The Wheels on the Bus, do not go ♫♪♫

On Friday afternoon, I and the Grade 8s had our cultural program. We went to check someone's fishing net. We started out driving to the beach and unloaded there. I found out that the beach is called Little Bears Beach. It is called that because some years ago, there were these cubs that lived there. To get to the nets, we walked for roughly 3 km,with all but 1 km on the frozen lake.

In my short life, I have been privy to a number of great views/experiences. Through Scouts, I have hiked the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, New York's Fingerlakes and Ontario's Algonquin Park to name a few. The hike through the woods and on the lake, with fresh snow, has to be near the top of the list. The day was cool (-16) but not cold and there was not a cloud in the sky.

The process of checking fishing nets during winter is quite fascinating. The net is approx. 50 feet long and placed near the shore, stretching out over a deep part of the lake. As mentioned, we started by digging out one hole, and then the other. Vicky's husband, there to help, brought a long rope with him, which we tied to one end of the net. Then, we pulled up the net and took out the fish. After all 50 feet were out, we went back to the other hole and pulled the rope back, dragging the net back into place under the ice. This method was quick, efficient and required little work.

Over all, we only caught 7 fish, although a couple were massive. Dad you'll like this. One fish we caught was a Jackfish, or a Northern Pike. We didn't measure it, but it had to be at least 50 inches long (no word of a lie). The largest pike, or fish, I have ever seen come out of a lake.

Afterwards, we went back to the school and had Indian Tacos again.

After school, we had a bit of excitement. Ordinarily there are three busses that take home the students. Only one was operational, as the other two wouldn't turn on. To note, our busses are also only three-quarter length and hold roughly 30-40 students. One bus, had to drop off 200 students. Staff were loading students into their cars/trucks/vans and driving them home. I was given the key to the school vehicle and asked to drive six students home. Thinking back to it afterwards, we were amazed at how different things operate here. For example:

In the North, teachers were bringing students home. At home, the school would need permission forms/signatures to allow teachers to drive.

In the North, the principal told me to fit two girls in the front seat and have four boys in the back seat. The two girls were sitting on each other, while one of the boys was sprawled out over the other three boys. Different attitude up North.



Two girls taking a break during the hike to the net.

Like we have said before, the trees up here are not thick, and under great weight bend.

The 2 km hike on the lake to the net. The hike was good, but pretty exhausting as we hiked through 1 foot of snow the entire time.

Sunshine found the spine of a fish, that had been picked apart from wolves/birds/other scavengers.

One of the openings to the net.

Pulling the net out.

Some of the fish we caught. Some jackfish, suckerfish and whitefish.