Original subtitles

[upbeat music playing]

This is spring, on my homestead.

[Matty] Spring's great because you get a lot more daylight,

which makes great work conditions.

We have really cold weather that just came.

It's going to make it really hard to dig out the ground.

That's gonna take all day.

[Margot] I'm running out of meat and bear season just opened.

I have to be the stalker, not the opposite.

[gunshot]

We had a polar bear about two weeks ago.

It's important to have a gun with us.

They can come pretty quick.

It's so heavy, at least 100 pounds, at least.

It's huge.

[grunts] Forget about it.

Last thing I want to do is drop one of these logs.

You know, you need to be a certain level of fitness

just to live the day-to-day life out here, let alone do work.

The rivers are dangerous.

Even very experienced people get swept away by the current.

Fuck me.

[theme music playing]

[soft music playing]

[wind blowing]

[Margot] Winters in the Yukon are pretty long.

I mean, it's six months of winter.

It's always nice to see the end, when the spring shows up.

[birds and insects chirping]

[peaceful music playing]

Daylight almost all day long right now.

It's getting dark around midnight,

so it gives me a lot of time to work and really now focus on hunting.

I'm out of meat right now, and bear season just opened,

so, I'd like to fill up my freezer again.

Come on, Cade. [whistles]

[gunshot]

I'm gonna shoot a couple bullets

to make sure I'm still shooting straight,

to make sure my scope is good to go.

[gunshot]

Yeah, it's a little bit too high on the right,

so I just got to adjust my scope a little bit and it should be good.

[gunshot]

[gunshot]

I don't want to find out that I'm not shooting straight

when I'm being charged by a bear.

[suspenseful music playing]

[gunshot]

Bullseye.

I think I'm a pretty good shot.

[soft music playing]

The bears just woke up about two weeks ago.

Soon they will be hunting again, but so far they're just looking for grass.

I'm looking for tracks, scats, hair on the trees.

This airstrip is perfect because it's open, it's in the sun,

so there's good grass starting to grow.

There's some bear tracks.

Looks like a small black bear.

You can see the claws here.

The pad.

It's not that old because it's still pretty clear to read.

Yeah, I can see a couple more tracks going this way.

There is a trail over there that goes between those two mountains,

so, at least, I can try to follow the track for a little bit

and see if I see him.

That's awesome to see that there's someone around, so it's a good start.

You have to be careful bear hunting, for sure.

It's not because you don't see them that they're not around.

They can charge you.

They can attack you, for sure.

I'm not necessarily nervous, I'm just more aware.

You have to follow your gut feeling and be the stalker, not the opposite.

[upbeat music playing]

Might not look like it but this is spring in Newfoundland.

As soon as the snow all disappears, you can see just shit everywhere.

Sticks blown down all winter, like, this is spring cleaning up here.

This is official Newfie fire starter around these parts.

Sometimes, it's just so wet, just needs a little encouragement sometimes.

Biting at the bit to do all these spring projects and now it's finally here.

Big one that I'm really excited for is the root cellar.

A root cellar is basically an off-grid version of a deep freeze or cooler.

It's a big cold hole in the ground where things stay preserved.

It's called a root cellar.

To me, it's just a log cabin underground.

Spring's great because you get a lot more daylight,

until like nine, ten o'clock at night.

It's not too warm, the flies aren't really out yet,

which makes great work conditions.

Now, this is the tricky part for me, is the getting things square.

This isn't going to work.

Doesn't look that square to me.

The math says it is.

Oh, it's definitely not square. Jesus.

Sometimes, the math is just wrong.

It's just rough.

At the end of the day, we're not building a grand piano here.

That's good enough. That's it.

This is going to hold the rocks we're going to put in,

and we're gonna pour concrete.

I mean, it really doesn't take much to make me happy.

A square wooden box

inside of a square hole. [scoffs]

Basically, you know, a treasure hoard full of just food,

which, out here, firewood and food, that is your treasure.

Next step now is to throw a stone in.

We're off to the races.

[upbeat music playing]

It's definitely what you call a labour-intensive project.

Luckily, I love labour-intensive things.

I think that's it.

Put all the rocks you can, they're almost at level.

