Film Festival

Last night we went down to Keyano Theatre to take in the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour -- and it was awesome! They showed 7 incredible films all about different aspects of mountain adventure and culture - all very inspiring with a splash of crazy. My two favourites were A Life Ascending and Fly or Die. The first follows the life of a back country ski guide in B.C, five years after an avalanche killed 7 of his skiers. The second was about this crazy mountain climber who climbs solo, without any ropes, but wears a parachute so if/when he falls he can fly instead of die. The footage is just unreal and a little sickening too!
The other films included mountain biking, downhill skateboarding, wildlife, more rock climbers and even one about building schools in Afghanistan.

I highly recommend you check this out if you get a chance. It's coming to a theatre near you, so get tickets if you can!! The schedule can be found here.

Food Shortage!! Please send celery!

One of the downsides to living 5 hours from Edmonton on a rather crappy two lane highway, is that occasionally the grocery trucks get stuck. This was the produce selection at Extra Foods on Tuesday!

Proof that no one, even in desperate times, likes brussel sprouts

Dream Home

I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this year’s Oil Barron’s Dream Home. Not that it isn’t a nice house or anything…it just isn’t quite what you’d picture a ‘dream home’ to look like, is it? It looks more like an average house you’d find in a Calgary suburb. But hey, that’s what $1.2 million buys you in Ft. Mac!

Where The Highway Ends

It's been confirmed, the highway does indeed end. The gravel road ends about an hour north of Ft.Mac, before turning into a bumpy sandy trail through the boreal forest. In the winter, the trail is flooded and becomes the 223km ice road to Fort Chipewyan. And in the summer it's the perfect starting point for a quadding trip!

BYOB

Bring Your Own BAG! Today the ban on single-use shopping bags in Ft. Mac begins. That means no more plastic or paper bags at any grocery or retail stores in town – if you want your purchases to be in a bag, you gotta bring your own! The only exceptions are for liquor stores, take out restaurants and pharmacies (because no ones needs to know you just bought hemorrhoid cream!)

I think the idea is good – the city is trying to reduce the amount of waste in the landfills, hopefully reducing litter, and it might also help improve Ft.Mac’s environmental reputation. But there are definitely times when it’s going to be super frustrating. Like when you’re in the checkout line with an overflowing shopping cart and realize you forgot your bags. Or, when you run into the mall for one little thing, but then you see a giant sale at your favourite store, so you either have to go all the way back out to your car in the freezing cold to grab your bags, or, you have to shell out $$ and buy news ones there. Also I read in the paper today that some stores are worried that asking people to bring their own bags could result in an increase in thefts.

But I guess we’ll see how it goes! I already went to the grocery store today, cloth bags in hand, and I didn’t die. There might be a few raging customers at first, but I’m sure we’ll all eventually adjust.

Marqua Lake

This is Marqua Lake, which is about 35km south of Ft.Mac. We’ve driven past the sign a hundred times this summer on our way in and out of town, but had never stopped in until this weekend coming back from Gull Lake. It’s a provincial recreation area and there are a few camping sites too. It’s a nice little spot, hopefully we’ll make it back sooner than later.

How to Spot a Newfie: Lesson 3

So how can you tell if someone is a Newfoundlander before hearing them speak or without a flag flying in the yard? Just look closely at their back window -- you'll know!
Whoever sells these stickers must have made a fortune, every proud Newfie has one up here!

Newfie Pride

If there's a Newfoundlander in your neighbourhood, you'll know it.

Just your everyday grocery-getting mobile

Beware of Caterpillars

They’re baaaaack. And we’re not talking about the shiny yellow ones Special K loves so much. The other ones: the small hairy wiggly ones dangling from the trees.
I went for a bike ride last night through the Birchwood trails - which up until yesterday I was so fond of - until I saw this little creep hanging in a tree. Sure, one in a tree is no big deal to most people, but if you were here in 2007/2008 this sight would make you nervous too. Every 10-15 years or so there is an infestation of Tent Caterpillar’s up here, and it is absolutely nasty. I was here visiting Special K in the summer of 2008 and there were caterpillars everywhere; in trees, on cars, and crawling all over sidewalks and buildings. Special K had to hose down his house with pesticide to get them off. Plus, they eat everything in their path so most of the trees had no leaves left by the end of the summer. If you don’t already have the hibijeebee’s, click here for a better idea of what it was like.
So now you understand my fear of one little caterpillar! But then, to make matters worse, on the way home I rode through a small web of them that must have been stretched across the trail and almost crashed my bike trying to get them off of me. I’m just glad I was wearing a hat and earphones! There were only a few, so it’s probably not a sign of an infestation, but just to be safe I probably won’t be riding my bike through the forest anymore! Or if I do, I’m going to need a HazMat suit!

Here a Newfie, There a Newfie

I read somewhere that 20% of the population here is from Newfoundland; but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s even higher because everywhere you go you hear that distinct Newfie accent. I happen to like the sound of it, but sometimes I have no clue what they’re saying. I purposely avoid one of the other volunteers because I honestly can’t make out a word he says.

Here are a few phrases I’ve picked up so far:

Lard tunderin jesus! (translation: Well, I’ll be damned!)
Whar ya too by? (translation: where are you going?)
‘Ow ya getting’ on by? (translation: how are you doing?)

So far I haven’t met a Newfie I didn’t like; not that I really know that many, but they seem like a pretty friendly bunch. Now, if I can just learn their language, maybe I can befriend some and they’ll have me over for a lobster boil!