- 2 months ago
Two couples assume the lives of early settlers to the West. Using only the resources and tools of the period, they will attempt to build homes, raise livestock, hunt and grow crops.
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00:00Piano music
00:30Okay, we're tired again today.
00:51I'm really, really tired now.
00:54Yeah, my...
00:55Both our hands...
00:56The calluses, plus the actual muscles in the hands from using axes and pickaxes and shovels.
01:03And milking.
01:04Oh, milking is such a job.
01:05My fingers are cramp up halfway because I'm not used to it.
01:08Oh, I know.
01:09So both our hands are just killing us.
01:11We need like a day and a half just to rest our hands.
01:14This is really hard living like this.
01:17There's nothing easy about it.
01:19There's nothing fun, romantic, or anything about it.
01:23Oh, anyway, okay, we're going to bed tonight.
01:28Can I turn off?
01:29Yeah.
01:30Oh!
01:31Is that way to get you another blanket?
01:32Oh!
01:33No, I've got two feet.
01:34Are you sure that's enough?
01:35Yeah, my feet are killing me.
01:38No running water, no hot water, no toilet, no central heat, the cold.
01:50I mean, anyone who's from around this area, you know what the winter's like.
01:54You will want to quit for sure.
01:56The mosquitoes, the black flies, the heat, you're going to be dirtier than you've ever
02:01been in your life.
02:02There's no deodorant.
02:03I mean, this is primitive, dirty, and hard.
02:07Jamie Brown has just gone public with the plans for a new TV show that will bring the
02:12past to life.
02:14Hundreds have come to a meeting room in Winnipeg, hoping they'll be picked to be the stars.
02:19Here's the deal.
02:21Two couples will be paid $100,000 a piece if they complete a year living as prairie settlers.
02:28It's a return to life in the 1870s, a struggle to survive in the rugged Canadian heartland
02:33with only the tools of the time.
02:36But who would want to do this?
02:40We've built our own log home out on our trapline, which we did right from scratch.
02:58Hardworking and resourceful.
03:00Pretty crafty and handy too.
03:02We already have a log cabin that we've built of our own with no running water or electricity.
03:06I've lived in the High Arctic in Canada's north, working in a remote area, and Karen's a farm
03:11girl, so we don't see it.
03:14We know there's challenges that lie ahead, but we're totally prepared and ready to face
03:17them.
03:18Sounds like the perfect contrast of simplicity and difficulty, and like you'd never take
03:23anything for granted ever again, like nothing, so I think it would be the most awesome experience
03:29ever.
03:30I like the body language, look how close they're sitting together, man.
03:35The production team gets together to wrestle with a pile of applications.
03:40There's more than a thousand hopefuls and some tough choices to make, because no one has
03:44written a job description for the perfect pioneer, at least not in this century.
03:49One of the things I'm looking for is a sense of humor.
03:52I am looking for a certain twinkle, a sparkle.
03:55I think that's going to be incredibly important.
03:58Sidney Suiza works for History Television, one of the broadcasters.
04:02You've met Jamie, he's the executive producer.
04:05This is his idea, and it's taken him three years to make it happen.
04:10I think it's really important for us to get an insight into what the settlers would
04:13have gone through, to keep them in the settler world as much as we can.
04:18But they will always be from the 21st century.
04:21It is a time warp in that sense.
04:23Mike Scott is the producer for the film company Credo Entertainment, and Andy Blick is the director.
04:29Today, the challenge is to come up with a short list of candidates.
04:33We don't want anybody lazy.
04:35Everybody.
04:36Everybody.
04:37If they're going to survive a year on the homestead, everyone agrees they'll have to
04:42like hard work, and love farm living.
04:45They're at the age now where they're doing incredible.
04:48She's going to get up.
04:50That's enough for that.
04:53The next day, at an organic farm an hour south of Winnipeg,
04:57the 30 finalists are brought together for the first time.
05:01They're here to listen to Gerard Dubé.
05:03He's wise in the old ways.
05:07This is as close as they'll get to life as it was, and as it will be for two lucky couples.
05:14There's four pails here.
05:16If some of you want to drop some barley in there, just keep your head up, though.
05:22The sheep likes alarming.
05:25It's also a chance for the production team to see who's comfortable around the animals.
05:31And it's an opportunity for Jamie to discover who's Billy passionate about stepping into the past.
05:37So what would bring you guys all the way from Ontario to do this, at your own expense?
05:42Mostly your own expense.
05:43It's been our dream for a couple of years.
05:45We've been reading a lot of books on homesteading, and it's something we're just fascinated with.