Everything else will be brought up with the cement.

Damn, out of daylight, we got maybe an hour or so of light left

and it's not enough time to pour this, so I'll leave it there.

Come back in the morning, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, pour concrete first thing.

[soft music playing]

[Emilie] It's exciting to see what we've done.

Even though it'll never be done, we'll always have something we want to add.

But, that's a whole part of the journey that I love the most.

So, I got 12 ft right here.

[laughs] This is going to be really big.

Today, we're going to start building a shaputuan.

[Gilbert] It's a gathering place

and it's used for getting together and then preparing food.

[Emilie] And we want to get that done now because goose hunt is coming up,

and I want to be able to pluck the geese in the shaputuan

covered and warm.

- Silas is going to come help us today? - Yeah, yeah, he's coming.

All right, that's good.

[Gilbert] Silas is my nephew.

He's very, very useful.

One, two, three, lift.

I'm very happy that he's helping.

Right there.

It's springtime, but we have really cold weather that just came.

It's around -20 today.

That means it's going to make it really hard to dig out.

After we do one of these, there's 13 more?

[Gilbert] Yep. It's going to be 13 more after this.

That's gonna take all day.

- Maybe four hours? - Four hours.

- Four hours non-stop. - Those sound like Gilbert hours again.

[both chuckle]

Where's Nikik?

Nikik is going to alarm me for almost anything.

We had a polar bear about two weeks ago in Peawanuck.

[tense music playing]

There could be a polar bear stalking us just around the corner over there.

Nikik, come here.

It's important to have a gun.

You never know, they can come pretty quick.

So, you want to be on guard, you want to be ready.

- Going to start putting in some poles? - Yeah.

- Right here? - [Gilbert] Yeah, yeah.

It'd be nice to have concrete,

but we don't have access to concrete here, so...

We're going to use the cold to our advantage.

Yeah.

Tomorrow, this is going to be like cement.

It's going to freeze over.

[upbeat music playing]

[Emilie] This lifestyle wouldn't be as interesting

if there wasn't all this hard work.

This one's just not as deep, though. Is that okay?

[Gilbert] Should be all right.

- How's that look? - Looks good.

Okay.

[Emilie] And all the effort that you put in,

all the hard work that you put in, you see it at the end of the day.

I can't believe we're ending the day with the poles in.

[soft music playing]

[Billy] This is spring, in a cabin, on my homestead.

It's just a great time to harvest.

There is so much to do in this cabin,

but one thing I have to do first, it's a front porch.

Will act like a mud room.

Yeah, I really need to do that.

[upbeat music playing]

Okay.

Just temporary, just to see how levelled is the cabin.

[chuckles] Crazy.

This is not levelled at all.

It's like the old cabin is going this way. [laughs]

The left foot needs to go down.

I did not plan to do it, it's just a surprise.

As always, in the woods.

There we go.

I'm just going to grab a big rock that I spotted,

that I'm going to put right underneath.

Okay.

That's the big daddy.

It's so heavy.

[laughs]

[grunting]

[grunting]

[scoffs]

Forget about it, it's more than 100.

[laughs]

It's way more.

Okay, so plan B.

[intriguing music playing]

[grunting]

Oh yeah. That's working.

Do I suffer here? No.

This is where I choose to be.

No, I have to go backwards.

You have to find a way of, you know, enjoying yourself everywhere you go.

Otherwise, you're just chasing suffering in your life.

[grunts]

Ah!

[sighs]

Here we go.

So, I'm just going to lower the jacks down slowly.

Whoa. There we go.

Whoo!

The moment of truth.

[chuckles] That's good.

Before, it was like this and now, pfft.

It's nice.

Yeah. I'm ready for the front porch.

[Matty] At the end of the day, I like to be physically tired.

I like to feel like I did something.

I feel good, I feel worn out.

I have no trouble going to sleep at the end of the night.

[Margot] Some nights you're just so exhausted that you go straight to bed.

It can get tiring, but that's why you want to be here,

because it's back to a simple life.

[Emilie] I find when I was living in this city,

my mind was just so full of stressors that it wakes you up at night.

And I find here, I don't have that.

It's one thing at a time.

