My Very Own Inukshuk!

I've been sick since the weekend, and my level of activity and enthusiasm has taken a toll. My TV watching though, has steadily been on the rise. I haven't been up to very much, but I'm trying to see as much as I can while I am up here. I ventured out for a little walk, and like most of my walks, I ended up coming home with a memory card full of pictures!

Walking towards Frobisher Bay, near where I had my "polar bear dip".. I found a huge rockpile and built my very own inukshuk! Although small, I am very proud!

My very own Inukshuk!

Yay! Me and my Inukshuk friend!

Beyond the rockpile was the destination of my walk, the mouth of Frobisher Bay. Seeing as far as the eye can see seems to be common to almost all of the landscapes I have set my eyes on since I've been here.

A view of the mouth of Frobisher Bay

I walked along the fence that fences off the runway to the airport and it reminded me of a really cool picture I had taken over the weekend of a First Air cargo plane taking off (It's a 767, as confirmed by Mike Little below). That yellow building that looks like a yellow submarine is the Iqaluit (YFB) Airport!

Check out that exhaust!

It is the busiest airport in Nunavut, since it provides the important link from southern Canada to the rest of the 25 communities in the territory. It's geographic location situated along the 'over-the-top' route often used by planes travelling between parts of North America and Europe, and it's super long runway able to accommodate the largest planes in the sky due to it's military origin have also made this airport host to a series of unique events.

For example, unexpected landings have had to go down in Iqaluit because of in-flight medical emergencies - as often as once or twice per year. And I'm not sure if I believe it, but it is rumored that the Iqaluit airport runway was also an emergency landing sites for a NASA's Space Shuttle!

Besides landings from outerspace, the only international arrivals are seasonal flights flying in from Greenland. You can fly Iqaluit - Greenland in 1.5 hours, but you'll pay for it! A quick search on the Air Greenland website has a one-way ticket 735$! And the flight only operates from June to September.... No longer a possibility, but it's something to think about it if ever I come back during the summer months!

It's not cheap to eat here

I'm sure this is the post you've all been waiting for where I show you the reality of food prices in the North.

There aren't any roads connecting Nunavut to the rest of Canada, not to mention that Iqaluit is located on island. Transportation of goods is clearly a challenge this territory is faced with. It's no surprise that consumers must absorb the cost of shipping for all items purchased. Some foods are subsidized in order to promote healthy eating, but I'm not really sure why some food items fall under the subsidized category, while other foods that seem equally healthy aren't. Junk food prices, as you will see, are through the roof!

Fruits/Veggies

Dairy

Juice 

Juice wins the award for the most ridiculous price! Cans of juice are pretty much the only option at about 4$

Tropicana 1.89L wins the even more ridiculous price award at $19.19 

And you thought the store brand was a better option... 

Doesn't look like the best value, or the best product for that matter! 

Random Other Things

Being aware of this reality before I left Ottawa, I packed myself a little suitcase of food! So glad I did!!

Who knew a 30$ grocery from Hartman's would go such a long way!

Among all these crazy food prices, I was also able to find a few items I came across that had at comparable prices to those in Ottawa..

Eggs for $3.95

Frozen Berries at $7.79

Chicken for $19

And La Vache qui Rit at $5.45

These are examples of grocery store prices but people from Iqaluit have other means of getting food to the table. More on how "sealift" and "airmail" works at a later date.  A "100-mile diet" though is pretty much limited to hunting, and berry picking on the tundra. Gardening isn't really possible here because the growing season isn't long enough. Since temperatures don't get hot enough for long enough in the summer time, maybe a green house would be a good solution?

Hiking in Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park

Comforted by a description I found online, The Grind & Brew seemed like the perfect place to spend Sunday morning.

"The closest Starbucks to Iqaluit is in Ottawa, but that's okay because the city has a comparable coffee house, called the Grind and Brew. This popular coffee house specializes in fine coffee, tea and chocolate. Come in for a cup of joe or a friendly chat with the locals."

Expecting a familiar scene, I pack my book and my ipod and off I went! Once I finally arrived, I was faced by  reality:  The Grind & Brew was a pizza joint meets dinner, that happened to serve coffee, and where people hang out to watch sports on the big screen. Serving multiple purposes seems to be common up here!

Skeptical, I took a sip of the Hazelnut Cream coffee I had just served myself. It was so good! So good, that I even asked the owner where he gets it was from. Turns out it's from BC. I'll definitely be back! Next time though, I'll be sure to bring my travel mug so I don't have to hang out there.. not exactly coffee shop atmosphere!

Grind & Brew Cafe

I spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, and eventually into Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park. The views were spectacular! I spent 3 hours walking around here, and admiring every inch of the landscape. Here are a few pictures I took... Get ready!

Some rocks, some tundra, the Sylvia Grinnell River and the ocean in the distance

Waterfall

SUNSHINE :) Haven't seen much of it since I've been here

Rocky trail up to the top!

Amazing fall colours!

View of Iqaluit as I head to the top

Hanging out at the very little summit of 68m! 

I'm on top of the worrrrrrld!

 
Oh! And because it's Sunday, I though it would be appropriate to share a picture of the "igloo church", an important landmark in the city of Iqaluit. It was just re-built after a fire in 2005.

St-Jude Anglican Cathedral aka "Igloo Church"

My Polar Bear Dip

It's Friday and I'm tired! It's been a long week... which evidently translated into a few long blog posts since I've been so busy exploring my new surroundings.