05:49And we've got a lot in our background that make us interested in it, and it's just an absolute dream.
05:54And we've got the toughness and the stubbornness to do it.
05:59But it will take more than enthusiasm and camping skills to make it.
06:03The settlers have to feed themselves.
06:06The only thing I worry about for a milking cow is for her teeth to freeze.
06:11And that you're looking at a lot of problems if that happens.
06:15They need shelter in the winter.
06:16That's a good question.
06:18Just like the first pioneers, there will be livestock to look after.
06:22There's a lot to know, and much of it has been forgotten.
06:26People in those years, 1850 to 1870, they came to wherever they were going to
06:33with an incredible luggage already.
06:36Because that's how they live their lives then.
06:38They live their lives, and they learn on a daily basis from when they were this high.
06:42It's very different for you guys.
06:43It's going to be very difficult for you to live that life.
06:47Just to make the food from scratch, it's just the learning.
06:50And this is a very fundamental thing that we've totally forgotten in our society.
06:55It's where our food comes from, and the amount of work that it takes to prepare it.
07:00What I see is the physical strain on a person.
07:04That first three, four weeks is going to be very, very challenging to the patience of your victims.
07:17By the same token, it's a tremendous challenge for you to have this chance.
07:22I mean, it would be worth a million.
07:24If I didn't have this farm, I would apply to you, don't kid yourself.
07:29Let's go.
07:31I don't have any second thoughts about the going.
07:36I think he's right.
07:37No, that's exciting.
07:38I think he's very right.
07:39That's what you're going to have to face.
07:41The basic consensus was, yeah, that's right.
07:45We're going to have it tough.
07:46It is going to be tough.
07:47No two haze about it.
07:49They move on to a nearby Mennonite museum.
07:52The production team is getting to know the candidates.
07:55They're getting to know each other.
07:58Tom Janczak is a nursing student and a world traveler.
08:02Kirsten Karman is a field hockey champion.
08:04Both grew up on farms.
08:06Tom Ziolkowski just retired after 30 years as a bus dispatcher.
08:11Some here are seasoned farmers, others are at home hunting and trapping.
08:15The show will only be a success if the homesteaders have just the right mix of personalities,
08:22skills and experience.
08:26Because all the research is showing that everything about pioneer life was primitive and difficult.
08:32One of the largest problems that they faced, of course, was in the spring.
08:37This sod hut would be warm and as snow would melt outside, where would it go?
08:44The lowest spot, which is your sod hut.
08:46Flooding in the spring was a perennial problem.
08:48It was miserable.
08:49The accounts were that they wished they could go back to Russia at that point,
08:54but they had no choice.
08:55They couldn't go back.
08:56But no one here is talking about quitting.
08:59And the producers are confident that all of these finalists are great pioneer material.
09:04The final step is to send them for a police check and psychological and medical tests,
09:09to be as sure as possible that they're up to facing a year of relentless hard work and isolation.
09:16And what if they can't cut it?
09:18This is our worst fear.
09:20And it's one of the reasons we've focused so much on their commitment to this
09:25and their ability to really see this through.
09:29If they were to quit, we would risk losing the whole show.
09:33Tom and Pat Zielkowski are here for a final interview.
09:43They're strong candidates.
09:45Their children are grown.
09:46And although they've had city jobs, they live on a hobby farm just outside Winnipeg.
09:51And most important, they've always dreamed of returning to the simple life their parents knew.
09:57Well, the reason I'm asking if you can stick it out is because we want you to be our settlers.
10:02You're our choice.
10:03You're the ones we want.
10:06Thanks.
10:07I think we're making a few tears here.
10:10Well, it's...
10:11I think basically, yes.
10:12I think really we can do it for you.
10:15These will be your very good friends for the next year.
10:17All right.
10:18All right.
10:20That's good.
10:21Oh, good.
10:22Mr. Hunter.
10:23Yes, he is a hunter.
10:26And he's great with the black powder.
10:27Yes.
10:28He's a worksman.
10:29Yep.
10:30Hi, you guys.
10:31It's Jamie.
10:32How are you doing?
10:33Good.
10:34How are you?
10:35Oh, we're nervous.
10:36Just get it over with.
10:37If you found out today, when would you be here?
10:40We'd have to get rid of our jobs.
10:42And our parents would pack our place up for us.
10:45Well...
10:46Either late Friday night or first thing Saturday morning.
10:49Okay.
10:50Well, I would suggest you get going on it now because you're the ones we want to go with
10:53us on The Settlers.
10:55That's amazing.
10:56Thank you so much.
10:58Oh, that's wonderful.
