Hall Beach minus the swimming

Friday, August 17, 2012

Rise and shine. I survived my first night in Nunavut. Today, along with the rest of the weekend, were left open for us to unpack and settle into our new homes. After a great 8 hour sleep (I only had 2.5 hours the night before), I was energized to get everything organized. After some breakfast and unpacking, Cassandra, also a new teacher and my neighbour, and I walked a few minutes to the local store to buy a couple products. As I have told most people, things are expensive in Nunavut. Based on research I’ve done online, I walked into the Northern , a general store that sold food and merchandise, with already an idea of the prices of certain items. Luckily, what I didn’t know that certain products, “the essentials” or “healthier items” are at normal prices. Eggs, bread and milk were sold at prices comparable in the south. Not bad. If you know me well, I can probably live off rice and eggs with a glass of milk. There are general sales of items. Bonus boxes of cereal were on sale for 50% off, making then between $10-$15 each. Not bad when you’re saving half of it. 50% off 12 cans of Pepsi = $16, also not so bad. Even though things were expensive, some items were not that much, but just beware...we often found expired or soon-to-be-expired items on the shelves, but I’m sure they already know that. As the weather begins to get colder and the snow begins to fall, less stock will be available and the prices will rise. So in other words, stock up now, it’s gonna get worse.

After the Northern, we decided to check out the Co-op, the other store located in Hall Beach. We were greeted by Barry, the store manager. After a few minutes of browsing, and listening to Eastern Canadian music playing in the store (Barry is originally from Newfoundland), we came across a 12 can case of coke....$48! Thank goodness I bought the same case back home for $5. Unlike back home, Coke will be my little treat. 

For the past month, I’ve had a few people ask me what Hall Beach has in terms of facilities. What exactly is in Hall Beach? I had the same questions, but now I have some answers. Being a small community of under 700, Hall Beach consists of one school (K-12), two general stores, an indoor skating rink, a recreation centre, police station, a small hotel, two churches and post office. I’m sure im missing a couple, but I think you get the point. No Tim Hortons, restaurants, bars, internet cafes and shopping malls. As for the setup of the town, there seems to be one main road. Mostly pickup trucks, ATVs, motorbikes, and pedestrians, mostly small children running around town, occupied the roads. No complaints though...I definitely will not be missing GTA rush hour traffic and construction any time soon. All the roads in Hall Beach, or possible all of Nunavut, are graval roads. This is a pain as I also have dust/dirt on my pants, shoes and jacket.

As you might have wondered, Hall Beach does have a beach. Hall Beach is Sanirajak in Inuktitut, meaning “the shoreline”. Hall Beach is situated at the tip of the Melville Peninsula and the name was inspired by the American explorer, Captain Hall, who lived there in the 1800s. The water is stunning. Blue, still water resembling water from a tropical island, but very deceiving since I won’t be taking a dip in the water anytime...ever. I guess I can still enjoy the sight. John spotted a Beluga whale the day before. Definitely excited for my first animal sighting. Maybe tomorrow though. Waking up at 6:15am for some Arctic fishing J

 

(when walking home from Ashley's, these locals were cutting up caribou that was caught the week before in front of their house. when i asked them if they sell the meat or keep it for themselves, they said that the meat is shared. this meat will last them a month or two.)