[rhythmic music playing]

[Matty] Having a root cellar here is going to make me that much more independent

in the woods and need town that much less.

That literally is rock solid.

[laughs]

Now, this stuff, this is the Newfie mix.

There's a bag of concrete dust, I guess, and you mix this with the sand.

No instructions on the bag.

I don't really understand why they don't just mix it for you.

Should be at least a little bit of a discount, boys.

It gives me hope that there is no instructions,

because it must be idiot proof.

And we're going to put that to the test, I guess.

Just add water, so they say.

This is definitely the first time

I've ever been in charge of the concrete myself.

We'll see how this goes.

Mm.

We may have not gotten enough concrete.

I can already see it.

That's three bags.

And we just did it to that one a little bit.

Might not have enough.

That's the thing with concrete, now that we're started,

we're kind of committed, because it's drying as we speak.

All you can really do is adapt.

Just going to use a bit of the sand just to take up some volume.

Then I'll save the cement for the outside edge and the top.

I mean, it's not ideal, but it's what you got to do sometimes out here.

The real issue here is cheapness.

I am a cheap man.

I bought ten bags instead of 20.

I thought I could stretch it.

[scoffs] Obviously, I was wrong.

This is definitely a hillbilly cement job.

[suspenseful music playing]

All I'm thinking right now is, "Oh, shit, I hope this works."

Last precious cement we got.

Every last drop.

All right, that's it.

Onto harvest some logs.

[soft music playing]

Peeling the logs isn't just for aesthetics.

I mean, it does look very, very nice, a peeled log is beautiful,

but it's also to help preserve the log, because if you leave the bark on,

the tree will just rot.

Just skinning logs, just skinning logs.

We just peel it all off, and then we start notching.

[chainsaw buzzing]

Just Michelangelo with a chainsaw.

This tongue will slot into a groove, like Lego blocks, really.

It's amazing what you can build with a chainsaw, chisel and an axe.

Pretty damn good.

I call that success, the first, first of 55 pieces.

Better keep going.

[soft music playing]

[Emilie] Whoa! It held up?

- Yeah, it's like cement. - Wow.

[Emilie] Working in the north,

every season has things that we're very busy with.

In two days, we're gonna have south wind, so the geese are going to be here.

I've been wanting just anything where I can process meat,

sit around the fire, and have the kids around.

Shaputuan's gonna be great for that.

- All right. - Next.

[rhythmic music playing]

[Gilbert] This can't sit on the ground, it's gonna rot.

Ah.

[drill whirring]

[Nikik whimpering]

[Emilie] Oh, Gilbert. Look.

[Gilbert] I think he stepped on a nail or something?

[Emilie] Come here, Nikik. [Gilbert] You step on something?

Let's see what's going on.

[Nikik whimpering]

[growling]

[Emilie] Shit.

I don't see anything, but I'm afraid he's gonna hurt me.

[Nikik whimpering]

Are you going to be okay?

You just got to take it easy.

All right.

We'll get some dirt because we don't have any dirt.

It's really in times like this that you realize, like,

how important your dog is to you.

Like, I feel comfortable being here and not having to watch my back

because he's the one that tells us if there's a bear nearby.

[Emilie] I mean, you have to be careful, but you also have to get a job done.

You have to keep going.

[soft music playing]

[Emilie] They're kind of warped.

- We do a stud. - Oh, the whole thing, all around?

Yeah, all the way around.

That was never talked about as part of the plan.

It just adds a lot more work to this thing.

That's my original plan.

I'm not disagreeing with you.

I'm just caught by surprise.

And at this point, I feel like I can't picture anything anymore.

[Gilbert] The tedious jobs,

she'll get a little frustrated with the tedious stuff.

Oh, yeah.

Then added on with tiredness, she gets grumpy.

I get the same way, but I just don't show it.

That looks way better.

Yes, we all know Gilbert was right.

All right.

- Should we do the final wall? - Yep.

[Emilie] It's been a very long day and it's getting very cold.

Walls are up.

[thudding]

Oh my God, are we seriously doing this right now?

I thought we were done.

I think it's time we call it a day.

Like, two of our batteries are done.

I just, I think we're done.

No.

- [thudding] - [laughs]

Oh! No.

