Event Contact
Bruce & Gail Harrower, WBCCI #4478 and Bruce Balsdon, WBCCI #20668, Caravan Leaders
northernlights.polarbears@gmail.com
Bruce & Gail Harrower: 204-781-1987 Bruce Balsdon: 416-540-4437
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Northern Lights & Polar Bears Caravan
N-2026-E
You are scheduled to arrive at Forest Hills RV Park located 82 km (50 miles) north of the Canada/USA Border from Hwy #4 in North Dakota USA to Hwy #5 in Manitoba, or 13 km south of Carberry, MB on Hwy #5 on Sunday, September 13, 2026, with a Meet & Greet at the Sand Hills Casino at 4:30 pm.
On Monday, we will have a drivers’ meeting in the morning followed by a tour of Spud Plains Farm. The Welcome Dinner will be at the Sand Hills Casino that evening. On Tuesday, a 1 1/2 hour covered wagon ride with two regal Percheron horses as your guide will take us through the desert-like area known as the Spirit Sands, a 4 sq km tract of open blowing moving sand dunes that tower 30 meters above the surrounding prairie. You will see the Devil's Punch Bowl (an eerie pond formed by the action of underground streams) and will be able to walk in the sand dunes.
Then we are on our way to Neepawa, MB., where you will tour a working Canola Farm and the Farmery Estate Brewery. For those golfers in the group, prepare to get in a good game of golf or time to hike or bike. Next will be Dauphin where you will visit the Dauphin Railroad Museum, a tour of the Dauphin Ukrainian Church – old and new with a wonderful, catered dinner. A morning guided tour of Riding Mountain National Park will be spectacular with the changing colors of autumn. The rest of the day is for you to tour, hike or shop in the RM National Park.
Swan River is eagerly awaiting your arrival and will feature a tour of the Spruce Products Limited sawmill and Pretty Valley Honeybee farm. Then, we’re off to The Pas with a day tour of Round the Bend Farm with bison, chickens, and other animals. A free day for you to tour Clearwater Lake will feature their purple sand and you can hike one-half mile to see the deep crevices that formed when rock masses split away from shoreline cliffs. An Indigenous cultural experience at a Blanket Exercise and a visit to a Sweat Lodge (extra fee) in conjunction with the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is being planned.
The next stop is in Thompson, Manitoba to McCreedy Campground. We will have a few days there before we hop aboard the VIA rail train to Churchill. For those with pets, the campground owners will feed and care for our felines, dogs and others. There is also a pet boarding facility in Thompson (pay on your own - extra). You will have time to do your laundry, get your RV ready to leave it for 6 days while we are in Churchill.
On Thursday, we will all meet at the University of the North in Thompson to sort through all the items (toques or beanies, scarfs, mitts, scarfs, etc.), that you have brought with you for the Community Service Project that the caravan is well known for. After the items are sorted, they are boxed up and delivered to the various places in Thompson that we donate them to -- a women’s shelter, the local school, etc. The rest are boxed and go with us on the train to Churchill where they are donated to the community there. These donations are extremely appreciated by all.
On Friday, we’ll have a group lunch at 11:30 am and then at 4:30 pm we will board the VIA rail train to Churchill. Frontiers North Adventures will be our tour guides for an amazing experience. We’ll send you a list of MUST things to bring to Churchill. A full four days of activities are planned and include two days of Tundra Buggy Experience and TWO NIGHTS at the Tundra Lodge -- the only place to see those amazing Northern Lights & Polar Bears!! We will visit a Churchill resident and dog sledding expert and get a ride on a dog sled cart (only because there isn’t supposed to be snow when we are there, but!). We’ve added in all the meals and gratuities for all events while in Churchill – makes life easier for everyone. Enjoy the train ride to and from Churchill as this will be a great time for viewing the Northern Lights.
Then it’s a day’s drive to Grand Rapids for a quick overnight stay, then off to the Town & Country Campground in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
There’s no better way to see Winnipeg than to have a guided bus tour on Saturday morning. You’ll see the Manitoba Legislative Buildings, the gardens at Assiniboine Park, the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and more. Then you can decide where you would like to go back to visit for the afternoon.
We will carpool to the amazing Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg and visit The Forks on Sunday. On Monday you can visit the Assiniboine Park Zoo for a tour of “A Journey to Churchill” and lots of polar bears that all came from Churchill. An amazing Farewell Dinner will be served on Monday and a farewell breakfast on Tuesday morning as we say our “so longs and we’ll see you down the road.”
Bruce & Gail Harrower Bruce Balsdon
Volunteer Leaders
Schedule is subject to change without notice
Caravan Number: N-2026-E
Caravan Name: WBCCI Northern Lights & Polar Bears Caravan
Est Start Date: September 13, 2026
Start Location: Forest Hills RV Park, Carberry, MB.
Est Stop Date: October 13, 2026
Stop Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Total Number of Nights: 30
Number of Stops: 10
Co-Leaders & WBCCI #: Bruce & Gail Harrower, WBCCI #4478
Cell phone: 204-781-1987
Co-Leader & WBCCI #: Bruce Balsdon, WBCCI #20668
Cell phone : 416-540-4437
Email: northernlights.polarbears@gmail.com
Mailing address: WBCCI Northern Lights & Polar Bears Caravan
c/o Bruce & Gail Harrower
23 Village Drive
Ste. Anne, Manitoba, Canada
R5H 1H4
Maximum RV Units/With Leader: 20, or equivalent to 40 people
Minimum RV Units/With Leader: 15, or equivalent to 30 people
Estimated Kitty Fees:
Kitty Fee w/2: $17,400 CAD or $13,920 USD
Kitty Fee w/1: $10,210 CAD or $8,170 USD
Guest (each): $7,780 CAD or $6,230 USD
INCLUDES TWO (2) NIGHTS AT THE TUNDRA LODGE, ALL MEALS, AND GRATUITIES IN CHURCHILL
Deposit Amount: $1,000.00 CAD or USD when requested by leaders
Make Checks (Cheques) Payable to:
WBCCI Northern Lights & Polar Bears Caravan
Dates of Payments:
- Payment #1- due on or before November 20, 2025
RV w/2 – $9,700 CAD or $7,800 USD
RV w/1 – $5,600 CAD or $4,500 USD
- Payment #2- due on or before April 14, 2026
RV w/2 – $6,700 CAD or $5,120 USD
RV w/1 – $3,610 CAD or $2,670 USD
Kitty Fee Payment methods - provided once you are confirmed on the GO LIST.
Cancellation Fee:
As we are using a provider for a unique experience on this caravan and with much of the cost fixed, the economics are overly sensitive to having a full caravan. If we do not have a complete group as planned, then it makes it prohibitively expensive for the remainder of the group. For this reason, the cancellation policy must be different from other National Caravans. Trip cancellation insurance is strongly recommended.
Deposit:
Refund of 50% of deposit up to January 2, 2026
No refund on the deposit on or after January 3, 2026
Payment #1:
Full refund of payment up to February 1, 2026 – less any non-recoverable costs
Refund of payment #1 less $500.00 and any non-recoverable costs on or after February 2, 2026
Payment #2:
Refund of payment #2 less $500.00 and any non-recoverable costs on or after April 16, 2026
Cancellations and refund requests received on or after February 1, 2026, will be processed after the completion of the 2026 caravan.
Credit Card Payment Fee Disclaimer
Effective April 1, 2025, all caravan payments made via credit card will be subject to a 3% processing fee. This fee is automatically applied at the time of payment and is non-refundable, even in the event of a cancellation or refund request. By choosing to pay via credit card, you acknowledge and agree to this additional charge.