Skidoo to Avvajja

I woke up this morning just before 8:30 AM, the time we planned on meeting.  No one else was awake, so I ate breakfast and read a paper.  Everyone got up a few hours later and our vague plans from last night began to take shape.

Joshua and one of his friends, Jayson, (two of the Inuit) rigged a komatik to the back of a skidoo and took us out for a ride.  We started out behind the hamlet and crossed over the ocean to Avvajja.  We drove through some of the blue slush on top of the sea ice.  The guys told us it is there because of the tides (and not the ice melting).

Igloolik from behind.

Blue slush on top of the sea ice.

Driving through the blue slush.

From left to right: me, Anthony, Ashley, Jonathan, and Jayson on the komatik.

 The land looked snowy at first and got progressively more rocky.  We stopped the skidoo a few times and walked around.  From the top of the hills I felt like I was on top of the world and had difficulties believing that what I was seeing was real and not on a t.v. in front of me.

Land, mostly covered in snow.

Land, with some rock showing.

Looking out from a "hill".

Looking out a different way.

Standing on top of the world.

Driving between rocks.

Joshua brought the komatik part way up one hill while we looked around and took pictures.  When we were ready to continue on, he unhitched the komatik from the skidoo and we rode it down the hill like a toboggan!   We saw more than just rocks and snow!  In some patches there was grass, moss, and lichen.  We also passed by the Avvajja Catholic Church, built well before Igloolik existed!  I think I recall Jayson saying it was built in the early 1900s.  To get inside the church, we crawled through the window holes.

Grasses, mosses, and lichens.

Poking out through the snow.

Avvajja Catholic Church.

Inside the church.

Joshua offered us to drive the skidoo, but with all the bumps, I wasn't going to try (despite Joshua trying to convince me it was mostly flat on the way back).  Anthony, however, was more than thrilled at the opportunity.  He drove so fast, Jonathan laid down on the komatik to avoid the wind.  Ashley shouted out, "Slow down."  Not really thinking about the situation, Anthony suddenly slowed to a crawl as the komatik quickly shortened the gap.  "Speed up!  Speed up!" all of us shouted from the back.  It was quite entertaining!  On our final stretch back, we passed by the iconic inukshuks that I am slowly starting to fall in love with.

Anthony driving the skidoo with Joshua on the back.

The Igloolik inukshuks.

When we got back to the hotel, I warmed up with a cup of hot chocolate.  After supper, Ashley, Anthony, Jonathan, and I discussed our classroom plans for this week and the details for tomorrow.  All of us were pretty wind swept and tired, so we retired to our rooms for the evening.