It had all started as someone’s idea to drive north, as far as possible in 3 days. We were in Ottawa, Ontario. North is Quebec. It was early March, not the mildest month in Canada to be embarking on an adventure of this sort, but at least preferable to the black fly season of summer. We went – all four of us (new cat included). Through numerous towns and past countless logging trucks we went. It was a rather uneventful journey for some time. Then came the Cree, the taiga and the James Bay Hydro-electric Project.

Chisasabi is one of nine Cree towns in the James Bay area. They are part of a re-housing pact between the aboriginals and the Quebec government for loss of lands due to the building of the James Bay project by Hydro-Quebec. It was the first time I had set foot on a reservation. Faced with rifles by the entry guards, we purchased our petrol from a gas station, with everything written in glyphs, and left with a reserved smile and wave. The Cree speak a “whispering language” that had no written form until the 1840s, when a series of symbols was created by a missionary. The only word of Cree that I learnt sounds something like “wajiwa” and I was told that translates to “greetings”. Chisasabi may mean “Great River”, but what stays in the mind of any non-aboriginal visitor to the town is the massive steel wigwam frame – their community centre and focal point. At that time the wigwam was fairly new, just as the homes, pick-up trucks and snowmobiles were. Chisasabi looked like any other rural Canadian town, well, except for that wigwam.

La Route de la Baie James – the road from Matagami to Radisson – is 620 km of seemingly endless taiga, an apparently half-dead forest. The pine trees were nearly bare of needles, as though some great calamity had befallen them. It was only much later that we were told that the taiga is lichen woodland. The lichen and the trees have a symbiotic relationship, though I’ve yet to figure out what the trees were getting out if it. Being seemingly endless, we didn’t know we were supposed to register the car with authorities in case we did not make it to the service station or the other end. That way they can name the frozen bodies. Even without knowing this, we were relieved to see Relais 381, the 24-hour service station with superb hot dogs and steamy showers. The authorities were relieved to see us and the car was duly registered. Further along this 620 km stretch, we happened upon Norman and his friends from Chibougamu, another of the Cree towns.  The lads were attending a technical college and on their way home they had run out of petrol. They were patiently waiting for someone to happen along and take one of them back to Relais 381. That someone turned out to be us.

Radisson is a town of 250 people in winter and 500 during the summer. We checked into the L’Auberge Radisson, a hotel with a museum and a store. It was the sort of store that sold rifles (and some decent wines as I recall). In fact it carried all sorts of camping and hunting equipment. Rifles are a necessity in this wilderness, as the larger animals don’t always take too kindly to we intruders. However, the only large animal I saw on this trip was the stuffed elk in the museum. As it was a quiet month, we were able to arrange a tour of the James Bay Hydro-electric Project. Our burly guide, Jean-Marie, drove us out onto the top of the dam, which was only a few feet wider than the jeep itself. I ventured somewhat close to the edge – a sheer drop down to the ice of the James Bay reservoir, thick white ice for miles upon miles. It was, to me, like a glimpse of what the last major Ice Age may have resembled. On the landside of the dam was the spillway, ”the staircase of the giants” – colossal steps covered in an unmoving cascade of blue-tinted water. Jean-Marie took us inside the generating station, an enormous underground labyrinth of surge tunnels (rented out to film crews for action sequences), control rooms and massive turbines – one of which we were allowed to get close to, but not near enough to be sucked in by the centrifugal force generated by 60 turns a second.

These four days are etched in my mind. An excursion characterised by reminiscences of nature’s power, human ingenuity, the differences of culture and no photos as my camera had unknowingly expired. Never mind, I can always return now that Air Creebec flies from Montreal to Radisson.

Instead of stressing over whether or not you will be able to find a ride and stressing about having the fare, plan ahead. When you are looking for hotels ask the hotel if they have a shuttle service. If they don't have shuttle service they will probably be able to suggest local services.

Most tourist hotels have a shuttle service. Some services are free but you will want to ask first. Be sure to find out where the service will park, and what time they will be there.

Another problem you may want to clear up in advance is how many bags you will be bringing and how many bags can the shuttle hold. Some shuttle services only offer one bag and one carry on per passenger. If you are on an extended stay luggage may be an issue for the shuttle service, so ask first.

After you make your arrangements finish packing and enjoy your flight. Don't forget to take a tip for the driver.

Questions to ask about shuttle services:

1. Will your shuttle service pick us up and go to the hotel or will we have to sit on the shuttle and wait for more passengers? Shuttle services make money when they are full and may not want to pick up just your party unless the shuttle service is from the hotel you are staying at.
2. How much does the shuttle service cost? If the hotel offers a shuttle service it may be free. If the shuttle service is an outside business they may either charge a flat rate or so much per mile. You will want to ask before you agree to the service.
3. Where will our party meet the shuttle service? If the shuttle service is only picking up your party it might meet you at pickup. They may drive around until they see you and if this is the way they work it you might want to bring a sign with your name on it. Most shuttle services stop in the parking area of the pick-up area. You have to go out and look for the vehicle. This is probably the most stressful part of your vacation so you may want to ask if the shuttle driver will have a cell phone and if you can call to let the driver which door you will be coming out of.
4. How many bags can the shuttle hold and is my party limited to a certain number of bags? The shuttle service may have a limit on how many bags each person can bring. You may want to find out if you are going to be restricted to a certain amount of luggage. If you are going on an extended stay this may be a problem so let the shuttle service know the situation.
5. Will you need to bring car seats for the shuttle service? If you ask this question the shuttle service may already have car seats so you wouldn't necessarily have to have the seats for the ride to the hotel. However if you are going to need car seats while you are on your trip so you will be bringing them anyway, let the shuttle service know you will be bringing car seats.

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After you submit your price and room request, it usually takes only a matter of minutes for Priceline to let you know if your offer has been accepted. If your offer is accepted, then your reservation has been made and paid for. If your offer is rejected, you will have to wait twenty-four hours before you make the exact same offer. However, you can make the place an offer again immediately if you change some detail of your request. (Simply raising your bid price doesn't count.) The easiest fix is to change your preferred neighborhood (for instance from Midtown West to Midtown East), add one or more neighborhoods to your request, or change your preferred hotel star level (for instance from four-star to three-star). It usually doesn't take more than two tries to place a successful bid. Once you get the message that your offer has been accepted by Priceline, you can relax and try to figure out how you're going to spend all that money that you by booking your hotel through Priceline.