Tuesday 3rd July - Lake Winnipeg and Gimli

We awoke on a sunny morning after a good sleep, the temperature was now 30degC and this would be fairly constant during our stay.
We breakfasted in the apartment and it seemed quite a strange thing to be doing after breakfasting in motels. The first task was to unpack for the first time and sort out our laundry.

Bette's garden

We arrived at Gill's and sat in the gazebo where we found our proposed itinerary for the week and also gifts had been placed on "our" chairs.Today's visit would be to Lake Winnipeg and Gimli.

Totem Pole at Winnipeg Beach

The totem pole is a tribute to the aboriginal people of Manitoba. It was once a 6 foot thick, 30 foot cedar log from the Campbell River in British Columbia. It was carved by Peter Toth and is the 67th carving in a trail that started in 1970 and now reached throughout most of North America.
Lake Winnipeg has an area of 24,500 sq. kms. making it the world's 11th largest freshwater lake.The area is home to the Cree and Ojibway native Canadians.Hudson's Bay Co. explorer Henry Kelsey worked with them to develop the fur trade in the late 16600's. By the early 1700's there was unexpected competition for the trade and by the late 1800's European immigrants arrived on Lake Winnipeg's shores, which included a large settlement from Iceland. There are some fantastic murals on the harbour wall, but sadly I didn't have the opportunity to take photographs of them.

What fun we had!

After a short stay, we motored on to Gimli, a rural municipality, on the Western shore of Lake Winnipeg,which is only an hours drive North from Winnipeg. We lunched on locally caught pickerel from Lake Winnipeg at Kris' Fish & Chips.  Then it was time for relaxation on the white sandy beach. We set up chairs under the shade of a tree and I relaxed whist Neil and Gill went down to the water to collect rocks. On our arrival back at Gill's we were introduced to Bette and her daughter, after supper we sat and relaxed in the gazebo. How good to be able to relax outside.
                                                                                      

** Icelandic settlers quickly set up an almost sovereign nation with their own government system and laws, and the community became known as New Iceland.