2nd October – Raven Camp – SK

A nice sunny day today. The boys were out to West Bear again. As this area is only accessible by helicopter during summer, in order to move things out, they have to sling them in a net that is hooked onto to helicopter via a long line. The long line can be hooked on while the helicopter is still running with its blades rotating. Dan had the pleasure of doing this task. It was a late one trying to get as many loads out as possible. The tamaracs, a deciduous pine tree, looked nice and yellow in the late afternoon sun.
It was a nice night out. Christine and I went out for a walk taking our obligatory bear bangers and bear spray.

We had a random email from a bloke in the US who Googled "Quebec City dodgy" and got on to our blog and liked it.

Later that evening, just as we were about to go to bed, Dan poked his head outside the door and quickly called me out. Nature had put on the most spectacular display we have ever seen. The Northern Lights!!! It is difficult to describe just how truly breathtaking these lights actually are. They swirl in the sky like green smoke, quickly changing. Then all of a sudden, they dance across the sky in a dazzling display of greens, purples and pinks. The best of last nights display went for around 30 minutes. We have never seen anything like this and we both agreed it was one of the most unforgettable moments. It was nice out, a balmy 4 degrees Celsius.

We had to get Judy, our night baker, to come watch.

Tan is one week down with three more to go. Alcohol free!!

30th September – Raven Camp, SK

Dan headed out again to West Bear. The morning was cold and there was ice in the core trays was starting to turn to ice. Sampling Sonic core (mainly weathered material) that is frozen is a difficult task though we persevered. The boys warmed themselves up waiting for the chopper by throwing rocks at an old car left behind near the helipad (as you do when you are male).
I was cold at West Bear the other day so I wore my super warm bright orange therminators (long john thermals). They were good especially with two pairs of socks. Apart from the ice which melted by 2pm it turned out to be a good day.
The females in the camp however got excited by the thought of Deep Fried Mars Bars (as we do). Heather retrieved some from god knows where (it’s not like you can go to the shop and buy them around here). Everyone in the camp had an opinion as to how they should best be prepared and we ended up with a coating of crushed cornflakes, almonds and sweet pie crumbs dipped in egg first.

Dan took on deep frying duties – giving them around a minute. We didn’t want to melt them – chocolate around here is like liquid gold. They were cooked to perfection and although I shudder to think how many calories were in them, god they were like heaven. Us three girls weren’t sharing them with anyone and like that, they were gone. Believe me, they tasted far better than they looked.

28th September – Raven Camp, SK

Another day, another lot of sampling and a belter of a fire at West Bear. Darcy lit up the dry section under some ply and it was great. Chicken heated up in the embers hit the spot for lunch. It is getting colder and even with my thermals – top and bottom, pants, two pairs of socks, t-shirt, work shirt, hoodie, big jacket, beanie and rain pants – the wind and rain made it a pretty dismal and cold day. When Wes showed up a bit early we were all pleased to get back.

27th September – Raven Camp, SK

Today was all about sampling at West Bear, an area only accessible by chopper in summer. We took the full truck to the old camp, safety first, and got in with Wes.It was quite squeezy with four of us in the back of the chopper. Here’s Darcy, Steve and I squeezed up.
The team had laid out all of the boxes which meant we had to do our geo stuff on them. The best thing about West Bear and the 5 degree maximum day was that we could light the piles of scrap timber up without causing a major forest fire. It was cold, my toes were hurting, so I cut the fingers off a pair of cotton gloves and placed the mitt over my foot. It worked, only slightly. Tomorrow I’m bringing more clothes. Okay, blokes and fires. There is something magical about a fire especially when it is lit with petrol. Well, the wood was that cold and wet that even after three goes with accelerant it didn’t work. On the third go I picked up a wet tissue and said try lighting this. Brendo, who now looks like a bear with a bushy beard gave it a light. To my amazement it was covered in petrol and lit exceptionally well. Unusual! Anyway, Corey really gave it a good shot and it eventually worked. What a bushman!
One good fire leads to another. Using the embers we lit up the next pile. We also had to give it a little help!
I had port and vodka with the boys and talked cricket. It was good having tins again. Tan watched a terrible movie with the girls called “Population 436”.

Tan saw her first glimpse of “full moon washed out” green northern lights.

6th August, Points North, SK

Watching a commercial jet plane, and two sea planes in the air within 1km of each other revealed to me that Points is a busy little place. Not to mention the helicopter traffic. Our chopper pad is only 50m from the end of the runway and watching the plane scoot in at high speed from such a short distance is something I wouldn’t get to experience at home.

On the way to West Bear we had a safety meeting at 2200’. Certainly a different location in comparison to other meetings I have been in. We discussed slinging and it made the flight go quickly.
We absolutely nailed it today and worked hard. It was great to get the job done and packed away. We found a little field mouse which we caught and re-caught and caught again. Something to keep us occupied. It’s the little things. In a way it was good to get the job done. On the way home we traveled east a bit to see the distance to the main road. About 13kms through swampy country. The sun on the lakes through the clouds was great. That night I moved back to Raven camp. Matt, one of the helpers brought in some rum for Brendo so we gave it a tipple. We ended up going for a drive down to the Wollaston Landing where a barge takes cars etc. to the township of Wollaston. We kicked the footy on the road and had some relaxing drinks. When we got back to camp we decided to stir up the helpers. It was fun. As we were talking to them, we saw the northern light. Waves and ribbons of green traversed the sky. A group of us went out to the old core storage area away from the light. Seeing the northern lights on such a cool crisp night is a sight to behold, made better with the sighting of three shooting stars.
Ended up getting to bed on at 3:20am when it was starting to get light again was probably not the best idea on a school night, but it doesn’t matter because seeing the northern lights is fantastic. Pity my digital camera didn’t take the photos to well. (You will have to squint!!)

5th August, Points North, SK

This morning was my morning to model the rack of moose. I look pretty good in my gumboots and Minor Bay fishing cap – it’s the mo that maketh the man. We were talking to this kiwi chopper pilot who has been here for a month and in the last 13 days he has been in the air for only a few hours. This huge Terraspec airborne EM? Survey equipment and Atitibi helicopter has been parked up for days. Seeing this machine get off the ground was good for the pilot as he finally gets to do some work. The geophysical equipment keeps on breaking down therefore it is a long drawn out (and expensive) process. We kept on powering through the work at West Bear. Wes is getting the hang of our Aussie slang too. On the way back, we just landed and another chopper pulled in. It’s pretty good seeing these machines work.

4th August, Points North, SK

Another big day out at West Bear. Wes, our chopper pilot, decided to show off his new fashion accessory – a random moose antler. Once we were out there he slung some more samples. The morning was quite nice. The little generator was going powering Corey’s speakers with his iPod. Sitting there marking out samples listening to tunes with no way of getting out of there other than walking or flying was unique. As usual, that afternoon we had a bit of rain come through, and with Brad and Corey’s help we made an awesome “humpy”. It didn’t help that we saw Pegga’s email of an Australian aboriginal days previous discussing the merits of a good humpy!! Brendo seemed really at home in the humpy too!! The rain cleared by the afternoon and we got some good aerial shots of the Points North. It’s not to big! The sunset was again, a sterling effort, with red ripples in the sky.

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.