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Have you ever been to the Yukon, Northwest Territories, or Nunavut?
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If you have not, would you like to visit?
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If you have been, would you share your impressions of those territories?
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No
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Yes
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…
Since you’re in British Columbia, do you think that most residents of the province don’t go to the Northwest Territories or the Yukon? Have you been to Alberta?
- No, not yet
- Yes, with the greatest of enthusiasm.
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Between October of 1989 and October of 1990, I managed to get to each province at least once. I haven’t managed even that trick since. I just haven’t been able to answer the call of the north yet.
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Yes, I have, but only to Yellowknife (NWT).
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I was lucky enough to be there right around the summer solstice last year. The weather was spectacular with day time highs in the mid-20s. Combine that with a city built on rock that absorbs heat, and a sun that really doesn’t go down and it felt warmer than that. Yellowknife had a cool mixture of historic, quirky and cosmopolitan all with incredible scenery. From the houseboats in Great Slave Lake, to Ragged Ass Road, to the architecture of houses ascending from rock, I really enjoyed my time there. People-wise, there is also quite a spectrum of wealth there from poor to really wealthy, and it’s pretty visible, as is the history of gold mining and the current history of diamond mining. People are friendly; you can also see the relative youth of the population.
1. Have you ever been to the Yukon, Northwest Territories, or Nunavut?
Yes.
- If you have not, would you like to visit?
Well, I’d like to go again, and see more.
- If you have been, would you share your impressions of those territories?
Beauty. Extremes. (Temperature, light, dark.) The aurora. Worth seeing!
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Yes, Yukon (Hitchhiked there, and around, camped, worked for a couple of weeks in Whitehorse, went as far north as Dawson.)
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Wild and unruly. Met many people, living off in isolation, driven to withdraw from our world, odd ducks. Awesome wildlife. Gold!
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Yes. I lived in Yellowknife for about eight years, and travelled throughout the NWT and Nunavut (before it was Nunavut) for work.
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I miss it and would like to go back to visit. At the moment I think we’re planning for next Summer.
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Yellowknife is an accepting place. It has been a draw to people outside of the norm for a very long time. It has still got a rough edge to it due to its beginnings, but it’s got an exciting cosmopolitain feel to it since the diamonds were discovered (thanks, Stu). It’s the kind of place where you’re as likely to meet the premier (equivalent to governor) in a bar as you are to meet a regular Joe. People are friendly and welcoming.
It’s stunningly beautiful. The rocks, the trees, the lakes. The aurora borealis draws visitors from all over the world, and it was above my head every night in the cold weather.
I would say that most residents don’t go to NWT or YT. I’m not sure why really. It’s beautiful up there.
Personally I’ve been to every province but no territories.
I wanna see Aurora Borealis!
- Yes
- Never again.
- I went to the Yukon when I was 16. We traveled up past Watson Lake into the interior. Impressive mountains and all. But I grew up in BC on the coast. Once you’ve seen one massive rock outcropping (mountain) you’ve pretty much seen them all. Also, if you like flies and mosquitoes you’ll have a blast. I prefer big cities myself.
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Yup.
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N/A
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It’s different, and definitely not for everyone. The land is pretty in a lunar kind of way. The residents are interesting. A lot of people from the south who end up here are…unique. Government and bureaucracy is pretty much broken. Lots of opportunities to either start a business or advance your career. It’s got kind of a frontier town feel to it. Right now it’s pretty close to 24hr daylight and the mosquitoes are a serious problem. I was at a bonfire last night and every time I stepped away from the fire to take a leak mosquitoes literally swarmed me - got up my nose and in my mouth and on Nunavut Boy Jr. I had to pee and walk to keep them off me.
Pros to living in Nunavut:
-Very unique place that not many people get to experience
-Decent pay
-24hr daylight in summer
-Very tight knit community
-Snowmobiling
Cons:
-Cold
-24hr daylight
-near 24hr darkness in winter
-Expensive as all fuck
-Many social problems (suicide, alcoholism)
-the fucking mosquitoes
In a lot of ways, Nunavut is like a 3rd world country. Diseases that are (nearly) unheard of down south are serious problems here. They say people either love it or hate it and that has been my experience. I think I like it because I have a low tolerance to boredom. I don’t have to spend a lot of time on things like safety meetings (which people seem to be extraordinarily concerned with in hospitals in the south) and instead move from emergency to emergency. It does burn a lot of people out and is not something I will be doing long term.
If you have any specific questions about living in Nunavut, I will be happy to answer them. I may take a while to answer though, we’re down to 2 lab techs when we should have 7 and I’m working 60 hrs a week…that’s another problem here. Recruiting and retaining qualified people in every industry. This is pretty much my last weekend off for the summer.
1 no
2 yes
3 N/A
Plus a bunch more provinces that I have not seen or seen enough of.
Declan
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I’ve been to the NWT (Yellowknife); but never to the other two territories.
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Yes–It would be nice to see some more of Canada’s north in Nunavut, and I’d like to see the Gold Rush history in the Yukon.
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As I said, I really only got to Yellowknife, but I quite liked it. It was much as others in this thread have described, so I won’t bother repeating them. But I’d like to go back again sometime and explore a little more than just Yellowknife.
Do you know of any links to websites with good pictures of Nunavut?
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No, the northernmost I’ve been in Canada is when Dad invited me once to go with him on a journalism expedition to Thompson, MB. He, on the other hand, went to the North a number of times; he covered the creation of Nunavut, the ore carriers of Deline, the reconciliation of the Inuit and Dene in the NWT, etc.
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Yep. I’m coveting a tour I heard about with a gay tour company that’s an all-included visit to Yukon to watch the migration of the sandhill cranes.
Mine, too. I was lucky enough to live in Alaska for a few years (glommed onto my parents when my father transferred for work) and I loved, loved, loved the north. Even the long winter nights didn’t bother me–I read, there was the first BBSs, there were great movies to watch, things to do inside. And the summers! My god, the summers… And I ache to see the northern lights again. I would move up north in two seconds, but my husband wouldn’t last a week. He likes a very narrow range of temperature in order to be comfortable. I miss the mountains, the moose, the summers and the winters. The only thing the north doesn’t have is a spring. It’s winter, breakup, summer.
I love the north.
Oh, and definitely true about the people up there–you get a lot of renegades.
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Y
N/a
- Nope. I have been to Labrador - I was born there, actually - but I was too young when we moved to Newfoundland to remember it.
- Eh. Maybe. It’s not really high on my priorities, but I wouldn’t mind visiting.
- No.
- Yes - planning to go next year.
- N/A.