Repulse Bay NU

Repulse Bay NU, Oct 17^th to 19^th 2011

I swear it’s most likely the fault of the "guy" who books these trips that they start like shit. I’m one of 3 people who fly into town today. I call the hotel for a drive and was told by a woman she would call the co-op. The manager of the hotel calls the airport back to say they can’t give me a lift as they don’t have a vehicle. He says I could call a cab (there’s 1 cab) but the hotel is like a 2 minute walk and can be seen from the airport.

So I grab my 2 huge heavy bags and my 2 carry ons and start trudging through the snow. A few minutes later I’m standing inside the front door. The manager then says “they would have dropped your bags off for you”. Now you tell me. I believe half of the non-Inuit people are working up here because they can’t get jobs in the south, not just because they want extra cash. He also goes on to tell me the "guy" mentioned at the beginning of this blog never gave him a credit card number or even called back to actually book the room. (By the time I flew out, he still didn’t have the credit card number)

So I got to work ASAP as I have to be out of the hotel by Wednesday. At the work site I run into Jim, one of the network guys we are trailing around. Finally, a friendly and familiar face. He was flying out the next day, but we got to spend a bit of time together and have dinner together. This helped make this town experience a lot better for me.

Because of Jim we chatted with a guy who talked about caribou and seal hunting. Kinda cool.

The main site contact also shared a few stories about the herds and how they share and sell the meat their family doesn’t use.

It had snowed a few days before I arrived and it was cold with the wind but man it beats overcast skies any day. I did do a bit of walking and picture talking. I kinda like Repulse Bay. I wasn’t there long but I suspect a longer visit wouldn’t have been that bad.

New health center to be completed in 2013?

Extension to the co-op

Health center again from hotel door step