[soft music playing]

[Margot] It's hunting season again.

Bear season just opened, so I have to be the quiet one

and, you know, just try to be a predator.

I'd like to cross the creek to go on the other side,

where I know there is some, it could be some grass for the bears.

So, I'm just looking for a spot where it's not too deep and not too fast.

[suspenseful music playing]

The water level right now is pretty high

because the snow has been melting for the last couple weeks.

That might be a good spot here.

I'm just going to cut a pole,

so I can see how deep it is, and it's going to help me to cross.

Every year, there is accidents with crossing rivers.

Even very experienced people get swept away by the current.

Sometimes, there is a deep hole and if you step in them

and lose your balance, you can get swept away.

You know, you might end up a couple kilometres downstream,

so you have to be careful.

Fuck me.

[suspenseful music playing]

You stay, bud.

Stay there. Okay?

I wanted to find a spot where he can cross with me,

but here there is too much current, he's going to get swept away.

So, I'm just going to go have a quick look there and come back here.

[Cade whimpering]

[uplifting music playing]

There is definitely some fresh grass growing.

So, might be good for bears.

So far not, I haven't seen any signs,

but it's definitely a really cool spot for moose hunting.

It's a super cool spot because it's not far from camp

and it's perfect moose environment,

so maybe I'll try to build a bridge to cross the creek and get there easier.

Yeah, if I build a bridge, I can just come and call every day

and see what's going on around here.

And especially if I get a moose, to bring the meat back home,

it's gonna be way easier than having to cross the river on foot.

Yeah, fuck, it's, it's an awesome spot.

[rhythmic music playing]

[Billy] Okie dokie.

Beautiful day to work on the cabin, on the porch.

Gonna start with the frame.

All right. So, is it level?

Yepper, very happy.

I've been using hand tools for this cabin since the beginning,

so I'm not going to stop here.

[soft music playing]

When I built the cabin, I really wanted to build it with hand tools,

only hand tools, like the old times.

And I did it.

After I finished to build the cabin, I left the Gaspé Peninsula

and I travelled and lived in a big city for about ten years.

I came back, you know, a bit, to visit.

But it's mostly five years ago, when my father got sick,

that I really came back here for good.

He had brain cancer and I really wanted to be close to him.

And the older I get, this is where I find happiness more than ever.

I'm using nails and a hammer for two reasons.

First, my father used to do it.

It's family tradition, I will say.

The other reason is the noise, it's like...

[imitating drill]

all the time and I'm, no.

Hey, hey! Here we go.

That's it. Done.

Now, what I need to do, it's the foot.

The foot will be lying on the ground,

which means moisture, rotting very fast.

So, what I'm planning to do, it's a very old tradition,

and it's called Shou Sugi Ban.

[intriguing music playing]

It's a traditional Japanese method of wood preservation.

Done by putting the log into the fire.

Doesn't need to be too burned.

I just want to have that hardened shell.

And that will help to prevent the moisture,

the humidity, to get into the wood.

I love trying something new.

It's cool.

And it's good to learn, you know, from another tradition, you know.

Yeah, that's enough.

There we go.

Okay, the last one.

[chuckles] Very exciting.

There we go.

Let's go, man.

I really enjoy the feeling to be, you know, proud of myself, I will say.

And I guess it's from my dad because I was always looking, is he proud of me?

The deck is done.

Whoo!

And I guess this is what I'm looking for from myself.

The next step, it will be the most challenging, I will say.

[soft music playing]

[Matty] Being alone has changed me a lot.

I kind of picture myself some nights as one little light in this sea of blackness.

It's a major blessing that a lot of people don't get to experience.

[Emilie] I used to live down the street from a coffee shop, a grocery store.

We don't have those things here,

but the middle of nowhere, to me, has everything that I need.

[Billy] You know, the loneliness, it's not that easy.

The difficult part is missing the people.

And the other part is the introspection.

It's like you're very deep into this loneliness.

[upbeat music playing]

[Emilie] So, what's the plan?

Make doors, that would be the first thing.

Okay.

83.

[Emilie] 83 inches.

Thanks, Nikik. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Nikik looks a lot better today.

