New Years in Arctic Bay

New Years here in Arctic Bay is quite a spectacular event. Before all of the fun started, we teachers all gathered over at Aletha's waiting for the big event and to ring in the Eastern New Years, as most of us are from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick. As soon as we saw some community members leaving the church service being held at the gym, we started to gear up and to get the skidoos out from underneath the house.

Around midnight everyone headed out onto the Bay (way out to Ulukson Point, well.. I guess It's not that way out, maybe 3km? 5km max) on whatever "wheels" they have (skidoo, 4-wheelers, trucks, cars .....) and we all line up way out on the Bay. There must have been at least 100 skidoos, 20 4-Wheelers and 30 Trucks / Cars out there all on the Bay.

Just after midnight (and after a lot of "Happy New Years" going around, we all revved up our engines and started driving back into town, snaking across the bay in a big "S" shape. Once we made it back into town, we all did a parade around town on our machines for everyone to see. Now, it's a little hard to imagine that many snowmobiles driving around town, but it was an amazing sight to see.

Pictures don't do this event any justice. I would have snapped more pictures, but it was -36 degrees last night out there, and we all know what happens to camera batteries when the temperature drops below zero ... yes, the dreaded frozen battery. With any luck, some of the other teachers will have gotten a couple of picture as well, so I will post those once I get my hands on them.