The 'Welcome to Yellowknife', says it All!:
The Baggage Claim at the airport
Yellowknife is famous for its pivotal role in the Ice Truckers movie / culture. The area around Yellowknife is a rich Gold and Diamond mining area, and I was surprised to hear the some 15% of the world's diamond production comes from the area. There are also lots of lakes around, and as a result, little road infrastructure...Well until winter arrives and the lakes all freeze, and nature provides a 6 week window where human innovation has created the opportunity to build this 600km ice road that provides access to the mines, saving huge air transport cost. The Ice Truckers are the 'madmen' who drive these huge rigs up an down the road for the short time it is open.
Yellowknife has a population of 20 000 'interesting' people, and in the three weeks that I was there I enjoyed getting to 'mix' with a diverse range of the locals. From the original natives, one sees both Inuits (Natives that used to live off the ocean) and Dene (Natives that 'used to' live off the land) Then there are the 'new settlers' who are a rich combination of miners, freedom seekers, disillusioned big city people, and small town entrepreneurs. At first glance, I wondered why anyone would want to live in this remote and difficult cold environment, but as I met the people and learnt more I began to see that it offers a rich diversity of outdoor life, within a community of very good old fashioned value systems. Almost ideal for bringing up kids. Great Slave Lake, which is the 9th largest lake in the world is at the centre of this huge lake district that provides world class winter and summer playgrounds, right on one's, small town, doorstep.
Great Slave Lake is impressive, and was obviously completely frozen this time of the year. A controversy, is the establishment of House Boats on the lake. These being 3-4 bedroom, sometimes double storey, houses that float and are anchored in the lake in perfect bays with easy access to the town. It's controversial, because the owners don't pay for and, nor do they pay taxes, and yet they have this idyllic location with use of all the town's amenities. It's becoming quite fashionable to buy one, and is seen as the ultimate bailout from city life.
A House Boat. Tricky access after summer 'clear water', but before winter 'solid ice'!
Interestingly, when I arrived in Yellowknife to -18 deg C, the locals were telling me that it was unseasonably warm, and they normally have -30 deg C and below this time of the year. Because of that the lake was a 'a bit risky', and I need to be careful of falling through the ice. The 6km, short cut, road across the lake to the small village of Dettah wasn't open yet, and this was very unusual for December. The global warming again! Anyway, the following week, we were 'rewarded' for our training with an exceptionally cold spell down to -41 deg C for 4 days or so. I subsequently learnt from a fisheries guy I bumped into in the middle of the lake, that in a week around that cold snap the thickness of the ice on the lake increased from 10 to 21 inches! That was all that was needed to get the road opened and 'normal', frozen lake activities to continue!
Another House Boat: Ice Scuplture Gardens
While I was there I stayed at Embleton House(http://www.bbcanada.com/embletonhouse,) a homely B+B and was treated like one of the family by Faith and Ken, the owners.
Spending Christmas there on my own in a small foreign town, could have been challenging, but the small town hospitality connected in and thanks to the Afflecks, and the Armstrongs, I was made to feel as if I was a Yellowstone resident. This was a very special, and different Christmas, one I will remember and treasure. I have had many titles in my life, some not s good, but at the fun ice hockey game we played at Ewan Affleck's house on Christmas eve, he introduced me as "South Africa's No 1 Ice Hockey player", yeah, yeah, maybe, and the only one! Gee, was it bloody difficult just moving around, let alone putting 'stick to puck' in a way that added value to my team! All great fun though!
For my South African and Australian friends, I felt proud of my strong links, as I many of the people I bumped into worked for the Canadian subsidiaries of De Beers, Anglo American, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton etc... interesting people too, because they were either part of these companies 'assignment employees', who get assignments in these interesting remote places, or they were 'miners' with interesting stories of the challenges of mining around the Arctic circle.
Yellowknife is one of the 'most reliable' places in the world for one to view the Northern Lights. To see them though you have to be out in clear skies from 10pm or so through to 2 am, with them generally being strongest after midnight, when it's normally the coldest! Fortunately, by firstly checking the weather forecast for clear skies, and then visiting this website http://www.astronomynorth.com/, one can substantially increase the chance of having success on your midnight excursion. That website provides useful info on the amazing natural wonder of the Northern Lights, which is little know to most of 'us' antipodeans, who don't have the 'luxury' of a convenient land viewing of the Aurora Borealis! I was fortunate to have a 'pretty good' viewing on one night out training with Ewan. In fact it was amazing for me, but I did confirm with Ewan, that it was about a 4/10 viewing for him over his 15+ years of living in Yellowknife. Oh well, something more to look forward to on my next return, or on the Expedition itself. (Sorry no photos, it was too bloody cold for my Nikon DSLR! I now have my little Canon Arctic camera, and a good, warm battery, management plan!)
Lastly, a real positive Small town story, that captures the 'Spirit of Yellowknife' perfectly:
I am needing to have my one wisdom tooth removed, as I am told it could become problematic 'anytime'. I was also told that the specifics around the tooth are quite complex and require a general anesthetic and specialised oral surgeon skills and procedures. Well, through a London Dentist'mate' of mine in London, before I left to go to Yellowknife, I get a referral that ends up with me being quoted in excess of £2000 for the removal. This after having to pay £300 for an x-ray and a 5 min consultation! London, London, London! Anyway, pissed off with that, I thought I'd take the X-Ray to Yellowknife and try and find a suitable 'service provider' there! Well lo and behold, soon after I arrive there I am told by 'a number of people' that I "Must meet, the, kiwi dentist, Roger, who is also an ex-endurance athlete etc, etc" It turns out I did meet him socially a few nights later, and the story of my wisdom tooth came out. A few beers later, and Roger insisted he drive me back to my B+B and I show him the x-ray. Well there we sat in his car, -30 deg C outside, and he viewed the x-ray against his interior car light! After obvious careful, and professional viewing of the x-ray, he turned to me and said, "No problem mate, it's a routine job, and I am happy to do it for you". With surprise I questioned his contrarian assessment, and was comforted to hear solid reasoning behind his prognosis. Remembering that we had had a few beers that evening, I suggested I visit him in his practice the next day for a " Regular patient, paid, and formal consultation!". Well IK arrived at "Great Slave Dental Practice", embarrassingly barging through the full waiting room, and was given an 'emergency' consultation! Now, with a 'proper' mouth inspection etc, Roger even more confidently returned the same prognosis as the night before. And this from a man who is very shy, humble, obviously professional, and in no way at all a cowboy dentist! (A pukka, good Kiwi, as only Kiwi's can be!). We discussed the options and the risks, and he convinced me that it was a routine extraction, definitely not requiring General Anesthetic. Completely unsure of a reference point here, I politely asked him how much it would cost? He pulled out the 'Rate card', and said something like $160 all up, and he could do it asap! Shocked and caught off guard, also busy with full on training, I decided to book and appointment for a time on my return in February! That will now happen. This is a great story for me, putting into context how the big cities have lost it! Professionals don't want to take risk and the whole environment is so specialised that risk is passed down the line, with the patient picking up the costs and the specialists just milking the increasing 'fear' passed on by each professional along the line at they move you closer to the 'no risk, exhorbitant solution. Well done Roger, you were prepared to give me advice like you would have given your son, and also take me on as a friend at your special Christmas dinner!! One of the joys of Yellowknife!
Leaving Yellowknife!
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