I think a good 12-hour rest really did him some good.

You're going to run again in no time.

- There we go. - Yay, we got a door!

I love your skills.

It's really good.

We're almost there.

Just have to throw on the roof.

Slap on the tarp.

- Everything's getting slapped on for you. - Yep.

Slap them on really fast.

[rhythmic music playing]

Thing's wobbly, this stump.

- [Emilie] What's wobbly? - My stump.

- You want me to hold you? - Yeah.

[Emilie] Okay.

[Gilbert] Both me and Emilie had no idea how to build a homestead.

[Emilie] Careful, it's going to fall.

Oh, yeah.

[Emilie] Nice.

[Gilbert] Now, we know what we can do together.

Oh! It's coming down.

But I think it's very important,

the journey, the getting there, you enjoy it.

[Emilie] Oh! Ah!

[laughs] I wasn't looking.

I was laughing because you're getting a whole bunch of sawdust in your eyes.

[Gilbert] You start from nothing, and then the end result is this beautiful thing,

It's really starting to look like a shaputuan.

Yeah.

I had a really hard time yesterday, getting discouraged, getting frustrated.

But now, I just feel a little bit more excited

because I can see that it's getting somewhere.

Slap on the tarp and then that's it. We're done.

I'm gonna pull it my way.

- I can't hear you, you're so far! - [chuckles]

[soft music playing]

- There. - All right.

[Emilie] We're trying to put a rectangular tarp over a...

I don't even know what kind of shape this shaputuan is.

It's super frustrating right now.

Ah, okay.

Right there.

It's there.

[both grunt]

[Emilie] At this point, it is what it is, I guess.

The inside looks super nice, you know, I guess that's what counts, is the inside.

I don't know, is that the saying?

I'm itching to go hunting tomorrow,

bringing some of that geese here, and then we'll cook him.

We'll have a feast.

Once the geese are done flying,

we'll work on the shaputuan and make it better.

But for now, I think we need to start focusing on something else.

[upbeat music playing]

Oh, yeah.

[clanging]

Seems pretty hard to me.

I mean, there ain't no moving that.

Time for the logs, baby.

The first ones we're gonna put in are these big girls.

They should go together like a big Lego set, but we'll see.

You got one upright in each corner and that's what this groove is in.

And then, we'll bring in our horizontal logs with tongues.

And they'll just slide down into these grooves. Boom.

Ain't nothing much sexier than that, boy.

God, that makes me happy.

Really gives me so much pleasure,

watching a bunch of just-peeled trees take shape into something like this.

It's, that's what it's all about, for me.

[sighs] The final piece.

This is the one.

Oh, yeah. I like it.

I fucking like it.

Gotta sit back and enjoy the time when it does look like a cabin

because this is the only daylight she's ever going to see.

That's one heavy door, I'll tell you right now.

[sighs]

Ooh.

Ooh.

It's the best-fitting door I've ever made first shot.

We got issues.

Screws are too small, they're just going right through.

I'm gonna have to nail it.

Only thing is, as soon as we go with nails in this, we're committed,

because you're not pulling it off like a screw.

It's like going from a promise ring with your girlfriend,

where you can back at any time, to an engagement ring.

That's a nail.

Now, this is the real moment of truth.

Get those wedges out.

Oh, come on, baby.

Shit. There's no way to get in there now.

The thing is fully sealed up. The roof is on, the walls are done.

[intriguing music playing]

Ooh, Jesus, that sucks.

Guess my door engineering skills aren't what I thought they were.

Okay. Jesus.

All right. I see the problem.

It's so thick that when it closes into the frame here, this edge here hooks.

It's already nailed on, so this thing can't come off the cabin now

without a major fuck around.

So, that leaves us with one tool.

It's going to be dirty, it's going to look rough.

But we're gonna get her closed.

Let's have a look.

[singing] Whoo, baby, baby, don't you like my door?

[sings]

Yeah, I'm pretty proud of this one, yeah.

I'm just kind in awe of myself. I knew it would look good,

but now, standing back with the stone and the moss and the log exposed.

It's a little hobbit hole in the woods.

It's one of my favourite things I've ever built.

Oh, my beautiful little treasure trove.

Ooh, wow.

