Dear Travel Diary,

log entry date: June 9, 2011

I'm not really sure where I am. I've either been swallowed by a dog or I am in the mail somewhere between Thunder Bay and Glen Innes. I think I'm in the mail, because I don't hear any barking. It's been quiet, so I'm using the time to write some notes on some postcards I'm bringing home. I'm also bringing my skates, a polar bear toque, and my mittens.
I've been in this package for a long time. I think I was left on the table by the door for a while. Phoebe will have to talk to Uncle Rohan about that when he visits this summer - perhaps talk to him while on the trampoline... *wink*

It's been such a busy trip to Canada. I've been to a gold mine, on an air boat, in snow drifts, and riding around in Uncle Rohan's shirt pocket. I'll be a bit tired when I get home to Phoebe, but I'm excited to see her and the rest of her family and class.

Stanley
on his way home

Cookieflies

In the kitchen baking again, this time I helped make dragonfly cookies. We made the dough following the recipe that came with the cookie cutter, but added some lemon zest and juice - which was very yummy. I think Phoebe would really like these cookies, and I hope we can make them together when I return to Australia. Any cookie cutter will do, and they were so much fun to decorate.

We made a lot of cookieflies, 

and decorated each one with blue and purple icing.

 The blue icing was almost the same colour as my ears!

I had a little taste ...

Hannah did most of the decorating, while I made sure the other cookies didn't fly away.

Striped Guy and Swirly share a cookiefly kiss.

Anzac Day in Thunder Bay

Anzac Day is a special day in Australia and New Zealand and it is unique to Australia and New Zealand. In Canada, they commemorate the wars, but not on the 25th April - they remember on Remembrance Day, which is the 11th November. This day was the day in 1918 that the First World War officially ended.

Anzac Day has very special meaning to Uncle Rohan and his brothers, as their Grandfather (Phoebe's Great Grandfather) fought at Gallipoli in 1915, landing on the beach at sunrise with his countrymen.

Every year Uncle Rohan remembers at the local cenotaph, where he lays a bouquet of flowers in memory of all the service men and women who gave so much for their country.

I went with Uncle Rohan today as he paid his respects. We couldn't find any poppies, so we laid an arrangement of carnations. We recited the Ode of Remembrance and observed a minute's silence. It was very quiet and peaceful and very moving.

Stanley rides in an airboat

I went back to work with Uncle Rohan last week and one afternoon we went out onto the frozen lake in one of the department's airboats.

The boats are quite loud, so we sat in the operator's cabin, which helps to muffle the sound of the motor. It is also heated, which is really nice, given we were cruising across a frozen lake.

Uncle Rohan and his friend Mark wore survival suits - these will help keep them safe if they fall into the cold water.

You can see the earmuffs and microphone that Uncle Rohan is wearing - this helps muffle the sound of the motor while he can still talk to his friend driving the boat.

This is me in the operator's cab with Mark, who was driving the boat. The stick in his left hand steers the boat - if you push it forward, you turn right; if you pull it backwards you turn left. I have never seen a steering stick before and it looks nothing like the steering wheel in Uncle Rohan's car.

Mark let me help to steer the boat. It was lots of fun as we slid across the ice on the lake. A few times we went in a complete circle, as the boat is quite hard to steer on the ice.

Stanley flies to work with Uncle Rohan

Uncle Rohan is a geologist, which means that he looks at rocks for a living. It seems like a funny job, but he really enjoys it. He works at a gold mine which is 500km north-west of Thunder Bay. Every Tuesday morning, he boards a plane in Thunder Bay, flies for an hour to work, then stays there until Friday afternoon, when he flies home. Last week I flew to work with him to see what he does.

I didn't enjoy waking up at 5a.m. to go to the airport, but the pilot was really nice and showed me the propeller and the front of the plane. He lifted me up so that I could look into the cockpit.

In the winter time (which is just finishing in Canada), it gets cold enough to freeze lakes and this is what happens at Uncle Rohan's work. When the lake freezes, they drive out on the ice and explore for gold deep under the earth.

Mostly they will drive big utes, like the one we travelled in, but they also have some odd looking vehicles.

 This is called an Argo and it runs on wheels or tracks. It can travel across land, ice and water! It's not very warm to drive, but it's quicker than walking.

They also have these really odd boats with motors up in the air. They call them air boats or fan boats and they can also move across land, ice or water. They use these to bring supplies to the people exploring on the lake.

You can see how big the fan is - I couldn't hold it properly.

Uncle Rohan said that if I came back to work with him next week, we might go for a ride in the boat.



I jumped into a snow drift, but you can see how cold it was - my ears and hands turned blue! I might need some mittens and ear muffs to stay warm.

Inside the ute was nice and warm as we drove down the ice road. It feels funny to be driving on ice, but it wasn't any different to driving on the highway.

We had a look around on the frozen lake before heading back to the office to warm up. I'm looking forward to coming back up here next week for another visit and a boat ride.

Skating

I have been skating!

Uncle Rohan has lived in Canada for almost seven years and only this week learned how to ice skate. Most Canadians learn how to skate before the age of 3 years old, like Hannah - who now plays hockey with the Thunder Bay Women's Hockey League.

When we first arrived we found a spot in the stands to put on our skates and helmets:

Then Hannah helped Uncle Rohan around the rink:

Once he was steady I was able to join him.

Uncle Rohan and I on Center Ice:

We skated around and around..

and posed for pictures..

We had a lot of fun skating. I will be sure to bring my flat skates back to Australia with me to show you all!

The Sleeping Giant

The Sleeping Giant is a land formation on a peninsula in Lake Superior, which when viewed from the harbor of Thunder Bay resembles a giant laying down.
He is known as Nanabijou, from Ojibway tradition, and is dearly loved by everyone here.

Everyday he looks different. Some days he's purple, some days he's blue, sometimes he's hiding under a blanket of clouds. The sun rises over him, and sets shining on him; each time is spectacular and unique.

This morning we ran up the hill to Hillcrest Park to take his picture with the sunrise.

An Afternoon Walk

We went for a walk today in downtown Port Arthur (Thunder Bay's north end).

Through Waverly Park,

past Port Arthur Collegiate Institute (once a high school, now part of the university)
on the hill behind us.

We went by a theatre

and the public library.

We saw some interesting buildings downtown - some old, some new.

Some quite funny looking!

Then we came to Marina Park.

This is where people dock their boats in the summer. Right now it's covered in ice.

The Sleeping Giant out in the great lake.

 Here's a better view of him:

The sun was bright but it was a cold, windy day.

..and I fell in the sparkling snow!

We walked by these flags: 

the Canadian flag and the Thunder Bay flag,

 and a fire station,

and a pretty shop front that matches my pants!

Then finally it was time to stop and warm up.

We went for hot chocolate and tea at Uncle Rohan's favourite coffee shop.