Flaam, age 16, France

This is my expedition blog

July 6th, 2008 – Iqaluit
Journal aren’t really my thing… peu importe, I will do my best.
Today we took the plane from Ottawa to Iqaluit. It is kind of chaotic with all the luggage and people but we definitely managed. In the plane I sat next to another Ambassador. He refused to sleep so we played Hangman. We also talked about how amazing the French were at the European Cup : +)) We then met Matty and Beth at the airport. I hope I will get along with Beth (I am sure I will) since the other girls besides Ainhoa are much younger.
After a day visiting the museum, repacking and eating, we are sleeping in a hut. The closest to camping so far. This trip already reminds me of out trip to Greenland last year. It’s interesting how easily you lose sense of time here. I tend to have no idea whether it’s 2pm or 7pm. On that note, it is much too late now and I am exhausted.

July 7th – Iqaluit / Soper River
10 days until my birthday. Today was more eventful than yesterday. After the science museum and visitor’s center, we spent a long time packing. It’s hard to get organized. It’s really great that we got to fly over here! I finally feel like the trip has started. I hope tomorrow isn’t too tiring though. When we were waiting for the plane (at Matty’s house) we went to the beach to walk around. Some of the girls started jumping around in this sort of “quicksand” and got stuck. I had to help pull them out. I also started taking more photos today. Ainhoa and I spent more time with the other “Ambassadors” which was good. The scenery at the campsite is fantastic (though there are many mosquitoes. Matty gave us a whistle and a bear spray, but I hope everything will be OK!

July 8th 2008 – Soper River
Today was a blast… just kidding, it was a bit chaotic. I agreed to raft in the morning much to my dismay. I ended up pushing the raft for 15 minutes in 2C degree water up to my hips. Later on, we switched rafting “teams” which ended up working better, though we still had a hard time with the wind and current. After lunch, we just all had water up to our knees, trying to get the rafts out of the water. In the end, it was a long, hard day and our dinner was well earned . Dinner in the tent was fun. Pasta soup never tasted so good. I hope it will be nice tomorrow so that the rafting will be more fun. I have never seen such strong winds. Beth taught us how to count to five in Inuktitut:
1 – atausiq
2 – maruq
3 – pingasuq
4 – tisamat
5 – talimat
After, it is very complicted!

July 9th 2008 -- Soper River
I was really happy to see the sun come out this morning! I paddled first, then hiked, then paddled again after lunch. We all ended upon rafts because the hikers were taking too much time. The paddling was a lot easier than yesterday. We hardly had to paddle. After dinner (which was really good) we went for a walk up the hill. It was so nice!!
The highlight of my day was probably finding the lapis lazuli and the green crystal stones. Tomorrow we need to wake up at 5am! P.S. I really hurt my wrist… : +((

July 10th 2008 – Kimmirut
We woke up to find our entire tent covered in mosquitoes. That was quite impressive. Last minute (in Greenwich) I bought mosquitoes nets with my mom, so I am really thankful for that. I had never seen so many mosquitoes in my life. Today I was a little “down”, kind of out of energy and missing home. No choice though, you have to keep paddling. When we arrived in Kimmirut, Pascale let us have lunch at her house which was really nice. In the afternoon, while many were showering and taking baths, I went with Nicole, my dad, and Sebastian on a boat to ride around the bay. Though we did not see any polar bears, we had a great time. We saw seals and the icebergs were incredible!
For dinner, I had caribou. Finally everyone went ot sleep in a family. I don’t really feel I got the “experience” I stayed at Pascale’s house.