Look at this.

My own private little grocery store.

No more needing to go to town.

I could live out here for a long time now, when this thing is full.

[rhythmic music playing]

[chainsaw buzzing]

I need a pretty long tree to build a bridge to get to that cool hunting spot.

The river is way higher right now.

I need to work fast before the water is too high.

I want to build it at this curve there, where there's the beach.

That's the nearest point.

I don't have much tall trees over there.

This tree is kind of the right size I want, but it's still a full tree.

It's pretty heavy to carry on 300 yards.

[soft music playing]

Yeah. I don't think it's going to happen with that one.

That's it. [chuckles]

[thunder roaring]

There's always something that goes not the way you thought it would go.

So, you just gotta be able to take advantage of the environment.

[sighs]

I'm gonna cut that tree down.

Ugh, I'm going to attach it with that strap here,

so I can hold on to it

and let it float down to the beach, where I want to build a bridge.

I honestly don't know if it's going to work,

but I just got to try this, that's my best plan right now.

Being in a bush, improvisation is your best friend,

because nothing never goes according to plan.

[blows raspberries]

[chainsaw buzzing]

[rhythmic music playing]

It went pretty smooth, actually.

I was expecting a huge shit happening.

There's a bunch of things that could go wrong with this plan,

because there's a lot of current right now.

[suspenseful music playing]

I don't know if I'm going to be able to hold on to it,

if it's just dragging me in.

You have to take risks if you want to achieve anything here.

Fuck me.

Okay.

I'm stuck. Fuck.

[epic music playing]

[soft music playing]

I'm going to build a bridge right here, that's the narrowest part,

so I just gotta do that one more time for the other big tree,

and then cut the small poles for in between, kind of a ladder.

This was the beach just a couple days ago.

There was no water until the end of the tree, pretty much.

So, the river was narrower for crossing, but now it's getting super high.

It's been raining for the last few days pretty hard,

and it looks like it's going to stay for a bit,

so I better get that done before it's too high.

[chainsaw buzzing]

I'm looking for pretty thick poles for the cross pieces for the bridge.

I'm cutting them in the burn because there is tons of them,

and it's not too far from where I'm building.

God damn.

It's just been a couple hours and the water is already so high.

This was just on the rocks a couple hours ago.

It's huge now. It's probably going to get up a couple more feet,

and then it's going to be way too wide.

[tense music playing]

There is no point of trying to build anything right now.

It's just going high too fast.

I'll just wait for the water to start dropping and build a bridge at that time.

Rivers are dangerous.

You have to be smart and patient and not just do stupid things.

Because if I'm in trouble, nobody will ever know about it.

[soft music playing]

I'm going to start with the roof.

[sighs]

The next step will be tricky.

Okay.

This piece, it's supposed to support the roof.

This one is very heavy.

[grunts]

Needs to be stable.

[upbeat music playing]

[grunts]

[sighs]

Here we go! [sighs]

Whoo!

I don't see challenge here.

I just see another way of living the time.

Everything takes more time, so you have to plan ahead.

I really want this rafter to hold very well

because that will be at least three feet of snow.

Oh, man, this is great.

It doesn't move at all.

And, whoo! Oh yeah.

This is working great.

Overlapping boards for roof,

it's very traditional, from Quebec, in a rural area, mostly.

Which will be perfect for rain.

The rain won't get through, it will just fly down on the board.

[whistles]

Oh, yeah.

[tsk!]

Whoo! That's done.

Hey, very happy.

[soft music playing]

You know, this cabin has been built for 20 years,

like, so many years, and now, I see it completely different.

Now, it's kind of a new home.

You know, it was just the idea comes from muddy boots.

But it's more than that.

It's an extension of my living space.

Look at the view, drink my coffee, instead of always staying inside.

There is life outside, and this is a great way to see it and to enjoy it.

It's hard to do everything by yourself.

Sometimes, having someone would help.

Of course.

The goat pen, it needs to be goat proof.

[goat bleating]

You're not supposed to do that.

It's a 1000-litre barrel.

The only real issue is just getting up on the roof.

- Oh, geese! - Oh shit, there's geese!

Up there.

[gunshot]

Subtitling: difuze