Tonight's adventure unfolded because my craving for Gatorade pulled me off the couch. But at 7$ there was no way my craving was going to be satisfied! I ended up just buying a $5 calling card instead (actual cost: $5,25), which only gave me a 17 minute phone conversation to Ontario! At the rate I talk, that was less than a single phone call home.

Anyway, the wind had died down, and it felt a little warmer out so I extend my walk and headed towards the ocean! Turns out, it was much closer than I thought. It was a good walk. A plane was coming in overhead, and it was the closest I have ever been to a plane as it was landing. Two sled dogs also came running towards me. They looked nice, but I didn't pet them since I wasn't sure. There were actually a bunch of dogs just hanging out between the water and the airport.

Random dog sledding dogs chilling here

I made it to the shore of what I think they call Frobisher Bay. I could even see some mountains in the distance! We've been having a lot of rain, so it was nice to be able to see far in the distance.

A view over Frobisher Bay

With the cold weather, the water, being in the Arctic, and polar bears on my mind... I had a genius idea: Polar Bear Dip! ... So off went the shoes, and in went my feet! I was in the Arctic Ocean!!!

In the Arctic Ocean! Not sure I'd be ready to jump in ;)

It was cold! And I also had a hard time getting out. My feet kept sinking in the sand. The Ocean wanted me to stay!

The sand was like quick-sand!

 Say what you want about my toes, but they're little troopers!

Cold feet!

It was quickly getting dark, but sunset was pretty much non existent. The sun kind of just slowly stopped being bright, and secretly went away. I hurried back to avoid all sketchiness that takes place after the sun goes down.

View of Iqaluit from the shore line at dusk

It's officially the weekend... Not that I have anything going on! I wonder how the weekend will unfold. I'm thinking of all of you in Ottawa having a blast at Kitchen Party! I wish I was there.. or that I was at an Iqaluit version!

Royal Muktuk (Makttaq, ᒪᒃᑖᖅ)

Will and Kate must have really loved their time up North when they visited Yellowknife during their Royal visit in summer 2011. I can just imagine how much they must have hyped it up at Sunday dinner to make their aunt and uncle so jealous that they needed to plan a Northern visit of their very own! The not so impressive Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, included Iqaluit as a destination as part of their first ever trip to the North, which was certainly not their first trip to Canada.

Nunavut Premier, Eva Aariak, greeting Prince Edward and Sophie

The Earl and Countess of Wessex visited with community members tonight, and I'd say it was a pretty big deal. About 1,000 people came together to greet the Royals at the Community Parish Hall. A full house is an understatement! The majority of the people who attended were Inuit. The young girls were the most excited about it all with their cameras, cell phones and iPads ready to capture the moment.

A full house at the Parish Hall

Television reporters from major networks made it out! I recognized cameras from APTN, City TV, CBC... and there were more!

A little girl being interviewed in Inuktitut by a news reporter

A demonstration of traditional Inuit activities followed as Edward, Sophie, and myself, watched attentively. Throat singing, drum dancing, and an inuit games were among the main "numbers". 

Inuit game demonstration -  A ball hung 6' high is kicked .

Throat singing is unique to the Inuit culture, and generally performed by women who sing duets/compete to see who can outlast the other before running out of breath. Historically, throat singing was a form of entertainment among the women while men were away on hunting trips. I kind of think it sounds like beat boxing! Click >here< for a video - no, it's not a Julia Dales video! ;)

2 girls throat singing

The evening finally progressed to the finale: The community country food feast complete with bannock, Arctic Char, caribou, Muktuk and bannock.

The above - served RAW! 

My plate at the community feast
bannock, frozen Arctic Char cubes, frozen raw caribou meat,
and Muktuk (sprinkled with salt and soy sauce) and Char chowder 

Muktuk (Makttaq, ᒪᒃᑖᖅ) is most often made from the skin and blubber of a whale, although beluga and narwhal muktuk is also very common. The Muktuk we had tonight was of whale origin. I guess the pinky part is the blubber, and the black part is the skin...

A closer look at the Maktaaq (Mulktuk)
A layer of whale skin and blubber

I'm sure you're wondering how much food off my plate I actually ate... Mom, I did better than you think! I loved the Char, especially the Char chowder, and enjoyed the bannock as well. I eat my steak well done to begin with, so the raw caribou steak, although frozen, really wasn't my thing, but I did try a mini bite and it tasted like blood! I couldn't get my teeth through the Muktuk, so I didn't really get to eat it! I can't even tell you how it tasted because I had dowsed it in soy sauce! The texture though was soft, and really rubbery. I was only able to scrape a tiny layer off the corner with my teeth.

Attempting to bite into the Muktuk, but it wasn't working!

I really lucked out coming to Iqualuit and experiencing such a wonderful community event! You can probably tell that I'm quite indifferent about the visit of these "second class" Royals but it was great to see the community come together the way they did, and experience some Inuit culture and tradition!

The visit was obviously a big deal! <3 craft time!

Fun fact! Street signs were only installed to make the city look more legit prior to a "Royal visit" a few years back.. before Will and Kate. Even though street signs are present, locals have a tendency to disregard them and continue to identify location based on building number only. Building numbers aren't repeated. I'll have to remember that I'm staying in the "one thousand" part of town!

I think the Royals would like the street names!