11:00Oh.
11:01Okay, do we have to keep talking or can we run?
11:05Who's the other couple?
11:08Ah, yes.
11:09You might want to just say hi.
11:10It's Tom and Pat.
11:12Zilkoski, I know you met them on the weekend.
11:14Retired couple?
11:15Yep.
11:16Retired man?
11:17Yes, the retired man.
11:18That's him.
11:19Very good.
11:20That's him.
11:21We've really been thinking about everyone's skills and everything.
11:24We knew you guys were going to get it.
11:25Well, these guys will tell you our reaction when they told us who it was.
11:28We were both excited because that was our choice.
11:30Of all the young couples, you were the choice.
11:33Well, that's nice to know.
11:35Yeah.
11:36We're really, really looking forward to it.
11:37I think it'll be really neat.
11:38Are we going to name our farm?
11:40I think we're going to have to.
11:42We're going to have to.
11:43Any crazy acres or something like that.
11:54I gave my work like absolutely no notice.
11:56I worked like four hours yesterday and three hours today.
12:01Well, it's not like you had anything else to do.
12:04No, no, we only have, you know, three days to totally shut our lives down.
12:07So, that's plenty of time.
12:13My wife, the garbage picker.
12:20There's no time to waste.
12:22Frank and Alana Logie have a life to pack up.
12:24Alana is on leave from the hospital where she works as a psychiatric nurse.
12:28Frank is abandoning his job as a millwright.
12:31Alana's mother is wondering what will happen when they come face to face with their first
12:37Manitoba winter.
12:38Sometimes I think about how cold it is in Winnipeg.
12:41I lived there for 12 years.
12:44Do they get blankets or anything like that?
12:46Do they have to make it all?
12:47They have blankets, but they won't be able to isolate their house.
12:53His dad really loves history stuff and all he does is read history books and this is
12:57all stuff his dad makes for fun.
12:59Yeah.
13:00Frank and Alana will bring hunting and wilderness experience to the homestead.
13:03The bone handle.
13:04And some family treasures handed down from Frank's father.
13:07He made this gun and he said if I do anything to damage it, he's going to come up there
13:11and use it on me, so I have to be very careful.
13:14There's one more big decision to make.
13:25Pat and Tom check out the first of two possible sites for the homestead.
13:29The landowner has turned up with a map of the original settlers trail.
13:33You can show us here.
13:34Right about here.
13:35Well this is the cart trail that comes through here.
13:38Yeah.
13:39Basically what you see here.
13:40This is all untouched land.
13:42Six to eight foot dug well would be all kinds of water.
13:47Because at home if we dug a basement anymore and six feet deep we had water in it all summer long.
13:52This is good.
13:54Yeah, very good.
13:58This old homestead is 40 minutes north of Winnipeg.
14:01An area settled by Scottish immigrants more than a century ago.
14:05I figured this is a good spot for a yard site.
14:09Like, you know, you've got bush all the way around.
14:11You don't have far to go for your trees.
14:13You can go garden.
14:15You'll never feel the wind in here.
14:18No.
14:19This will be perfect.
14:20For Pat, this is a comfortable place.
14:23We lived in a little log house.
14:25Two rooms.
14:26All mud plaster on the outside and this was it.
14:29It was bush.
14:31Trail that went across and to a swamp and across the road the other way to Grandma's house.
14:37Does this feel like home maybe?
14:38Oh, yeah.
14:39This is just wonderful.
14:41This is great.
14:44Better than bald prairie.
14:48The other site is mostly open prairie.
14:52But it has one big advantage.
14:56Fresh water.
14:57There's a stream and a flowing artesian well.
15:00But not much bush to shield the pioneers from the fierce winds of January.
15:03It's a long ways to haul water, too.
15:05Whoa.
15:06I mean, where are we going to be putting the house anyway?
15:09Here, the trees are too sparse.
15:12Back there, oh, man.
15:13That's like almost walking a mile for water.
15:15Pat and Tom call the Logies and they make a decision.
15:19I think that during the winter we'd pretty well freeze out here.
15:23I think we're better off taking the, you know, the trees site.
15:27Yeah.
15:28And it sounds like the better one to me.
15:31Yeah.
15:32Um, file these two.
15:43That's just our car insurance.
15:47When they finally found out that they were chosen to go, we were so excited for them.
15:50But all day today I've been kind of moping around the house, feeling so upset because
15:56now they're gone for a year.
15:58And I'm really looking forward to seeing them going.
16:01But I'm sure going to miss them.
16:04How do you describe what you're feeling right now?
16:06Or can you?
16:07I can't really.
