Like a rock!

It’s blowing snow today…again. After another incredible sunrise, the clouds quickly thickened and

The snow is swirling again!

...but it started out...so nice!

closed in. The winds picked up and the snow started to blow around. Just before lunch we found out that the Repluse Bay government offices were closed. Our staff is hoping we will be closed this afternoon as well. Amid the blowing snowscape, the sun was trying to poke through, visibility was reduced and planes were grounded. Local truck traffic continued as though nothing was wrong.

“Like a rock” was a line in the Chevy pickup commercials a few years back. Since my trip in 2008, the town has grown in size. As we leave the Health Centre at 5 p.m., I have seen vehicles, sometimes 4 and 5 deep waiting at the 4-way stop intersections. I wonder to myself, if this growth continues, will traffic lights be far behind? There is much more traffic on our roadways...mostly extended cab pickups but SUVs and vans are seen quite often.  I would expect that most are the 4-wheel drive variety and all major truck manufacturers are included in the mix, but I’ve yet to see a Lexus or Mercedes. Some larger delivery vehicles are also present to ship goods to the stores and services around town.

While many of the vehicles boast the familiar GN (Government of Nunavut) Polar Bear logo on their side, many more are private and the remainder is business centric. The colours can vary…but their
function is clear…transportation of goods and people. Fluffy’s Taxi service seems to have a least 6 to 8 vehicles in its fleet...all are extended double seaters…and provide access to the many without.

The new taxis...a combo of SUV's and Extended cabs

Rankin Inlet has no roads connecting us directly to the south. You can drive here…you just can’t drive...TO HERE! The only ice winter ice road here is the one on the television. Everything…and I do mean everything…is either airlifted in or travels here by barge, container or inside the hulls of various watercraft. This time of year there is no water transportation as the outside temperature, since I arrived, has been -24C on the warmest of my days. Hudson’s Bay and the actual inlet are covered by up to 7 feet of ice…with less in the areas of any current (e.g. from a river flowing underneath). While the snow acts an insulator, it tends to blow off the open areas of the ice which results in its thickness.

You might wonder how so many vehicles have arrived. Many have taken the train to Churchill from Winnipeg and are then loaded onto barges or placed inside containers and arrive to the dock area here on the Hudson Bay coastline. Others may have been shipped from Montreal by ship container or tug and barge and have travelled up the east coast of Quebec and Labrador, through the various passages, once traversed by the early arctic explorers in wooden ships. Those same waterways are now used today by larger ships navigating with GPS and radar to deliver their cargo safely. The coastal communities rely on this method extensively in the warmer months to survive the bitter months of winter.

Oil and gas supplies arrive by both barge and tanker. The various grades of fuel are used locally by the planes, trucks, quads, snow machines and cars.

The storage tanks at the power generation station

Oil is for our heating and used in the generation of electric power, so necessary for our daily survival. I’m told regular gas is $1.20 a litre here in Rankin Inlet with the price being set upon delivery. In Niagara, today’s CHCH broadcast (available on our TV satellite system) showed currently a price of $1.04 and that’s down from the 1.32-1.36 high of last year. The lowest I paid this winter at home was around 81.9 cents and that seemed to vanish rather quickly.

A visit, to any of the local stores, often show their parking areas filled with all manner of vehicles…all with their engines left running…not at the airport or any of the coffee shops or restaurants since people usually remain in those places longer. You don’t see the snow machines running, so much, but one does notice the quads,  trucks and SUV’s all running in the minus temperatures to recharge batteries (in spite of many vehicles being plugged in at night) and to warm their soon-to-be-occupied interiors.

Some staff, even leave our building for a few moments, to start their cars and then return to finish

The Upper and Lower parking lots have electrical power for the block heaters

their shifts, knowing that their vehicles will not only be a little warmer on the way home after work, but will have enough cranking power for the next morning as well.  Trips around town tend to be shorter so the extra run time helps the engine overall as it temporarily warms the oil. Block heaters are common as are extension cords and electrical connections in parking areas. Outside my hotel window in Winnipeg, I had noted two rows of cars all plugged in for the overnight period. In the parking lot of the KIVALLIQ HEALTH CENTRE, there are some connections as well.

We have lots of parking available…it’s also free.  It’s not uncommon to see staff arriving and

My associate, Marie, heading off for lunch last week

departing in all manner of vehicles. While many walk to and from, on some of these blustery days, a ride is always welcomed. Quads, snow machines, trucks, cabs, and SUV’s all fill our parking areas with not a bicycle in sight (this time of year).

In this part of the country, the pickups tend to be the larger and heavier models, leaving me to wonder. Come spring, as this navigation season begins, will Rankin Inlet see any of those new all-aluminum Ford pickups arrive? Will they be accepted…or will people feel that they may be too light…too tough to handle on the icy roads and parking areas. Perhaps, they may blow around in these heavy arctic winds…unlike “a rock”!

STAY WARM…STAY SAFE!