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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Sep 06, 2012 04:00 PM I met Polish lady in the Arctic!
In the morning we are landing from zodiacs in the Grise Fiord - the northernmost settlement of Canada.
It is foggy, windy and from time to time rain and sow are falling from the dark sky. But the location of the Grise Fiord - at the
bottom of the picturesque mountains is very nice. We were visiting the village with the local guide. Only 138 people live here -
on the 76th paralel north. They have the school, RCMP police post and the shop. The shopkeeper asked me where I am from.
-From Poland! You know that we have a teacher from Poland? What a surprise! I asked immediately people to call her and 10 minutes
later I had a great pleasure to meet my country woman. Zuza is charming young person. Since 4 years she teaches arts here - at the end of civilized
world where it is dark during 8 months each year! So far from Poland and alone! It was very short but very warm meeting with a
brave young lady. I am very proud of her. I was so sorry to say her goodbye boarding the last zodiac. Zuza is inviting travellers to her house
in Grise Fiord. There is only one problem: the travel to Grise Fiord costs a fortune!
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Sep 05, 2012 04:00 PM Northwest Passage - graves
High Cliffs of the Sommerset Island are very dramatic. So is little Prince Leopold Island located at the northern end of Sommerset.
Waves were higher when we were crossing Lancaster Sound. The second landing was on Beechey Island where people from the Franklin Expedition spend
the winter 1945/46. Then they disappeared looking for the Northwest Passage. There are graves and monuments on the shore...
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Sep 04, 2012 04:00 PM First polar bear
Outside temperature - only 1 deg Celsius. In fornt of us I see the hills covered by snow - It is Prince of Wales Island.
Soon we are boarding zodiacs and sailing through the Conningham Bay. At the end of the bay we found the polar bear, posing politely on the coast. We came close I had opportunity to photograph him. Wow!
Then we sailed picturesque Bellot Strait - 32 kms long picturesque channel with narwahls and another polar bears in the distance.
In the afternoon we reached Fort Ross - the last outpost of the Hudson Bay Company. Now there are only two abandoned houses.
One of them is restored - in the visitors book I saw the writings of the Polish sailors from the yachts "Stary" and
"Katharsis". Weather was clear, so I climbed the hill overlooking fort area for the nice view.
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Sep 02, 2012 04:00 PM Through the Northwest Passage
We are sailing east through the Coronation Gulf - this is the main route through the Northwest Passage used by most sailors, including the first explorers.
At 11 am we reached Cambridge Bay - the main Inuit settlement on Victoria Island. Local people invited us giving the impressive show of throat singing.
Then we used zodiacs to do ashore - to the village. They have cultural center there.
Nice Inuit exhibition inside and (thanks God) free internet terminals. That's why I have the possibility and a pleasure to send this message to you.
Sky is blue, sunny, some 10 deg Celsius. I am optimistic and I enjoy the expedition. Ahoy from the Arctic!
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Sep 01, 2012 04:00 PM To the Arctic! Not so lucky flight...
It was still dark when I was walking to the LRT station. I discovered that the cheapest way to reach Edmonton airport is to take city LRT train to Century Park (3 $) and then bus 747 (5$).
I have been in the airport on time. They showed us waiting junk plane "Canadian North" company. No problem, in Russia and Africa I used even older ones...
We started at 9.20 heading to Coppermine (present name: Kuglugtuk). They even served the breakfast... Then... the captain announced that there is technical problem and we must go back to Edmonton. And we did.
Fortunately it took only an hour to find the spare part and to replace the bad one... And we started again!
After 75 minutes of flight clouds disappeared and I saw Great Slave Lake. Then a lot of the other small lakes in the wast north areas - where it is hard to see any human activity.
After 2,5 hours I saw the blue Beaufort Sea and the little settlement of Kugluktuk where we landed on the gravel airstrip.
Our ship was visible in the bay. I took the walk to the settlement. Little houses, quads on the gravel streets, smiling Inuit people. I was the last passenger taken by zodiac to the ship...
Bad news was waiting aboard: Prince of Wales Sound is blocked by ice so we must sail around Victoria Island missing some interesting islands... Bad luck. At 7 pm we sailed away...
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Aug 31, 2012 04:00 PM Edmonton - the capital of Alberta
It was 10pm when the bus driver left me on the outskirts of Edmonton. -You can take a taxi from this place to your hostel. Backpacker in the taxi, paying 15 $! They do not understand what means to travel on the cheap!