16:08I wish I was going.
16:09Very, very much.
16:11He's doing what I've always dreamt of doing.
16:17There's no words to describe it.
16:19He's going to have a wonderful time.
16:21He's going to have a great life.
16:22And we're going to miss them desperately.
16:24They're a great couple.
16:25And they will just do wonders with this.
16:28They really will.
16:30It'll change their lives totally.
16:32Take care of my clothes.
16:33I will.
16:34Take care of my clothes.
16:38In the saying of goodbyes,
16:40we hear a distant echo from the past.
16:43A century ago,
16:44the promise of a great adventure in the Canadian West
16:47meant a long and often permanent separation from family.
16:51For Frank and Alana,
16:52the pioneer experience truly begins here.
17:01How's that?
17:02That's a battery.
17:03Is that all you?
17:04Or is that the...
17:06It's layers.
17:07Oh.
17:08Buttons everywhere.
17:09You have to go to the washroom.
17:10It's going to take me half an hour.
17:11You'll appreciate when you're not wearing any underwear
17:12and the wind sort of blows through
17:13and you're out in the fields.
17:14You know, just a whisper.
17:15This is our form of birth control.
17:16We just dress like this
17:17and then we have no problem.
17:18Oh my.
17:20Oh my.
17:24No.
17:25No.
17:26Oh, there it is.
17:28There it is.
17:29Oh, no.
17:31No.
17:32Oh, there he is! There it is!
17:34Oh, no!
17:36I don't care!
17:38All right, we gotta go back to bed here, okay?
17:40Put the curtains up.
17:42Good night!
17:46June 3rd.
17:48The pioneers get together for the first time.
17:52Jamie reminds me of the
17:56responsibility, to stay true to the experience of a life on the prairies in the 1870s.
18:02Everyone agrees that means no trips to McDonalds.
18:06You know, it's just time for that Big Mac,
18:08and someone decided to make the trip,
18:10and hoping that Andy,
18:12because Andy had said he wouldn't be back till Friday,
18:14and they figured in four days they could make it to a McDonalds,
18:16and get back.
18:18What?
18:20What?
18:22What?
18:24What?
18:28This is an experiment, a social experiment,
18:31and its integrity is based on the honesty and the integrity of what you do.
18:37If you compromise us, the experiment is defeated.
18:42Its power will come from your integrity,
18:46and the belief in the audience that you won't make it.
18:50And your task is to make it,
18:54and in the way that we all expect you to try to do that.
18:59So that's really important.
19:0148 hours to go.
19:03The pioneers are introduced to their work partners, Duke and Diamond,
19:07Percheron draft horses.
19:09They're gentle and experienced.
19:11And that's a good thing.
19:13So, who has experience with a team of horses? Anybody?
19:18A little bit, but that's about it. Not much.
19:21Not much.
19:22Helping her uncle do hay with the team in the wintertime a couple of times,
19:25but all that, nothing, no.
19:27This is going to be a real experience.
19:29I've gone on a few hay rides.
19:30That's, you know, I've been in the wagon.
19:32Good luck.
19:37You were always harnessed before I got there.
19:40That's right.
19:41Tom and Frank are uncovering a myth about pioneer life.
19:45The 1870s world they're about to enter is anything but simple.
19:50There's a maze of harnesses for Duke and Diamond,
19:53and a complex set of commands to learn before two tons of horse flesh
19:57will go where they want it to.
19:59I'll get between the tree now.
20:01Oh, boy.
20:02Oh, boy.
20:03Right into the tree.
20:05There's no trees out there.
20:06Yeah, let's go on the driveway.
20:07We've got a little bit more room.
20:08If we were trying to train them on our own,
20:10we'd never make it out there.
20:13Frank soaks up the lesson.
20:15Soon he and the others will be alone with Duke and Diamond,
20:18with no one to turn to for help.
20:21And when you're plowing,
20:22do you usually tie these just around you, behind you?
20:24Well, what kind of plow have you got?
20:25I'm not sure.
20:26I don't know if they have a plow yet.
20:28I think it's going to take a lot for us to...
20:35Whoa!
20:36They don't like you there.
20:38It's going to be a big experience learning to try and plow with this.
20:45I think we're going to be plowing halfway across the field,
20:48trying to get it straight.
20:49I think it's going to take a lot of work.
20:51So why weren't you guys out there trying this?
20:54Because we're going to bake the bread.
20:55Guys are doing it.
20:56And do the laundry.
20:57Guys are doing it.
20:58Men's work.
20:59Either that or they have to bake bread, one or the other.
21:01They've got a choice.
