Our journey started in Winnipeg; a fascinating city and the state capital of Manitoba.  At the heart of the city is ‘The Forks’; a historic site where two rivers meet and was once a major trading area for indigenous people. Today, the area hosts festivals and events whilst still honouring its historic past. The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is also located in this area; a magnificent museum that needs days rather than hours to take in all the exhibits.

The Royal Canadian Mint is on the fringe of the city, and is where they manufacture currencies for over 70 countries. The Exchange District in Downtown Winnipeg is a vibrant neighbourhood with a collection of well-preserved heritage buildings. It’s a terrific area to visit in an evening with some great restaurants and bars.

Winnipeg is a city full of surprises, and one you should visit for longer than you think.

Make your way to the airport for your chartered flight service to the 'Polar Bear Captial of the World'.

Flying on this chartered service means super-quick boarding, as the flight parks up right outside the hangar – a very different experience to that of a normal scheduled flight.  There’s no security, no bag scanning machines and no metal detectors.

The airport at Churchill is nothing more than a large room and your guide at Lazy Bear is there to meet you and to transport you to the lodge. They make a stop en-route at the polar bear holding facility which is on the outskirts of Churchill.

Polar bears can come into the town, so there's a patrol that circles constantly to protect the people and visitors to the area. The community of Churchill leave their cars and the vast majority their homes open to ensure escape routes are available if the bears were to appear. Bears that do enter the town are either relocated through a number of conservation programs or they're tranquilized, held at holding facilities in the darkness, not fed and then helicoptered 40 miles away to remote locations in the hope they don't remember the smells and sights of Churchill.

Lazy Bear Lodge is cosy and very welcoming. The authentic lodge was built using reclaimed timber from a local forest fire.

The rooms are comfortable and the café serves food prepared to a very high standard. You can be added to the northern lights list if you choose, so the lodge will wake you at any time of the night if the Aurora shows itself while you are staying with them.

Inside the lodge there are notices displayed to explain what to do and what not to do if you come face to face with a bear. The advice is to travel in numbers, never at night, and if faced with a bear - not to run. Our guide told us to put an item of clothing down and back away as they will always inspect the clothing first. Everyone is asked to enter the phone number of the safety patrol officer into their phones.

The full days out on the tundra are exhilarating. The lodge transports you out of Churchill to a site where they keep their Arctic Crawlers™; the vehicles are enormous and have an open-air viewing area to the back. You are encouraged to keep a good look out, so everyone is gripped to the windows and looking. Arctic foxes and hares can also be seen in the area, but often difficult to spot. Lunch on the days out on the Arctic Crawlers™ are eaten on the vehicle, along with hot drinks and soup. The buggy is kept warm by a propane heater at the back, which is very welcome in sub-Arctic conditions.

Lazy Bear Lodge assigns a day to some cultural experiences between your two days out on the Arctic Crawlers™. They show you the community centre which is the heartbeat of Churchill and a vital facility for this remote part of Northern Canada. They also show you some sites significant to the history of this fascinating town. The evening concludes with a dog-mushing experience deep in the forest. The night sky is so clear, and northern lights viewings here are very common.