28th October – Raven, SK

Another morning and another idle walk down to the lake. Since it has started to freeze the ice has gone from a thin layer to 2cm and now to 4cm. Not enough to hold body weight but getting better. The rocks make this really cool high pitched sound when they land and bounce on the frozen surface.

At lunch, amazed with this frozen water fascination, Tan and I threw more rocks on the lake and skimmed ice like hockey pucks. Cookie come with us and she saw the rocks and stepped onto the lake. Cookie was quite unresponsive to our calls back. In a way we were somewhat concerned knowing the lake was all liquid a few days earlier. When she run out about 100m we got scared as the ice was thinner there.

Ten minutes later I was showing Derek the ice and sounds the rocks make when Cookie the avid adventurer went skating again. This time she come back near the grassy lake edge and fell through to her tummy. I had enough so I grabbed her and took her back into her tent. Matt was up most of the night probing a drill hole so he was sleeping. Not for long! Ten seconds later we heard “Get off the bed!!”. Cookie was giving Matt an unwelcome wake up lick in the face with wet paws!

Oh yeah, last night I had a semi-shave and I am now sporting an awesome Newfie mo. Check out my early addition for Movember!!! Also Tan "the Warrior Princess" found an ice shield!! Both my mo and Tan's shield are a-kickers.

A light dusting of evening snow made everything white and fluffy again. Seeing the stacks of core covered in the snow is a stark contrast from four months ago. Tonight will be the coldest night we have ever experienced.
Dave, our great chef, made up an awesome lamb curry and we could taste it was made with love. It was hit with most people and we really enjoyed it!! I’ve had two up here now and both were good. Tan played guess that song and she was, as usual, spot on the money with her music knowledge.
Lindsay and Matt knew we were off tomorrow so the packed us a little Happy Halloween bag full of goodies. It was great as it contained the two things everyone craves up here – beer and chocolate!!
Later that night Derek, Darcy (D.P.), Heather and I had tins. Dave, Travis, Tan and Cliff joined us later on and the night turned out well. Not to raucous, but I got to shot gun two tins, one successfully, the other I won’t talk about.

3rd August, Points North, SK

We hung out in the office while we waited for Wes to drop off the line cutters and the drillers. The office is pretty simple but it does the job. When we left for West Bear we intersected some light rain. The forecast had 60% chance of showers and within minutes of being in the air the chance was a reality. We got to West Bear and the rain turned from a light rain, drizzle to set in drenching rain. We were out there and had to do a job so we just kept on give’n’er.
We built a temporary shack so we could still use the computer and run Corey’s awesome iPod speakers. Brendo referred to the temporary office as a humpy. The description was entirely adequate. We worked quite hard in difficult conditions and 2pm we called Wes on the sat phone to get us back to warm clothes and a warm shower.

Brendo had a great plan, wash up and we will go for a drive. We all got back and then powered in the truck to Minor Bay. Minor Bay is a smaller less elite fishing lodge (not far from West Bear as the crow flies). The rain was incessant and we finally got there, dry. The fellows opened up the shop and we started talking about the fishing and what was best to use. They had some great well priced fishing gear so I went berserk and stocked up for the rest of the season. Brendo and I got these hats, blue and green (should never be seen) with an eagle clasping a fish. They are tacky but they go well with my Paul Snr. Moustache and now Brendo “Chopper” Reed’s mo. I bought some more Polaroid sunnies after losing them one night fishing and a minor bay t-shirt. They weren’t too keen to let us in for a beer but the ultimate plan was to get beer. Sixteen tins of various beers and we were off. We pulled into Hidden Bay where we launch the boat, listened to tunes on the iPod in the truck and drank a couple of beers in the pouring rain. It was a grat one to end an otherwise wet and miserable day. We stopped into Kewen Lake where I caught my first fish on my first day on my second cast and watched the rain there too. Corey and Brad were very happy they come along for the ride. Honestly, they thought Brendo and I were full of it when we said we were going for beers.
Once again the rain broke in the late afternoon sun.