….. and just booked into the Premier Inn, 15 Bath Road for Sunday 9 November at only £29 (no parking needed) - a small saving!

Julia - could you please do your usual splits - age and sex! Just nosy as always - presume the tour manager hasn't been appointed just yet?

Hope to hear from some of you - trying not to get too excited again (booked last January) as it is still a few months away!

The trip is fully booked with 20 of you travelling, 15 of the group are on the main tour only with 5 of you staying on in Toronto.

The group is made up of 2 men and 18 women with ages from late-30s through to early 70s. As for a Tour Manager, its still a bit early for them to be allocated yet, but feel free to ask again closer to your departure date and I'll happily take another look for you.

I hope you have a great time - I think this looks like a great trip.

Kindest regards,

Julia

I'm on this one but without the add-on. Getting excited already even though there are still three months to go. If you are coming down Sunday evening and don't want to have dinner on your own, I live very close to Heathrow and am happy to meet up. There is a pub on Bath Road which does good food at reasonable prices.

Sally

We will meet again! Needless to say I am staying in the other Premier Inn - the Terminal 5 one at 420 Bath Road, and I'm paying more than you are!

I too am doing the add-on, but staying with family. Really looking forward to it. Have emailed the photographer who we are meeting in Churchill to ask for camera equipment advice.

See you in November!

Cheers,

Hils

Hi 1981Kedi,

The trip is fully booked with 20 of you travelling, 15 of the group are on the main tour only with 5 of you staying on in Toronto.

The group is made up of 2 men and 18 women with ages from late-30s through to early 70s. As for a Tour Manager, its still a bit early for them to be allocated yet, but feel free to ask again closer to your departure date and I'll happily take another look for you.

I hope you have a great time - I think this looks like a great trip.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Thanks Julia - had coffee with a friend today - we were talking about holidays and I am over excited again! She is off to see the salmon fishing grizzly bears in Vancouver next week, so when I get back we can compare bear notes (I am winning as I have seen Pandas in Chengdu, Edinburgh and Atlanta - not to mention a black bear up a tree in the Shenandoah National Park)!

Hi

I'm on this one but without the add-on. Getting excited already even though there are still three months to go. If you are coming down Sunday evening and don't want to have dinner on your own, I live very close to Heathrow and am happy to meet up. There is a pub on Bath Road which does good food at reasonable prices.

Sally

Hi Sally

Really looking forward to meeting you and thanks for the suggestion for dinner. Not sure of my plans yet but will bear ( 🙂 ) your kind offer in mind.

Hi,

We will meet again! Needless to say I am staying in the other Premier Inn - the Terminal 5 one at 420 Bath Road, and I'm paying more than you are!

I too am doing the add-on, but staying with family. Really looking forward to it. Have emailed the photographer who we are meeting in Churchill to ask for camera equipment advice.

See you in November!

Cheers,

Hils

Hi Hils

Nearly fainted when I saw the P Inn T5 price - serves me right for not booking earlier! happy with the other P Inn room rate, but sorry we won't catch up until THE day. I understand there will be a lounge at Terminal 2 (I had it fixed in my head it was T3 for so long I hope I turn up in the right place! (Air Canada moved across in June) so will be heading there for breakfast.

I had the same idea about emailing the photographer - as you have beaten me to it perhaps you could share the info? I am quite happy for Julia to give you my email address if you don't mind.

I am now the proud owner of several Polar Bear books - combination of charity shops and birthday gifts - some titles:

Kingdom of the Ice Bear - Miles and Salisbury

The World of the Polar Bear - Rosing

Polar Bears - the natural history of a threatened species - Stirling

The Polar Bear and the Snow Cloud - Cabrera (children's book but couldnt resist)

However still trying to fit in a European holiday Sept/Oct - probably a single hotel but with trips out - not a beach/pool lounger.

Also booked Dolomites and Croatia for Christmas and New Year - understand you did this last year!!! Hoping for snow in the mountains.

Better get the dogs walked now ……...

Hi,

We will meet again! Needless to say I am staying in the other Premier Inn - the Terminal 5 one at 420 Bath Road, and I'm paying more than you are!

I too am doing the add-on, but staying with family. Really looking forward to it. Have emailed the photographer who we are meeting in Churchill to ask for camera equipment advice.

See you in November!

Cheers,

Hils

Hi Hils

Nearly fainted when I saw the P Inn T5 price - serves me right for not booking earlier! happy with the other P Inn room rate, but sorry we won't catch up until THE day. I understand there will be a lounge at Terminal 2 (I had it fixed in my head it was T3 for so long I hope I turn up in the right place! (Air Canada moved across in June) so will be heading there for breakfast.

I had the same idea about emailing the photographer - as you have beaten me to it perhaps you could share the info? I am quite happy for Julia to give you my email address if you don't mind.

I am now the proud owner of several Polar Bear books - combination of charity shops and birthday gifts - some titles:

Kingdom of the Ice Bear - Miles and Salisbury

The World of the Polar Bear - Rosing

Polar Bears - the natural history of a threatened species - Stirling

The Polar Bear and the Snow Cloud - Cabrera (children's book but couldnt resist)

However still trying to fit in a European holiday Sept/Oct - probably a single hotel but with trips out - not a beach/pool lounger.

Also booked Dolomites and Croatia for Christmas and New Year - understand you did this last year!!! Hoping for snow in the mountains.

Better get the dogs walked now ……...

Hi,

Me again! The PI at Terminal 5 is always expensive as the BA Crews stay there. I booked it in January and it was £53 which was the flexible rate (this is before I knew we were going from Terminal 2!).

