Our first view of Qikiqarjuaq from the ship

This morning we visited the community of Qikiqarjuaq. Population of 520. 120 are school aged children. We had a walking tour of the town, which is located on a small island about 4km off the coast of Baffin Island.

Getting the kayaks loaded for their tour today

The community was originally established in 1950 when a runway for the DEW line was built. The military left in 1992. During that time local families settled in the area. It now has a community centre, which we visited, a couple of stores, and a National Park office.
Most of the island is a park and people can hike around the island which is 12km wide and 16 km long.
Our tour guide, Monica, took us on a walking tour and told us about life here.

For some reason this is the only picture I have of Monica!

Most of the year they are iced in but there is a small harbour with fishing boats docked. The captain had to come into the harbour going the long way around the island because of all the ice and a huge berg that was blocking the usual channel.

The boat dock in town

Beautiful vistas from almost everywhere in the town.

We ended our tour at the community centre where there was a buffet consisting of Bannok, dried Arctic char, seal meat, Narwhale muktuk, and tea. There were also some artisans there selling their wares – seal skin mitts and shoes, Polar Bear teeth and claws that had been polished and could be put on a chain, knitted hats and scarves etc. One passenger bought a beautiful sealskin wall hanging depicting a seal hunt ($500). We were supposed to see a cultural show, but the show was cancelled because the weather was nice and the berries were ripe so all the participants in the show were out picking berries!

In the community centre decorated for us

Some pictures from our walk around town

Seal skin being dried

The only wind turbines we saw

ATVs in summer & snowmobiles in winter

The school

Shopping centre – note the ATVs parked in front

Part of the old DEW Line

Houses have to be built on stilts because of the permafrost

In the evening we saw pictures of kayaking on the edge. Where the sea ice ends it meets the open water of Baffin Bay. At that point the ice is thick and it is a spot teeming with wild life. The Kayak leader guides groups out to this point where they will camp on the ice for 10 days, kayak, watch the life – she had pictures of whales, polar bears and the trip to the ice edge, sometimes having to cross large cracks in the ice.