When Wendy and David Bailey stepped off the plane at Seal River Heritage Lodge in November 2011, they received a greeting they would never forget. Right on the runway was a polar bear known as Snugglepuss.
“You can’t forget that,” said Wendy, recalling that first Arctic journey from their home in North Queensland, Australia. “There was someone waiting for you.”
That first excursion was a dedicated photography tour led by wildlife photographer Dennis Fast. The ground was iced over, everything was white, and bears roamed close to the lodge. David and Wendy walked just fifty metres out to take photos, and whenever the bears were sleeping, Arctic foxes were running about to provide entertainment. One of their favourite images from that trip was Snugglepuss sleeping with his head resting on a big rock like a pillow.
Travelling from Australia to Hudson Bay: The Ultimate Polar Bear Safari
They had originally planned to return to the Churchill Wild lodges after ten years, but travel disruptions during 2021 made the long trip from Australia impractical. Fifteen years after that first visit, another milestone arrived. Wendy, an accountant, retired in September, while David, a computer programmer, was also retired, and Wendy had her sixty-fifth birthday falling during polar bear season in October. They decided to mark the occasion with Churchill Wild’s Fall Dual Lodge Safari, spending ten nights between Seal River Heritage Lodge and Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different,” said Wendy. “Because you have such a good image of the first trip, it is always hard to compare two tours that are the same. We wanted something similar but different.”
Returning to Seal River showed how the property had grown. The lodge had expanded, featuring a timber frame lounge and a new dining room. Coming from the heat of Queensland, Wendy and David also welcomed the warm gear provided in Winnipeg. On their first safari they had to bring their own layers, but this time Churchill Wild supplied cold-weather clothing, including wet-weather boots and pants when early October turned out to be relatively mild, muddy, and slippery along the coast.
Walking with Polar Bears at Ground Level: Seal River vs. Nanuk
The encounters started almost immediately at Seal River. One afternoon, a planned excursion was set aside when a polar bear wandered right past the lodge. A second bear arrived from down the coast. The guides believed the two animals knew each other, as they greeted each other in a friendly way, sniffed around, and then lay down to sleep together, occasionally getting up to spar. Soon after, a third bear approached, but the pair chased him off, leaving guests to track the action across the three viewing platforms within the lodge compound.
For this trip, both Wendy and David had upgraded to lighter camera systems. Carrying twenty kilos of heavy gear all the way from Australia had become too cumbersome. David used an Olympus Micro Four-Thirds mirrorless body with a 150-400mm lens, giving the field of view of a 300-800mm lens on a standard camera, while Wendy often used her phone to capture landscapes.
Up-Close Wildlife Encounters on Hudson Bay
Halfway through the safari, the group took a ninety-minute charter flight south past historic York Factory to Nanuk Polar Bear Lodge. Located where the boreal forest meets Hudson Bay, Nanuk offered a distinct landscape and routine. Outings took place aboard specialized Tundra Rhino utility vehicles to cover the wider coastal flats. During these long daily excursions, the staff even brought along a portable bush toilet, a thoughtful touch Wendy appreciated for guest comfort.
During one afternoon drive, the group came across a pair of red foxes. Soon two more young foxes joined in, frolicking right around the vehicles. The siblings chased each other and hunted in the grasses, eventually catching a lemming and giving everyone a memorable photo opportunity. At the lodge itself, black bears sauntered past the fence line on both the first day and near the end of their stay.
A Warm Australian Connection in Canada’s Remote Polar Bear Country
For two Australians travelling halfway around the globe, the lodge community brought pleasant surprises. The lodge managers at Seal River, Nicole and Ben, were Australian, and at Nanuk, lodge managers Emma and Danny were from New Zealand. Emma and Danny even knew people who lived close to the Baileys’ hometown in Queensland.
The culinary care and hospitality inside both lodges matched the rugged beauty outside.
“Excellent as usual,” said Wendy, when asked about the dining and service. “And of course, the 6 o’clock appies are always good.”
Evenings naturally centered around the dining room, where guests mingled over dinner and shared stories.
“The guides ate meals with the guests and sort of rotated between the tables every night,” said Wendy. “And lunchtime. So that was good to have a bit more of a chat with the guides. Each night, except for, I think, the first night at Nanuk, there was a little presentation from the guides.” Those presentations covered topics ranging from the fur trade to bear hibernation before guests turned in to rest up for late-night aurora calls.
That hospitality made Wendy’s birthday unforgettable. The transition day between Seal River and Nanuk happened to be Wendy’s sixty-fifth birthday. She prefers not to celebrate birthdays in public, and only David knew the date. That evening at Nanuk, Wendy assumed the day had passed without notice.
Then, just before dessert at eight o’clock, the dining room lights went down.
“I thought I’d gotten away with it the whole day,” said Wendy. “When the lights went down, I was like, oh my God, I hope it’s someone else’s birthday, not just mine. And of course, Emma brought out dessert with a little cake. There was no mention of my age. Emma and Danny are really on top of making it very special.”
Northern Lights, Ethical Wildlife Encounters, and Future Arctic Dreams
The night skies brought another first for the couple. While they had missed out on the aurora borealis during their 2011 trip, this visit produced clear views of the northern lights at both Seal River and Nanuk. At Seal River, guide Rich, a keen photographer himself, ran a tutorial to show guests how to set up their cameras and mobile phones for night photography.
Throughout the safari, the guides ensured the welfare of the animals remained paramount. When a group walked into a V-formation near a polar bear at Nanuk, the bear noticed and bolted, and the guides let the animal retreat rather than pushing closer.
“It was very clear that the bears’ welfare came first, the animals’ welfare came first,” said David. “If we were pushing their interests, we didn’t.”
Wendy agreed, noting that ethical wildlife viewing ensures the bears remain comfortable on the coast for future seasons.
With twenty-five years of marriage, mutual retirement, and a sixty-fifth birthday celebration complete, the Baileys are already preparing for their next wildlife adventure to photograph lions, elephants, and hippos in Namibia and Botswana.
Yet the Canadian subarctic remains on their minds.
“I’m going to get in trouble, but I’d like to maybe go in summer,” said Wendy, looking ahead to the prospect of wildflowers, berries, beluga whales…
And of course, polar bears.
