Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Trip to Moosonee Part 2

The visit to Moosonee has been great!  We have had a tour of the town, and now understand the subtle names for different sections of the metropolis. "The other side of the bridge" south east, "The Base"  northwest, "Way Down" south of Moose Factory and "Way Up" is the north of Moose Factory.  Aly and Matt live at "The Base" near the airport and Matt's parents live on "The other side of the Bridge".  We toured the town walking and riding in the Jeep.  Eventful was the tour of Northern, the shopping experience of Moosonee.  The history of the Northern has it's roots in the NorthWest FurTrade Company, which merged with the Hudson's Bay Company.

On Friday, Matt borrowed his father's Nor'west canoe and took us for a ride up the Moose River.  It was interesting as the water was running up stream.  How is that possible you ask?  The tide was coming in.  The tide level of the river fluctuates by over 2m.  The Moose River is quite wide, with many islands and sand bars in the delta area.  We were hoping to see a seal but the only major wildlife we saw was a Bald Eagle.  We stopped on the bank of the river for supper and enjoyed some exploring.  On the way back down the river we went by Moose Factory on the Island.  A storm was brewing and we watched the clouds and lightning in the distance.  Just as we pulled up on shore the storm hit, high wind and rain. We were glad that we had made it safely to land before the storm.

On Saturday we had more exploring in Moosonee in the form of Yard Sailing.  Aly and Matt returned home with two sets of cross country skis, while Katie found a tennis racket and I got a pair of hockey gloves.  That evening we had a great meal of pizza and conversation at Wendell and Sue's home.  On Sunday we had opportunity to go to Church with Matt and Aly and meet some great people from Moosonee.  During the Adult Bible Class, Mary and I shared some of our experiences in Africa and more specifically the work at Chitokoloki.  The afternoon was restful and then we had a birthday party for Matt's brother-in-law Pete. It was another party and a great meal.

Monday, Matt took the afternoon off work and gave us a tour of Moose Factory.  It is about a 10 minute boat ride across the river and we spent some time walking around "Way Down".  We visited some of the old fort buildings and graveyards.  The settlement was established in 1673 as Moose Fort and was the main trading post for the Hudson's Bay Company.   In 1821 The Hudson's Bay Company merged with it's rival, the North West Company, and the name of the settlement was changed from Moose Fort to Moose Factory.  Today Moose Factory is a Cree community of 2700 people.  On the tour we visited the hospital where Aly will begin work in a couple of weeks.  Before heading home we stopped at the EcoLodge for supper of Pickerel, Chicken and Bison Burger.  The food was good.  On the way back to Moosonee, Aly manned the tiller and guided us safely back to the landing.  That night we had another party at the Clark's and a bit of a marriage celebration for Matt and Aly.  The highlight was a wedding slide show and more good food.  Check out the picts below.



1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sounds like an awesome time! I can't wait until my family can do a bit of travelling! :)