July 12th 2008 – Resolute
Yesterday we flew from Kimmirut to Iqaluit. I was upset that my mom had to leave. She was such a big help, always getting everyone organized and offering to help others. Packing at Matty’s house was a bit hectic, as was loading the luggage at the airport. We all finally made it in the plane, with Zepher (Matty’s dog) by our side. We got to Resolute Bay, it was so hot! I think Beth was very happy to see her friends and family. I got to check my emails and answer all my friends. Using the internet is kind of a reality check out here. Today after sleep in (8:15 ; +)) we went to the Polar Shelf . We listened to different scientists speak about their work and after that I got to take the helicopter to the Luoie St Laurent ship in the bay. There we got to visit the ship and speak to some scientists. We heard about the work done with water sampling copepods, mud sampling… It was interesting to hear some concrete information about the Arctic. It is weird to always be filmed. I don’t know if I should look at the camera or not… however, I am excited to see the end result : +)). There might be a chance that tomorrow we see Beluga whales… would love that!

July 13, 2008 -- Resolute
We woke up relatively early today. We had to prepare all the luggage fro the trip to Ward Hunt island. First of, we took out all the food, separating breakfast food (oatmeal, hot chocolate etc) from lunch (cheese, power bars, nuts) and dinner (pasta, soups). We also had to separate the food into 12 days, 9 for the expedition and three extra “safety” days. Finally by noon, that was over, we spent the afternoon lounging around. We visited an archeological site, where the Thule people made houses [600-800 years ago]. Later on, we each had to individually pack. Around 5:30 we ate dinner and at 6 we flew in a Twin Otter to Arctic Watch on Somerset Island, about 20 minutes away. From there we took ATV’s to the water where we saw the Beluga whales up close! There were about 500 of them. The adults are white, the teenagers grey, and the babies black. I had never seen a Beluga whale before (except in a zoo). Sebastian, my dad and Nicole flew over the whales with a helicopter. Finally we finished packing and went to bed.

July 14th 2008 – Resolute

Flaam and Luc on the Ward Hunt ice shelf.

Today is Bastille day. We were supposed to leave at 8:30 AM. We loaded the bus but finally couldn’t fly out because of the weather. I went for a walk up the “hill” behind the hotel. Besides that, we hung around all day spending time on the computer and playing a game I taught everyone called “spoons”. After dinner, we went to go see Yann Arthus Bertrand who was staying at the hotel next door. I was so surprised! He talked to us about his new movie called “Home” about our world and how it is changing. The photos and videos were incredible. I can’t wait to see the movie. I also liked his idea about 6billionothers.org.

July 15th 2008 – Resolute / Bleechey
Today we woke up thinking once again that we were going to leave. Unfortunately, we didn’t. We ate breakfast and hung around. I took a nap. After lunch, we went to Bleechey Island to look at the graves from the Franklin expedition. We also saw a dead polar bear : +(( When we got back to the hotel, we played some more cards, and I helped Ashley with her journal. I hope that we’ll leave tomorrow…

July 16th 2008 -- Resolute
This morning we were able to sleep in. I woke up at 9:30 though we spent the whole morning doing nothing: computer, reading, eating. After lunch we went to listen to a man about the Mars Project on Devon island. It was very interesting. Finally after the presentation, Sebastian and my dad announced that there might be a plane at 6. We hurried to the hotel to pack and shower. The first plane left. After four hours we got to Ward Hunt Island. Unfortunately, we were not able to land because of the ice smog. We then flew to Otto Fjord and were able to land. I was so happy. By the time we got there, it was already midnight. They sand “Happy Birthday” to me in the plane around 12 which I really appreciated. It feels great to be here. I hope tomorrow will be fun. It is now 3AM…

July 17th 2008 – Otto Fjord
Today is my birthday. It is pretty impressive to be in the Arctic for my birthday! We slept until 12. After lunch/breakfast we went for what we thought would be a short hike. We walked for about 3 hours to get to a beautiful glacier. We took many photos with the flags. It took a long time to get back, but I walked fast. The boots got all wet from jumping across the river. By the time everyone got back, it was late so I just went to bed.

July 18th 2008 – Otto Fjord
We woke up late once again. We had breakfast. Today wasn’t very eventful. We walked to the icebergs which was nice. During lunch, it started pouring rain. We had to get rocks to stop the wind from blowing the side of tent way. We had lunch really late. We went out on the little boat to go see the icebergs up close. Just as we were leaving shore, we saw an iceberg roll over. It was really scary! Finally, Beth, Ashley, Ainhoa and I asked to be dropped off on the shore. We spent the rest of the time ice hopping! That was lots of fun!