A couple more polar bear books for you:-

Polar Bears, A Complete Guide to Their Biology & Behavior - Andrew Derocher

Arctic Icons: How the town of Churchill learned to love its polar bears -

Ed Struzik. Not published yet, but have pre-ordered on Amazon.

If you could pass your email address to Julia for me that would be great.

I did indeed do Italian Dolomites & Croatia last year - weather was not brilliant, but we had a laugh! I've booked Italy and Lake Bled for Christmas & New Year - we go to some of the same places as last year & stay 5 nights in Bassano - we will maybe meet up again!!

Re cameras - I have a Nikon bridge camera and a Nikon DSLR with a 70-300m lens. The bridge took better photos in Kenya of wildlife and the photographer said a camera with a 200m capacity would be fine. Needless to say I will probably end up taking both!

Speak soon!

Cheers,

Hils

I have just dropped you an email with 1981Kedi's email address.

Kindest regards,

Julia

I'm a Canon girl (70d) and was planning on taking my 18-250 lens and hoping it is a good enough zoom. I would be very interested to hear what the Canadian photographer recommends. Thanks for the tips about books - I'll have alook out for them. I also need a filler holiday to keep me going until Nov so I'm going to Calabria next month. This holiday business is totally addictive!!

Look forward to meeting you both in three months.

Sally

Looks like we are starting a camera club!! Over the last seven years I have bought a new camera just before each major holiday - never had time to learn about them properly - but have lovely photos of Oz and NZ, China and Kenya!! I bought my last camera, the one I will use in Churchill, for Kenya and have some lovely animal and landscape shots.

I thought long and hard about getting a full DSLR but decided my brain, eyesight and dexterity were not up to it! I am a Canon girl too! My older, and now standby/spare, is a Canon G12 - doesn't have the massive zoom but takes great shots. My main camera is a Canon Powershot SX50 HS which of course was state of the art when I bought it and has now been superseded! I love them both!!! What sights they have seen :)

My animal holiday crazy friend has a Nikon DSLR which she loves - amazing photos of wildlife, but I notice she has now bought a Canon G15 as well!!

I have lots of photos taken in snow but never of a whitish object against a whitish background! I was going to practice last winter after booking in January, but down here in Sussex we didn't have any snow at all! In the olden days of 35mm film cameras my camera (Canon AV1 SLR) had a special button for snow!

They keep moving the goalposts for the 'Arctic Icons' book - hopefully it will be released before we go!

Sally - Calabria looks lovely - looking for something from Gatwick this time, but you never know!

Hils - you are doing the holiday I would have done if I hadn't done Lake Bled last Christmas. You get a day in Venice which I would have loved, they have put the caves and the coast as one day trip which is much better, and the trip to the ski area at Vogel is wonderful - it was an added excursion for us as some of us (ME!!!!) were desperate for snow. Our sledge ride was a carriage ride round the lake but great fun! On the last day in Bled the sun came out to brilliant blue skies and we could finally see the snow capped mountains all around. I paid for a lake view room and loved it, day and night - views of the lake, the castle and the island - need to have a high floor to get above the (bare) branches of the trees - can't remember the better room numbers - to the left as you look at the lake I think. The view from the small pool bar (top floor) with a balcony area was amazing and the pool was well used by our party (I forgot my cossie).

Looking at the itinerary we could well bump into each other in Italy!

Better stop before our moderators clock off for the weekend!

Julia - Thanks for sorting the email address. :thumbup:

Hi Hils / 1981Kedi

I'm a Canon girl (70d) and was planning on taking my 18-250 lens and hoping it is a good enough zoom. I would be very interested to hear what the Canadian photographer recommends. Thanks for the tips about books - I'll have alook out for them. I also need a filler holiday to keep me going until Nov so I'm going to Calabria next month. This holiday business is totally addictive!!

Look forward to meeting you both in three months.

Sally

Hi, you're going to have a great time - we did a churchill trip with TS about 8 years ago.

The first sight of a PB, you'll probably need the 250mm, but eventually the tundra buggy drivers find bears and you near enough need a fisheye lens, they're that close!

Hi, you're going to have a great time - we did a churchill trip with TS about 8 years ago.

The first sight of a PB, you'll probably need the 250mm, but eventually the tundra buggy drivers find bears and you near enough need a fisheye lens, they're that close!

:thumbup: 🙂 🙂 🙂

Another suggested book for you - "Never Look a Polar Bear in the Eye" - Zac Unger.

The time is getting closer!

Cheers

Hils

With just eight weeks to go, would it be possible for you to find out which airline we fly with from Winnipeg to Churchill so that I can find out the baggage allowance? I'm starting to think about clothes/packing for such cold weather.

Thanks

Sally

Julia

With just eight weeks to go, would it be possible for you to find out which airline we fly with from Winnipeg to Churchill so that I can find out the baggage allowance? I'm starting to think about clothes/packing for such cold weather.

Thanks

Sally

Hi Sally, the airline is Calm Air. Their baggage allowance is 2 pieces with a combined weight of no more than 70lbs (32kgs). However, the Air Canada allowance for the flight to Winnipeg (via Toronto) is 1 piece (23kgs), so you will need to adhere to the Air Canada weight allowance throughout.

Tim

Thanks for the quick reply 'Deputy Tim' - I was thinking it may have been limited due to being smaller airline with small planes but 23 kgs should be fine, even for all that thermal underwear!!!

No problem, Sally!

Thanks,

Deputy Tim