21:02We'd like to try, but we've got to split the evil work,
21:06and we've got to do some of that washing.
21:08Yeah, we could.
21:09We could take the horses to town, and they can wash on the washboard,
21:13the long underwear.
21:14They've got to be willing to split.
21:15What's the evil about washing clothes?
21:17On a washboard?
21:18You guys remember that when you're complaining to us,
21:21we don't do any laundry.
21:22Just remember, you're not doing any of this.
21:24That's the trade-off there.
21:26We are very blessed by this special day and adventure
21:36that our family is going on, and we thank you, Father,
21:41for the blessings of all the friends here today and family.
21:44Amen.
21:45Come.
21:47It's Tom and Pat's turn to say goodbye.
21:50Friends and family gather to wish them well
21:53and wonder what will become of them in the weeks ahead.
21:56Dad always said, you know, 100 years ago,
21:58he would love to have lived, so he gets his chance.
22:01We think they're nuts.
22:02Yeah.
22:03We think they're nuts.
22:04But we also wish them the best, you know.
22:06I don't think anyone can imagine how difficult this would be.
22:09And I'm worried that maybe they've just looked at the adventure side of it,
22:14and they haven't thought the whole thing through, you know, really.
22:18Because there's so many things we just take it for granted nowadays.
22:22So, yeah, I'm a little worried about them.
22:24Having 50 years of their life was a lot tougher to survive.
22:28And that's, that's, I don't really think any of us can imagine what it was like.
22:35I don't know.
22:36I'm happy.
22:37I'm sad.
22:38I'm happy.
22:39I can tell you.
22:40I can't even talk.
22:42Happiness, joy.
22:43No.
22:44Stop there.
22:45You have sadness too.
22:46Oh, I'm going to miss you.
22:48Happiness, joy, you know, stuff like that.
22:54You have a little sadness too.
22:59Oh, I want a juke.
23:07My burps, they won't let me bring those either, damn it.
23:12You guys better not lose those when I'm away, that's all I have to say.
23:16It's strange, it's weird. That's what I did all morning, I thought this is my last bath, this is the last nice toilet, this is the last breakfast.
23:22I mean, it's so weird today, we were going through all the last.
23:26It's the final wardrobe call, and the press is waiting.
23:30Tom and Pat are nowhere to be found.
23:33They arrive late. With a bad case of the jitters, there's a sense that something's going wrong.
23:41It's windy in here. Did you hear the fan going?
23:44Are you shaking?
23:46Yeah, I am shaking.
23:48Trying to settle down.
23:50Time constraint.
23:51What the heck are you thinking?
23:56I'm always for a good adventure, and I'm a hard worker, and basically it's like a dream.
24:01You know, when I sent it to the paper, I said to my wife, phone this number, I wasn't worried about the price, I couldn't care if they were giving you nothing.
24:08I said, phone this, this is for us, this is something we want to do.
24:10I'd like to get a sense of, in your heart of hearts, what are the emotional tests that you're going to have to go through.
24:16It would be crazy to think that everything's going to be lovely and wonderful the whole time, and we've talked about it.
24:21The four of us are pretty outspoken, we say what we feel, so we're not going to be holding anything back.
24:25We can't hold grudges.
24:26We can't hold grudges and let it eat us up inside, and we can't hold grudges and let it eat us up inside.
24:30And we just have to know, we learn we have to get over it.
24:32It's like a marriage, no marriage is perfect, it doesn't have an argument, right?
24:34And if they don't say they didn't have an argument, then there's no love there.
24:36That's my belief, so...
24:37So you love us?
24:38Yeah, I love you.
24:39Cheers.
24:40Cheers.
24:41Cheers.
24:42Cheers.
24:43Cheers.
24:44Cheers.
24:45Cheers.
24:46Cheers.
24:47Cheers.
24:48Cheers.
24:49Cheers.
24:50Cheers.
24:51Cheers.
24:52Cheers.
24:53Cheers.
24:54Cheers.
24:55Cheers.
24:56Cheers.
24:57Cheers.
24:58Cheers.
24:59Cheers.
25:00Cheers.
25:01Cheers.
25:02Cheers.
25:03Cheers.
25:04Cheers.
25:06June 6th.
25:07It's time to leave the 21st Century behind.
25:10Time to pack a new life of old things.
25:13Thank you, sir.
25:17The pioneers will have all the staples they need to get started, and $500 in 1870s money.
25:23Yeah.
25:24A healthy grub stake to see them through the year.
25:28They'll load more than 400 items, all of it recommended by experts, then hunt it down
25:34in basement corners and backyards, some antiques, some reproductions, everything as close to
25:411870 as possible.
