The Where's Santa?? Trip Report *Completed* About This Page:

[GoofyMom]

I thought that since this is a part of the world that very few people ever get to experience (me included) that I would share some of Dan's experiences and pictures that he took on his last work trip.

The Adventurer: DH, Dan. He's been Up North numerous times, but this was the furthest ever for him.
Dates: Oct. 2-Oct. 6/06
Destination: Eureka, Nunavut -- 700 miles south of the Top of The World. (about 80º Latitude for anybody who is into geography) It is also just to the East of the Magnetic North Pole. If you have a good atlas, it might be fun to follow along!

Ok, on with the TR:

To get to the Far North from Winnipeg, it takes time. Lots of time. Dan left Sunday, Oct. 1, in the late afternoon. His destination for the night was Ottawa. At 9:00 Monday morning he hopped on board a plane destined for Nunavut. Nunavut is Canada's newest Territory and emcompasses a fairly good chunk of Canada's North.


Iceberg! Dan's first sign that he's somewhere extraordinary.


Icebergs racing in the Hudson Strait -- nearing Iqaluit (north of Quebec)


Houses in Iqaluit. They are on stilts because of the permafrost. If they were built on the ground they would melt the permafrost and everything would settle.

Dan had a stopover in Iqaluit. He is still nowhere near his final destination yet. Next stop, Pond Inlet. It’s on the Northeast of Baffin Island.


Looks pretty cold!


This is at the airport at Pond Inlet. The funny characters on the top of the sign are the Inuvialuit language of the Inuit people. I assume that it says Pond Inlet. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

They had a brief stopover while some passengers and luggage unloaded before they continued on to Nanisivik. This is also where Dan’s luggage stayed for 1 night. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]

Dan however, carried on, not knowing that his luggage was not coming with him. He only had his laptop and his camera with him at this point. No winter gear at all. His parka, boots, mitts, etc were all in his luggage. Fortunately, the people in the North are the friendliest people you will ever come across and quite literally gave him the shirts off their backs. More on that later….


When you think of the Arctic, I think that most people think of snow, ice, flat, and polar bears. I was surprised to learn that there are many mountains and canyons up here. You can see some of the tough terrain in this photo from the plane.


The sun is starting to set. It’s only 5:30.


Nanisivik is on the Northwest corner of Baffin Island. I like the icicles hanging from the sign. This really was a milk run – up and down and up and down, but this is really the only way that the northern residents can get to “civilization” and back.

He still has about an hour until he hits Resolute Bay, which is his destination for the night.


It’s 6:00 and there’s another sunset picture, this time as they are taking off from Nanisivik. Back in the air, they have to hop to Cornwallis Island, where Resolute is.

Finally they land, and this is when Dan discovers that his luggage didn’t make it with him. Luckily, the owner of the hotel he was staying at had a spare winter coat and boots to lend him. At the hotel, Dan bumped into a guy he knew from work, who very graciously lent him some (clean!) underwear. And a man that Dan had never met and will likely never see again, gave him 2 clean shirts and a brand new package of 3 pairs of socks.

It was a very long day of travel, and he’s still not there yet! If I’m calculating right, after taking into consideration the time zone differences, he was traveling for 10 hours. Remember, he hasn't even left the country!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] Fortunately, he had a day’s layover in Resolute, which gave him the opportunity to make arrangements to find his luggage, and plan a few things for work. Another surprise in Resolute was how “civilized” it was. They actually had a real hotel – private rooms and private bathrooms. I can’t tell you how many times Dan has stayed Up North and has had to stay in more dorm-like conditions. He had high-speed internet. The phones are goofy because they use a satellite so when he phoned me it was like when you are watching the news and the reporter is half-way around the world, and there’s that delay thing, but it was nice to be able to talk to him!

Coming up…. Eureka!