Today's activity would test our Osler staff and students like never before. We were to spend an entire day 2 hours from the city on the frozen tundra of Nunavut and learn how to ice fish. This was the first time our winter clothes would really be tested. Many of the Inuk people gave our staff and students extra clothes including fur boots, fur gloves, fur hats and fur jackets. Once we were all dressed up, we could hardly tell who was who!
After we were all ready to go, we hoped into a qammotiq. A qammotiq is a wooden sled that is pulled by the snowmobile. The sled can usually fit three people and some supplies. After two hours over the ice and snow, we finally reached our destination. The inuk guide helped drill holes in the ice that were over 6 feet deep. We all tried our luck at fishing, but we unsuccessful. It's harder than it looks! We spent the afternoon lounging around in the snow and enjoying the fresh air and great views that only the arctic can offer.
Around 5:00pm we headed back to Iqaluit to enjoy a nice roast chicken and veggies meal (with hot chocolate to warm us back up!). Even though the temperature was frigid, all the students had a great time. The last few days have been exhausting so we encouraged them to take an early night and we pushed their wake up time back from 7:00 to 8:00am. A well deserved rest after a gruelling day. No one can say Osler students and staff aren't tough!
Farheen (seen below)
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