Torngat Mountains Expedition 2023: Days 1-4
It’s official! The Torngat Mountains Expedition kicked-off in Ottawa! Most youth participants and educators met at Carleton University for a fun-filled first day. We started with the SOI Amazing Race Welcome Game, which helped us all get to know each other quickly. We then headed out on a walk at the Arboretum led by educator Jim who also shared some bird spotting tips. Fun Fact: The Arboretum is home to over 1,700 different species of trees and shrubs. After lunch, we headed to Camp Fortune in Chelsea, QC for a treetop zipline obstacle course. A few of us were feeling anxious as it was our first-time climbing trees and swinging down a zipline, but everyone cheered each other on. We all felt good challenging ourselves and completing the zipline course, and we were welcomed back to lots of cheering and laughter. We ended the day with a mini-tour of the Byward Market where we had a group photo at the Ottawa sign, took in some views of Parliament Hill, then had a fun dinner in downtown Ottawa at Metropolitain Brasserie.
The next day, we headed to the Canadian Museum of Nature Natural Heritage Campus in Gatineau, QC for a special behind-the-scenes tour of the museum’s fossils, earth, and fauna galleries. We also had a tour of SOI Headquarters where we met some of the SOI Home Team who we had been communicating with the past few months to prepare for the expedition. Once the tours ended, we headed to Ottawa International Airport to catch our flights to Halifax.
On day three, we headed to downtown Halifax where we were met by SOI staff Kira, who took us on a mini Halifax Harbour waterfront tour. We then walked up to Halifax Common to watch some sporting events and cultural exhibits at the Indigenous Summer Games. A few of our youth participants had some relatives and/or friends participating in the games so it was fun to cheer everyone on. We then headed back to Halifax International Airport to board our evening flight to Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
After breakfast on day four, we were led by SOI educator/alumnus Valerie Courtois, on a hike at Birch Island Boardwalk and to see the Churchill River. After a surprise pizza picnic lunch, we headed to the Goose Bay dock to board the ship for our first time! As the bus approached the dock, the anticipation was high and we were all so quiet. But as soon as we spotted the ship, our anticipation turned into excitement and we all screamed, cheered and high-fived each other. We were in disbelief that we were about to board the ship. We were joined by the remaining members of our expedition team, settled into our cabins, and started getting to know ship life.
It’s been an incredible pre-expedition few days hopping from Ottawa to Goose Bay, getting to know each other, learning, and experiencing new things. We’ve had a lot of first-time moments. Now we’re on the ship, heading North, and looking forward to our first stop in Nain, NL.
View all the photos from the first few days of expedition here.