25:44But one question remains, will it all fit?
25:52It's just hard to express, I'm so excited.
25:56I can't believe we actually did it.
25:58I mean, this is the reality, we actually, we managed to do this.
26:02We look at the, you know, it's all there, it's on the cart, they've got the stuff they
26:05need, they're ready to go, they're taking their last sips of Coca-Cola they'll have for
26:08the next 12 months and they're, I can tell they're ready to run.
26:12They're ready to go.
26:13They want to get this started.
26:21Slow down, you're going to lose everything, Tom.
26:23You've got to go slow, everything's going to fall off the back.
26:25You've got to go slow down, you're going to lose everything.
26:29It's just a truck.
26:31Daisy!
26:42For one brief moment, we see again the making of the real West.
26:47The living memory of it, dead and buried for three generations or more.
26:51Brought back to life by an old wagon, a few possessions,
26:55and a dream of finding something simple and good.
27:20It's an eight-kilometer trek from the town to the homestead,
27:23a tough four-hour hike in the brand-new boots they've been given.
27:27But just a stroll compared to the journey the first pioneers would have made here
27:30more than a century ago.
27:33You're sinking, don't stop!
27:37Amazing, it's just bouncing right in the clock.
27:39What do you think, Alana?
27:40It's amazing!
27:41This is way better than I thought.
27:42Do you think it's a good home for Daisy?
27:43Yup.
27:44That was a long trip.
27:45You're back, huh?
27:46It ain't going any further.
27:47Can you imagine doing that for a month and a half?
27:48From sun up to almost sun down.
27:49We set up our tent and get an area for the animals to stay in for the night, get the chickens down.
27:54There's quite a bit of stuff to do, actually.
27:55It's late afternoon and there's no time to rest.
27:56The night and the road, the fam, the forest, the forest, the forest, the forest, the forest,
27:58the forest, the forest, the forest...
27:59and the forest.
28:00It's amazing.
28:02This is way better than I thought.
28:03You think it's a good home for Daisy?
28:04Yup.
28:05That was a long trip.
28:06You're back, huh?
28:07It ain't going any further.
28:08Imagine doing that for a month and a half?
28:09From sun up to almost sun down.
28:11and uh get an area for the animals to stay in for the night get the chickens down there's quite a
28:17bit of stuff to do actually it's late afternoon and there's no time to rest the pioneers are
28:26starting from scratch frank and alana go straight to work cutting poplar trees for tent poles
28:34all the animals need attention daisy has been waiting for hours to be milked
28:38whoa don't you dare you got enough of this got enough for you it's a job they'll be doing twice
28:48a day every day for a year meanwhile there's a battle raging in the chicken crate it seems there's
28:57too many roosters i've never seen roosters yeah i've never seen roosters lay eggs before so we're
29:04we're going to be eating chicken soon we're going to need ones that actually eggs that's going to be
29:08in it we we have a slight problem there we have what that's why they're fighting so much
29:16what you gave the wrong drawing for the tent that's not what the tent looks like
29:23yeah what you have to do is you have to have three sets of poles they're bringing me up to midnight
29:27the tent that's pretty yeah but what are you going to do
29:45i have lots of frustrating things so what's for dinner coffee coffee you seen it yet dried meat we
29:54already had it that was our cooking the production team is worrying about tom and pat as the evening
30:04wears on they seem more and more upset and disoriented and there are unnerving jokes about leaving
30:10that's enough that's enough already screw it we're going home we're packing up we're going home we want
30:22our old places back
30:30conference come on what's with that well we're reloading the wagon so that's it we're leaving
30:37it's a struggle to decide where to put everything and what needs to be done first
30:45the horses are thirsty before dark someone needs to go out in the bush and find some water
30:52you're gonna go you should get water from the slough though
30:56i don't know it's just down this way i'll take them one at a time yeah and you want to give me a hand now
31:01i'm gonna try this again i'm trying to hit them right this time i should throw those ones out of the
31:08way
31:17what
31:18where are you where are you the settlers are confronting the realities of life in the 1870s i can't
31:35hear you a world with no street lights and no maps and no one to help them find the necessities of life
31:42there's supposed to be a slew back here someplace it'll have to wait till morning now boy
31:56i hope we can get a roof over our head we hope to have a tent someplace to sleep besides under a tree
32:03it's close to midnight before the tent is ready and the exhausted pioneers can go to bed
32:09the tent has no floor only a tarp and blankets laid out on the hard ground
32:16further pioneer adventures all press conferences will be done the day before you leave
32:23proper instructions on the right tent and if you find the wagon gone in the morning you'll know why
32:28okay there's a tick on my arm that's my first ever tick first ever welcome to manitoba thank you
32:42thank you manitoba i love you
