LOADING ABEL'S BOAT AT TALOYOAK HARBOUR

We are about 15 miles up the coast of the Boothia Penninsula from Taloyoak. We have made camp at a beautiful location. I can only describe this as the most beautiful place I have seen in the Arctic - it's absolutely stunning. We're camped at an inlet. The beach is a small pebble stone beach rising up about 10 degrees. About 200 - 300 yards inland are rocky cliffs. It's quite dramatic up the whole length of the coastine here. The water in front of us is an emerald colour - it's really quite incredible. It's very different from the flat terrain of King William Island. And I'm freezing!

(Webmaster: Here the phone was passed to Tommy Totalik. Although he sounds warm, friendly and happy, he's a man af few words.) It's cold and windy. We took off but it was too rough. We didn't get as far as we thought we would. Maybe tomorrow.

(W: John Harrington took the phone back.) It was a nice boat trip up this far; we were somewhat protected by small islets and points, so it wasn't too bad. We really couldn't go out into the larger body of water - it was quite rough with whitecaps and our guides weren't taking any chances. We're in good hands. We have good men looking after us, Doug, Tommy and Abel - three polar bear hunters. Can you hear the wind? (W: The wind was blowing so strongly that the conversation was almost unintelligible!) It was fairly warm during the day, up to maybe 10 degrees. The sun has gone down now, and it is getting quite cold. This is our first night camped out in the dark in the Arctic. Usually when we are up here there is longer daylight. This will be a new experience for us. Even through the day the sun did not get very high; even at noon it was relatively low on the horizon. Our co-ordinates are: 69 degrees, 27 minutes North and 94 degrees, 13.8 minutes West. We are hoping to head out at 3:00 or 4:00 am. The winds should have died down by then, and we want to get farther up the coast, to Cape Adelaide. We'll stay there a couple days and have a good look around.

RON RUST AND THE 12 FT. INUKSHUKS

There are some Inukshuks around here that are just outstanding. Ron and I walked over to two of them earlier - they are about 12 feet tall! Just huge - wait 'til you see the pictures. There's also one near our camp that's 3-4 feet tall that's quite nice.

(W: The phone was passed to Ron Rust.) We're doing quite well, but it's getting chilly here tonight. We've had a good day so far. Doug cooked us up some pasta. We'll do some hunting and fishing later; hopefully soon we'll have caribou or musk ox or char. If we don't get something it's peanut butter the rest of the way! (laughter)

(W: John Harrington again.) Well, it's too cold to stay out here, time to go back into the tent. And we should cut it short to keep our battery up. I'll call about the same time tomorrow. Talk to you then. (W: The calls come in at 9:00 pm their time, or 11:00 pm my time.)

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