Today was ice fishing day in Kapuskasing! We bundled up and headed to the lake for an afternoon of traditional fun. The weather cooperated once again, giving us beautiful blue skies and minimal winds from the South. We had some chilly fingers and toes, but it was definitely a nice winter day in Kapuskasing. The highlight of our afternoon was catching a couple of good sized pike!

Tonight we are spending the evening with host families. I’ve heard stories of bowling, dinner on the town and baking homemade cheesecake. It sounds like a low-key evening for most of us! Tomorrow we meet at school for lunch and an afternoon of fun and games. The plan for tomorrow evening is to head into town for dinner and fireworks as part of the closing ceremonies for the Kapuskasing Winter Carnival.

I’ve included some photos from today. As you can see, the girls are taking it all in stride and making the most of their northern experience!

À demain!

Ice fishing huts on Rémi Lake

Making holes in the ice for fishing is hard work!

Here, fishies!

Our local expert shows us how to bait a hook. Ewwww!

And now we wait...

Yahoo!

Admiring our catch of the day.

Clearly a seasoned ice fisherman!

Today was a chilly one! We gathered at the school this morning and were put into teams for a scavenger hunt around Kapuskasing. At -20, we had to bundle up! The kids from Kap were fantastic leaders, solving the clues and taking us on a competitive little tour of their town. It was so cool to get a feel for Kapuskasing through the eyes of local kids and spend some time with the crew now that they are starting to settle in a little bit. We returned to the school for lunch and then the afternoon was much of the same as we raced around to gather items on our list before the end of the school day. This evening we gathered at a cross country ski lodge for some fun on the trails and an amazing potluck supper. Kapuskasing is really pulling out all the stops to make us feel at home! As the sun set on the boreal forest, we were cozy and warm by the wood fire sharing stories from the day and making plans for the rest of the weekend.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a little bit warmer and we are heading out to the lake to do some ice fishing for the afternoon. Those photos should be pretty special! For now, enjoy the moments we were able to capture from today’s adventure.

Bonne nuit de Kapuskasing!

The Kapuskasing Museum was one of our stops on this morning's scavenger hunt.

Icons of the true Canadian North!

Two major industries here in Kap - the mill and the hydro dam.

Buddies bundled up for the winter weather!

Skiing in style!

On the home stretch...

Buddy bonding

Success!

Bonjour!
We made it safe and sound to our homes in Kapuskasing, Ontario. The flights were smooth and we were extremely lucky to have gotten all of our bags upon arrival in Timmins, as the flight attendant told me that only the Vancouver bags made it onto the airplane from Toronto! Needless to say, we were relieved and very grateful that Air Canada made the effort to keep all of our luggage together. They have been very accommodating of our school group from the second we arrived at YVR yesterday morning. Once we finally made our way to the school, we were greeted by our host families and co-operating teachers. We gathered in a classroom while Serge gave us an introduction to the Kap crew and then we went our separate ways for the night.

This morning, we met at school bright and early. School starts at 9am, which is only 6am with the time change, so the girls were pretty tired. The first hour was spent in classes at school, and then we gathered for some ice breaker games as a group. The school provided us with a delicious home-made lunch and then we were treated to a photography lesson in the afternoon. The students were let loose around the school to take photos and practice for tomorrow’s activities around town. By the end of the day, folks were looking pretty exhausted! We’ve retreated to our host families for the evening and will see each other at 9am tomorrow morning for a scavenger hunt throughout Kapuskasing. We are also headed to a cross-country ski lodge for a potluck supper organized by the host families and an evening of skiing and relaxing by the fire. We have been getting fresh snow all day today, so conditions should be perfect for tomorrow’s adventures!

I’ve attached some photos below and will try to do so each evening while we’re gone. At this rate, the time is going to fly and we will be back in Vancouver again before we know it!