32:44wednesday thursday friday sardy sunday mondays there'll be no roosters left we'll have one alarm
33:00clock left those guys go off at 6 30 in the morning we nearly we nearly had chicken for breakfast
33:08two of them nobody hit the snooze button it wouldn't stop tom left the tent with the axe we
33:13thought he was going to hit the snooze button but as you can see we survived through a night
33:22we weren't gone in the morning like we told you
33:30of course i had to get up 40 times to untangle them horses too
33:33and then once in a while too we'd be thinking all our food's in here and we hear all the animals
33:37we'd be thinking something's around here so then we'd get up and tell them we'd get the lantern going
33:42and check so we're pretty cold once we have our tents made we'll be okay i think because we'll be off
33:46the ground and we can use that extra wool blanket we have wire feathers so i have no idea look at the fence
33:52today check out this breakfast yeah but that doesn't hang oh no like we're probably just
33:58uh look at how fatty that is it's breakfast time the pioneers have 10 pounds of pork and no refrigerator
34:09the only option is to eat it it's a good thing they're hungry
34:17it feels like they've been up for hours but a day of heavy labor lies ahead and they're beginning on a
34:23bad night's sleep i don't know i uh i guess you guys could make some cheese you know what that's
34:34almost impossible to do on this no you've got to keep an even temperature
34:38i can't make cottage cheese on that no i'm not i mean that's just about impossible
34:47who wants to do the next shift huh
34:52we need a milking stool
34:56we need a milking stool
35:00it's taking me hours
35:01okay my turn's done look at her go okay what was i even milking more
35:11you're gonna learn you know that it's your job you're gonna learn to be like that alanna
35:15if i only knew i could just pull
35:16it's a pretty good hike to the slough yes for over half a mile i would say yeah i'm gonna have
35:31to dig a well today
35:38the drinking water they've brought with them will soon run out tom and frank get down to work on a
35:44well alanna begins hand digging a kitchen garden
35:51pat watches as alanna struggles to break the soil with a simple hand tool
35:55but the sod is unforgiving
35:59prairie grass
36:01well when are we gonna get the plow though
36:03well hey we sabotaged our project oh i know we have no plow so
36:08well we can't all four of us work on a well
36:10well so do you want me to keep plugging away at this it's gonna have to be huge
36:16the plow is missing some parts there's frustration and finally anger and a confrontation over the
36:22supplies like what are the problems you're having this is is lacquered that's why we're all getting
36:28blisters you have to take sandpaper off it you have to take sandpaper take the lacquer off you have
36:32blisters any any time any normal person buys one of these they sandpaper down our axe our pick
36:39everything we're we're given this we have no sandpaper these are chipping yeah when we're eating
36:44off the plates we're eating little bits of blue paint whoever put these handles on made them too
36:50short and i don't know why then the plow hooked up is a really important thing it's taking us an
36:57hour and a half to milk this cow morning and night so we can throw this milk out and this is june and
37:01we literally froze last and the other thing is the chickens i don't know i have yet to see a rooster
37:07lay eggs but we have seven roosters and six chickens and we don't have an egg yet we don't have one
37:11egg so i have a skirt i had on yesterday and the costume ladies have been great they were working
37:16around the clock and then a big wool dress so and my petticoats honestly pat saw they come out to here
37:23and i tie them and stuff them in my underwear i still can't keep them up one of the petticoats
37:27other than my one skirt oh yeah that dress is unbearable like i'm downed underwear until they
37:31get more stuff made i need more than one skirt that's cotton okay well i phoned credo they're
37:38had they are having an emergency meeting right now i gave them the that list some of the stuff isn't
37:42on that list so i've given them the list they're saying that they're going to be out within 48 hours
37:49with a bunch of the stuff and the other news i have is i went over to lindsay you know the farm we cut
37:55through and on our way through here yeah yeah i went over there and uh he has percher on horses
38:01and he'll be over on his horse this afternoon with the parts you need for the plow terrific terrific
38:06thank you so much we're not wimping out by any means and we're not trying to say but real settlers
38:11who did it prepared the stuff themselves they knew what they were taking we're learning too and they're
38:18trying to figure out what you needed and there were some mistakes made so we're going to work on them
38:21okay that's great so no one's ready to leave yet no no no not at all no we were shooting the horses
38:27we had planned for everything we had everything asked the guys it's becoming clear this experiment is
38:33going to be much more difficult than anyone had imagined the pioneers get back to work on the well
38:38it's pretty hard yeah it's all clay we've reached uh clay and and it's down in it isn't really that
38:47bad but it's uh mixed with a gravel now and it's making it really hard like hard pack no most people