It was not easy to find the direction in the dark on the empty streets but I reached YH walking along 106st an hour later. The backpack is heavy on this voyage - I carry a lot of warm clothes!
My Pakistani room-mate was snorring horibly all night.
Ok. They announced free tea in the morning but no tea bags - bring your own!
No wi-fi in the YH (they promised)! I found free internet in the public library - Churchill Sq. It is the heart of the city with high buildings and a beautiful fountain - nice place to be and to take some pictures. Edmonto is not busy on Saturdays. I took the walk through the Chinatown (97st) to the beautiful Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in 97th Strteet. Sorry - closed - only outside view.
Tomorrow morning I have the flight in the small plane through the Arctic Circle. Then the real adventure will start! Hope thes the cold sea will be calm!
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Aug 30, 2012 04:00 PM Lufthansa on strike!
Early in the morning in Gdansk airport I recognized that the pilots of LH are on strike today. Thanks God I fly to Frankfurt with LOT and onward with Condor!!
End of the week -the flight to FRA is full... In Frankfurt airport I try to find free internet, Oh yes - there are hotspots, you can have 30 free minutes but they want to have your mobile phone number to send you password, Otherwise you pay 4 euro per hour.
Condor is low cost (lets say) airline... Poor service, but they sell One-way tickets to America on the resonable prices, And that's what I need.
The flight to Calgary took us 10 hours, Passing over Greenland I had great views of the snowy coast and the ice cap of the island. In Calgary Canadian immiggrations are much nicer then those ones in the USA,
Baggage trolleys are still free here - I was running to the departure exit 11 to be on time for the Red Arrow coach to Edmonton, Nice coach - they have free internet access on board. Sunset time, but in Poland it is already 4am. Veeeeery long day!
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Aug 29, 2012 04:00 PM Northwest Passage - the dream is coming true!
I leave for another exciting trip - to the Arctic! For a long time I dreamed of sailing the challenging Northwest Passage. A year ago it seemed, that I was close to the desired goal: I got a journalist space on the Russian icebreaker "Kapitan Khlebnikov" sailing from Greenland to Chukotka. I had bought airline tickets and... after the famous ship accident on the Volga Russians ordered to check all their ships. As a result, "Khlebnikov" instead cruising the Northwest Passage sailed to the shipyard. The cruise was canceled. Maybe this time I will succeed.
I'm going first to Canada - to Calgary, from there by bus to Edmonton and by small charter through the Arctic Circle to Coppermine, where the zodiacs will take us to expedition ship "Clipper Adventurer". Landing on the way in the Inuit villages we will sail through the ice to to Greenland. I believe that this voyage will be as fascinating as my previous expeditions to Antarctica or Greenland. Please keep your fingers crossed, dear friends!
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May 16, 2012 04:00 PM Spring in Poland
We returned the car in the evening in Boston Logan Airport. It was raining...
It is hard to believe but during our voyage through the USA we totally drove more then 10000 kms! USA is wide and the distances are big... Fortunately the price of the fuel is still about 50% less then in Europe...
Lufthansa flight from Boston departed on time so I did not have any problem to catch the onward flight to Gdansk.
It was lovely sunny day when I landed in my city.
And now?
Well, I plan to spend the summer in my Wojtkówka, working and meeting friends. Welcome to Gdansk my friends!
Few lectures are also on schedule and I should write new articles to save enough money for the next voyage.
I believe that in September I will pack my backpack again! There are still many places to discover in the world!
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May 15, 2012 04:00 PM Acadia National Park
Acadia is the only national park established in the State of Maine. You will find it on the Atlantic coast, in fact it is located on the huge island connected with the mainland by the bridge.
After a night in Bangor's Motel6 we drove almost an hour to the bridge. Then there is nice loop road going around the park, partly one-way. You have to pay 10 USD entry fee per car after season.
The marine landscapes of the rocky coast are the main attraction of Acadia - we drove through the Sandy Beach, Otter Point, Hunters Head. But they have also nice ponds and lakes inland.
A narrow an windy 3,5- mile road took us to the top of the highes peak on the island - Mt Cadillac - 466 m high. There is a nice view of the Frenchmen Bay with its little islands spread around.
In the afternoon we drove to Boston. It is hard to believe, but it is almost the end of the voyage...
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