Live from … Yellowknife!
I arrived Tuesday afternoon. It’s raining this morning after a few hot and muggy days. I always jump at the chance to see another part of Canada. So when I had the opportunity to go anywhere in Canada (thanks to Air Canada), I decided to head north.
I sat beside Richard Side from CBC’s hit show, The Debaters on the plane. We chatted a bit and his team offered me two comp tickets to the show on Wednesday. What great luck! I stepped off the plane at the airport and I got a little teary! I am in the North West Territories. I know Yellowknife is just a small part of it but I am super excited to get a glimpse into this wonderful piece of Canada.
Tourists travel from all over the world to see the Aurora Borealis (northern lights) here in Yellowknife. They are no visible at this time of year. That’s fine with me. I want to see what Yellowknife is all about. I’m a big fan of travelling in the off season so I can avoid all the hustle and bustle. I have much to learn as my memories from my high school history/geography classes are a little hazy. Sure it would be great to come back one day to see the Northern Lights.
I have decision fatigue so I am playing each day by ear. There are a few places I wanted to visit but mostly I just want to soak in the atmosphere. It’s funny having a week off in June. I almost feel like I am playing hooky from work. (Don’t worry, this holiday was approved.)
Yellowknife’s farmer’s market is held every Tuesday at Somba K’e park on the shores of Frame Lake near Yellowknife City Hall. The information centre is right there too. It’s a wonderful set up. The National Indigenous Peoples Day celebration was held here on Thursday. It was raining last week so I was lucky to have such fine weather to kick off my holiday.
It was more like a food festival. It’s probably too early for produce. I didn’t mind. It was nice to get my feet moving as I was travelling all day. While I was super tired, I was filled will holiday adrenaline. I rented a car, which coincidently turned out to be bright yellow. (Yellow for Yellowknife). Likely I won’t use the car that often since I am in walking distance of just about everything in Yellowknife.
My first day impression? Hot and muggy as heck. My hair quickly remembered with what hot, muggy weather can do to natural curly hair. I barely slept the first night because the curtains on the windows did not block out the midnight sun, and the “air conditioner” is super noisy. I was miserable. (Yes I know what you’re thinking … poor you.)
Fortunately things turned around and I have no problem sleeping now. But who needs sleep when the sun is up for 21 hours? Find me on Facebook and Twitter if you want to see more of my photos. I mistakenly deleted some videos from the celebrations on Thursday. I’m crossing my fingers that I can recover them.
Stay tuned … more to come.
Am loving all the pics and videos so far. Pretty cool to see a part of Canada that’s not one of the “typical” tourist destinations! Cool that you chose to go there!