38:56know what that is i don't even really know as i've heard of it but it's it's like literally like
39:01trying to trying to drill through this rock right here it's a back-breaking job and after hours of
39:09digging there's not much of a payoff for frank oh
39:20as the work continues pat and tom seem content to watch there's so much to be done but they withdraw
39:27frank and elena are left wondering what's going on they sense that something's terribly wrong
39:38finally tom and pat offer a shocking explanation so what's happened an absolute nightmare
39:47total nightmare tom was charged with sexual assault yesterday morning before that's why he was late for
39:54the for the for the wardrobe thing so i now have to immediately call jamie and uh tell him i don't know
40:05what's going to happen the zielkowskis reveal that in the early hours of the first morning before the
40:12final wardrobe fitting in the news conference the rcmp charged tom with sexual assault he says the case
40:19involves the family acquaintance both tom and pat deny the charge they say they'll fight it but
40:25because tom faces a court date in august they've come to the conclusion that it may be best if they just
40:30leave the rest of the production team arrives with some of the missing gear things that were forgotten
40:43that's what's going to happen to me oh wonderful tea tea ah tea jane james brought cynthia jordan the
40:54psychologist who helped pick the candidates sure sure no problem oh where should we
41:02we realize that this is just an allegation that someone's brought this isn't something that's
41:16that we're making any judgment on at all obviously you know how we feel about you
41:20um i'm just so sorry about this situation everyone agrees it's best if pat and tom go
41:30after less than 24 hours on the land their dream is crushed the future uncertain
41:45how much do you think when i saw you this morning your frustration anxiety
42:01was about the stuff and how much about some of the problems that were going on underneath
42:07um most of it was problems i think yeah not to do with the stuff yeah happened i think a lot to do
42:12what's happening we were the only ones doing anything which was really frustrating for us and
42:17we didn't know why you know because they i was getting really scared honestly because i thought
42:22this is the first day and we really like these people and they're already sitting around and it's
42:27only one day one day and it was getting scary i thought wow this can be a hard year hard enough to
42:32get along with strangers yeah yeah never mind if you're the ones doing everything for them right so
42:38it was a little you know but and we get along fine i mean you know we didn't have any problems that way
42:43it's just it was getting frustrating as far as the work went
42:49well what is the plan figure now it's been a day of shaken dreams
42:54jamie's wondering how frank and alanna feel about continuing frank and alanna are worried about who will
43:00replace tom and pat but they're certain they're going to stay and face the challenges of the land
43:11we actually haven't reached water a little bit of water tinkled out the side so we don't actually
43:16have water yet but it's thin enough well that's kind of a debt like yeah that's like rock hard right
43:24now the uh pick bounces off it so we haven't really uh figured out how to if we had dynamite they had
43:30that in 1875 they did they did that might oh that might be there's a feeling this adventure is worth
43:36saving that somewhere among the finalists jamie will find another couple to share the quest
43:46okay it's wednesday this is our first diary we had a pretty crazy day a lot of emotions and it was
43:59pretty hectic um and now we're waiting to find out we don't know who we're going to end up with and
44:06we hope it's a great couple and a good match and and that we're all compatible and can work well
44:10together so we're going to miss tom and pat i hope you guys are doing okay and um hopefully we get a
44:17couple that's that is going to be just as good and and we're nervous about it you know it's hard to
44:23spend a yard here with anybody and and we're hoping that there'll be someone that we can work well with
44:31okay so that's our suspense for the next few days waiting to find out who it is and then um you know it
44:36will be a relief in a way when they come it's funny because it is it's nice in a way to have a
44:41couple days to herself even though it's a lot of hard work but then when they come you know if they
44:45have different skills than we have then there's someone else to help out too so we'll wait and see
44:51wait and see okay bye again
44:53if mama ain't happy nobody's happy make sense frank's out in the back there and he's marking where the
45:14corral is going to be so when i get this done here we'll run the corral thing and we'll probably have
45:20the kitchen set up corral set up horses and the tellers will be happy today the ladies will be
45:26happy and i'll tell you when the kitchen gets set up i'll be happy seems like tim's a take charge guy
45:37how are you feeling about that honest honest honest we'll be out of here in a month so
45:45deanna won't deanna's got her doilies and she's worried about her kitchen being perfect everything
45:51perfect and if we if we live like that out here we'll never get a thing done
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