only to find it was closed for a private function, so instead we headed to The Forks for a bit of shopping. We are now at our hotel for the evening, showers taken, and off to bed. Until tomorrow.
Our full day in Regina was a busy one! We had breakfast at the Guide Centre, then headed out to the Regina Science Centre. We explored their Weather exhibit, checked our strength, speed and balance at their hockey exhibit, played with bubbles, built things in the construction centre, and a number of other fun things. Then we headed to lunch at the Bannock House where we had lots of yummy choices. After lunch, we went to the Royal Saskatchewan Museum where we saw the largest T-Rex in the world, and the only T-Rex coprolites (fossilized poop), learned about the flora and fauna of all of Saskatchewan’s biomes, as well as a few other non-native ones, and walked through a history time-line of the Indigenous peoples in Saskatchewan with information on the creation of the treaties here. Then it was off to the RCMP Heritage Centre, where we learned all about the history and origins RCMP including the NWMP up to present day. We even got to play with a Police Dog! There were lots of hands on exhibits, including sitting in a Police Car and a driving simulation. The RCMP is celebrating 150 years of existence. And super cool was the Canadian Barbie who is a Mountie! After, we came back to the Guide Centre for a quick snack and to change our clothes and went swimming and on the water slides to cool off from the heat. Our former Guider, Karma and Sascha joined us, and then came back for dinner and a visit. We have now packed up and are getting ready to leave tomorrow morning, heading off to Winnipeg.
And away we go (again!) After a year of planning and fundraising, we left this morning for some travel touring before heading to camp in Dauphin, Manitoba. We left Calgary about 9:00 a.m., and headed for Medicine Hat where we found a park with a playground and a washroom! We had lunch, played, and then got back in vehicles and continued driving. Our second stop was Swift Current for another bathroom break and leg stretch at another park. Back in the cars, and on to Regina. The road here was fairly straight and flat, but we saw lots of fields, some harvested already, some almost ready, lots of cows, a fox looking to cross the road, many little towns, and some different geography than we are used to at home. It is a pretty drive, though not one I would want to do daily! We arrived safely, and have had dinner, played some games, and are off to bed. Everyone is tired but have settled in for the night. We are excited for our day tomorrow checking out the sights of Regina!
We woke up this morning and loaded the vehicles again, and went to Smitty’s for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed off to go Tidal Bore Rafting. Tidal Bore rafting is in the Bay of Fundy and is where the Atlantic Ocean comes in very quickly over the sand bars and makes very big waves. The sand bars heat up in the sun and when the water flows across the sand, it warms the water up to almost like a swimming pool. When we arrived, we had time to hang out while we waited for our rafting time. We then got life jackets and loaded into two different rafts. The rafts used motors to take us out to where the water from the ocean comes into the river. We got to stop for a bit and play in the sand. Then we boarded the rafts again, and went to the waves. The waves were pretty huge, some got as big as 10 feet high! The water rises about 25 feet in an hour which is really fast. After riding around in the waves for an hour, we headed back and went mud sliding. That was lots of fun. Then we headed back and showered and changed before going to our last accommodation of the trip – a hostel in Halifax. We did some packing, and then went out for dinner and our last shopping. There was also entertainment at the Halifax waterfront that some people watched. We then headed back to the hostel for the night.
After a short night aboard the ferry, we disembarked and drove for about an hour to get breakfast. Hadlen’s breakfast took a bit too long to come so it was boxed up so she could eat in the car as we drove to our activity for the day. We headed south to Martinique Beach to get surf lessons from Halifax Surf School. The waves were super fun and many of us were determined to surf and successfully did so. Some just lay on the surf boards and rode the waves, some got up on to their knees, and a few managed to stand up for a short bit. Surfing is a lot harder than everyone makes it look in the movies! The instructors did a short lesson on shore for us, and then took us into the water to try. After a few practices, they left us on our own! We struggled, and got water boarded multiple times, but it was a lot of fun!
After surfing, we dried off and changed and headed to a barbecue in Truro with some Guiding people – Pathfinders, Rangers and some leaders. We ate burgers and hot dogs and mingled with the company. After dinner, we went to the Dalhousie University Agricultural Campus where we spent the night in dorm rooms and got a taste of dorm life. We had a chance to do some laundry and some pre-packing and then went to bed.
Sunrise on the ferry coming into North Sydney, Nova Scotia.