July 19th 2008 – Otto Fjord
When we woke up it was snowing. As a result Matty gave us “breakfast in bed”. I had oatmeal. We then just hung around in our tents. Later on the sun came out. It was nice. I got interviewed. After that, we went ice hoping some more. Some people went of r a walk. I stayed in the tent because I didn’t feel good. I hope that I will feel better tomorrow : + ((

A family of snow geese on a morning walk at Otto Fjord

July 20th 2008 – Otto Fjord
Today was a boring day. It was very bad weather in the morning so the plane didn’t come to take us to Ward Hunt Island. We basically sat in the tent all day playing cards, reading and doing journals. We’ve definitely ran out of card games. While I was in my rent, Beth heard a plane motor. We got out and we were surprised to see it land. It ended up being Paul and Louie who were coming to pick us up to bring us to Ward Hunt island. They had refueled and we all had to repack. We waited an hour to make sure that the weather would be ok. Finally, we left for Ward Hunt in two groups (same as the first time around). Once the first group got there, we set up the tents. The second group got there about three hours later. We all ended up going to bed around 2:30 Am. We are not sure what is going to happen tomorrow with the weather (as usual) so we will have to wait and see.

July 21st 2008 – Ward Hunt Island
We woke up around 11 today. Sadly enough, Paige, Ashley, and Nicole left around 12 (the pilots had slept here overnight). They all went back to Resolute. We all exchanged email addresses so we will keep in touch. I really got to know those girls better on this trip, especially Ashley. There was such a difference between the first day and now. The rest of the day, we went for a hike up the hill nearby the camp. It didn’t take that long but by the time we went up and down, the nest few miles and on the ice shelf, it was already 6. We had “lunch” then rested. Finally we just ended up not going to bed too late.

July 22nd 2008 – Ward Hunt Island
Today Beth had a really hard time waking up. After breakfast we went for a walk to the ice shelf we can see from the back of the camp. We walked for about 3 or 4 hours in the slushy snow. We stopped for lunch (well, cheese and crackers once again) when we couldn’t go any further: we had reached a huge crack! It was about 100 feet wide. There was also a seal in the water. After lunch we started walking back to camp when we encountered another crack. We took photos with the sponsor flags. At each crack we would take the GPS points and photos to send to the climatologist Derek Mueller. Everybody’s boots were soaking wet so I was thankful that I had rain boots! The way back was much shorter. I talked with my dad and sister.

July 23rd 2008 – Ward Hunt Island
Today we did nothing at all. We woke up realizing that we were completely fogged in. Today would be another very long day. We spent a large part of the day playing cards (once again). Matty taught us how to play Hearts, Screw the Neighbor, and Cinq Cent. The plane did not come, it was such bad weather. We couldn’t even hike up Walker Hill. We also picked up trash on the beach today.

July 24th 2008 – Ward Hunt Island
We woke up hoping that once again the plane would come. It was still very foggy. We slept in (we have such a weird schedule here because the sun never sets). We didn’t have much to do all day. I am at page 264 in my book. We played many more games of Hearts. In the afternoon, the plane flew from Resolute to Eureka in order to be closer to us. It is so complicated to simply do something on time here. Finally, we all packed up around 6, thinking that maybe the plane would land. Obviously it didn’t. Instead it landed 21 kilometers away. The pilots slept there so they would be able to pick us up as soon as possible on Friday.

July 25th 2008 – Ward Hunt to Resolute
Finally, the plane arrived around 9:30. We packed up, had breakfast and brought the luggage to the plane. It’s finally time to go home! We will go back to Resolute and I will normally fly back tomorrow. I want to thank you, Sebastian, for all you’ve done for us on this trip. It was a great experience. Hope to see everyone again soon!

Flaam