We woke up at the hotel and had a scrumptious breakfast in the hotel restaurant. As we were a bit later than planned we ended up going shopping (and not swimming as we had planned…), but shopping was good. After a quick lunch at McDonald’s, we headed off to our activity for the day – caving! We changed into our clothes to get wet and dirty and got fitted for helmets, and then drove to the caving site. It was a short hike (in the rain!) to the cave entrance and then we entered and started our journey. Inside was rocky and damp, but not too slippery. We had to crawl through a few tight spaces, up some inclines, across ledges, and wade through thigh deep water. Once we got over the shock of the water, it was not too bad. There was a place where lots of trees had decomposed making this really soft sand-like material. Then, just before the end was a large pool that we could swim in if we wanted. 6 people went in! It was a bit chilly, but pretty cool to swim in a cave. We dried off, and then hiked back out, and back to our vehicles. We went to the University where we showered off and cleaned up, then got a quick dinner, and headed to the ferry where we would board the late ferry overnight and head back to Nova Scotia.
We are off again. Our final destination today is Corner Brook, but on the way we made two stops – the Newfoundland Insectarium and Gros Morne National Park.
At the Insectarium there were lots of different insects – leaf bugs and stick bugs that we could hold, tarantulas that we could not!! The tarantulas were very fuzzy and calm! And then there were tons of butterflies that landed on everyone. The butterflies were very brightly coloured and flitted around the space. You had to watch where to put your feet so you didn’t step on one. After some time checking out all the bugs we drove to Gros Morne National Park. We went to the interpretive centre and watched a short film about the geological formations, and then went for a hike to the Tablelands. The hike was about an hour and ended at the Winter House Brook Canyon, which is a glacier carved bowl where you can also see the layers of the earth that have pushed up through the moving of the earth’s plates. We were allowed to wander around on the rocks and through the small creeks for a bit. After spending some time, we headed back down and went to Jungle Jim’s for dinner and then drove to Corner Brook for the night.
Of note, the land formations and composition on the Newfoundland side of the province are different from the formations on the Labrador side (no – we didn’t see those!), but helps us to better understand the movement of the plates under the earth.
Butterflies at the Newfoundland Insectarium, Reidville (near Deer Lake), Newfoundland.
Butterfly at the Newfoundland Insectarium, Reidville (near Deer Lake), Newfoundland.
Frog at the Newfoundland Insectarium, Reidville (near Deer Lake), Newfoundland.
Macleay’s Spectre at the Newfoundland Insectarium, Reidville (near Deer Lake), Newfoundland.
Honduran Curly-Hair Tarantula at the Newfoundland Insectarium, Reidville (near Deer Lake), Newfoundland.
Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
Serpentinite, Tablelands, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
We woke up early and organized our gear and packed up to leave St. John’s to explore more of Newfoundland. Through heavy rain, we travelled to Gander. Just outside of Gander, our first stop was at a memorial called The Silent Witness, which is dedicated to the victims of the Arrow Air Crash, the largest air disaster in Canada. 246 American servicemen returning home from Cairo, along with 8 crew members, crashed shortly after take off from Gander Airport in December of 1985. Next, we went to the North Atlantic Aviation Museum where we learned about the history of Aviation and Gander’s role in World War II, which saw over 1000 trans-Atlantic flights happen. Gander had the longest runway in the world, and was an important airport as planes needed to stop there to re-fuel before or after crossing the ocean. A quick stop at A&W, and then some people went shopping at Shoppers Drug Mart and the rest went to the Gander Airport where 38 flights had been diverted during the events of 9/11. There was also some history at the airport of many famous people who had flown through Gander, including Elvis, Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Muhammad Ali and Queen Elizabeth. There was an accidental interruption of the viewing of Indiana Jones whilst we explored… We then continued to Grand Falls/Windsor where we ordered pizza and spent the night.
Silent Witness Memorial at the site of the Arrow Air Crash, just outside of Gander, Newfoundland.
North Atlantic Aviation Museum, Gander, Newfoundland
Model Aircraft of the first plane to cross the Atlantic Ocean at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum, Gander, Newfoundland.
Reproduction of the flight desk and airstrips of the 38 diverted flights on September 11th, 2001. North Atlantic Aviation Museum, Gander, Newfoundland.
Engine from a R-1340 Wasp fighter plane. First produced in 1925, these planes were known for their dependability during World War II. North Atlantic Aviation Museum, Gander, Newfoundland.
Gander International Airport, Gander, Newfoundland.
Signed Playbill from “Come From Away” performed in Gander by the Original Broadway Cast. International Lounge, Gander International Airport, Gander, Newfoundland.
Statue in the International Lounge, Gander International Airport, Gander, Newfoundland.
Welcome to Gander sign on the runway outside of the International Lounge, Gander International Airport, Gander, Newfoundland.
Mural in the International Lounge, Gander International Airport, Gander, Newfoundland.
Our Girl Guide Adventures 