Hey everyone!
So it looks like I do have some time to blog a bit!
On the 6th I had two final exams. My one for Canadian Social Structure went alright. I got back my film assignment for that class and I got 83.7%. That night I had my Sociology of the Family exam which went really well. I already have my mark for that whole course. I got 84 :) Such better marks over here than Sydney uni!
The next day Sally and I flew to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory in Canada. We checked in and then ate some brunch because we didn't think we were going to get food on our short flight. Turns out that we did get free food on the plane, and it was really good! We even got a slice of cheesecake. We definitely recommend Air North. When we were coming in to land we were watching beautiful snow covered mountains and trees. It was amazing to see, and we had a really smooth landing too!
We were met at the airport by our tour guide who had a sign with our names on it. I've always wanted that to happen, just like on the movies! I didn't get a photo of me with him and the sign because that would have been too awkward. We collected out bags and then walked like 5 metres to his van in -26 degrees. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! But maybe that's because we weren't out there for that long. We got dropped off at the Beez Kneez Bakpakers hostel and we met the owner, Nancy, who was so lovely. It's basically her home that has a few rooms full of bunkbeds. It was great to be in a real home again.
We talked to our guide and he said we had a better chance of seeing the Northern Lights that night, instead of the next night which we had booked. So we changed it to the Friday night.
We then left to explore the town of Whitehorse. We walked to the end of the road that our hostel is on, then Sally realised that she wasn't warm enough, so we had to go back so she could put on more layers. We then did attempt number two! Walking the 20 minutes into town was so freezing. We were both so cold but were laughing so hard at our situation. Sally's hair, eyebrows, and glasses were freezing over! It was so cold that our snot was freezing!
We got onto Main St and checked out a few souvenir stores. The people there were so nice. In one store the lady gave us free hot apple cider! I got myself a snowflake necklace, a Canada flag iron-on patch to start my collection of flags on my backpack, and a little keyring for Kurtis. We found a cafe and had hot chocolate and cookies, while I used their wi-fi to led Mum and Dad know that I was okay.
We walked around a bit more, then checked out the menus of a few restaurants. We found an Italian restaurant called Allegro that we wanted to come back to for dinner. But first we went to get groceries for breakfasts and lunches for the next two days. We went back and ate dinner which was really nice and warm. Even though we were already pretty full from all the other food we ate during the day, it was essential to eat more to keep us warm. Develop another layer of fat for warmth haha!
We got a cab back to the hostel as we didn't want to walk back in the cold. We relaxed in the hostel for awhile then had to get dressed up extremely warmly for the Northern Lights viewing. Here's a list of everything I wore that night: ankle socks, wool socks, ski socks, undies, thermal leggings, jeans, rental overalls, bra, singlet, long sleeved top, thermal top, sweater, fleece jumper, ski coat, rental coat, scarf, neck gator, rental toque (Canadian word for beanie), and rental mitts. I felt like Joey from the TV show Friends when he wears all of Chandler's clothes. It was like I was wearing a fat suit! It was so hard to walk and lift my arms. It was hilarious.
We got picked up in the bus, collected about 14 others for the tour, then headed out to the viewing site which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere! There was a giant constructed tent with a fireplace.
It was -33 degrees out there that night. It was absolutely freezing, despite all my layers, and the fireplace was doing nothing! The sky was full of stars out there. I had never seen so many stars before. I also saw a shooting star for the first time in my life, which was so exciting! We waited in the tent for awhile and had hot chocolate to warm up. I have never been that cold before, it was insane.
There was always a couple of people outside watching for the Northern Lights. Whenever someone came inside yelling, we all ran outside. For me, it was a bit disappointing. We only saw a faint white greenish glow on the horizon. We couldn't figure out our cameras to change the shutter speed and other options so we could take photos, so our photos turned out to be of just blackness. The tour guide's camera was on the right settings and you you actually see them better through a camera than with the human eye. They looked much more green and purple. They took a photo of Sally and I with the Northern Lights in the background. We paid to have it sent to us in Australia. We stayed out there until about 1am. By the end we were so cold and rugged up that we felt like we could fall asleep and eventually die. Sally and I were quoting Titanic when Jack is dying and saying "No. Don't give up. You're going to die and old, old lady warm in her bed" haha! We finally got the bus back and got back at 2:30am. I showered for ages to defrost my fingers and toes.
We woke up at 9am the next day and it was so dark because the sun doesn't rise there in winter until 10am! Sally made us scrambled eggs for breakfast. We got a call from the tour company that it was -38 degrees and too cold for dogsledding. Sally and I were so disappointed. They told us there were still going to take us to the Wildlife Preserve and Takhini Hot Springs in the afternoon. Nancy, the hostel owner, attempted to sort an alternative out for us but unfortunately that didn't work out. Sally called the company and explained to them that dogsledding was our top priority. They managed to get us on the half day dogsledding tour that afternoon as it would have warmed up a bit by then! It meant that we didn't get to do the wildlife preserve or the hot springs, but we were okay with that.
With that organised, we bunbled up and walked to the S.S. Klondike historical paddle boat and got some great photos.
We came back, had lunch and hot chocolate, and then got ready for dogsledding. We got picked up and were with two other groups. We got driven to the site and there was so many dogs in kennels. They were all howling like crazy.
We got given heat pads for our hands and feet, and proper boots and mittens. We got given our instructions then went to our sled. Sally was driving and I was riding first. We had 6 dogs and they were so excited to run. They were howling and jumping and pulling against the ropes. Our guide went first on the trail on a snowmobile to lead us. The 3 other sleds went ahead of us, and we were last. It was sooo incredible and so much fun. It was so cold that my eyebrows and eyelashes had icicles on them!! If I took my hand out of my mitten to take a photo, my hand was in pain straight away from the cold. So I hope you appreciate that I was sacrificing my hand when I took these photos!
After awhile we swapped over and I was driving, which was also so much fun. We didn't have to call at the dogs, just control their speed with the slower and brake. The scenery was picturesque and breathtaking. It was the most amazing experience.
We swapped over again for the last time, so Sally drove twice. The last quarter of the whole tour, once we were heading back, was like death. I think it dropped to -38 degrees or even lower. My feet had gone numb and I was short of breath and felt like I was dying. I had to keep my feet moving so I didn't get frostbite. I've never been that cold before and I don't think I've ever been in that much pain before. You don't understand it until it happens to you.
The dogs were so cold and exhausted and were going slow. We felt so bad for them. It felt like hours passed until we finally made it back. Then I could barely walk because my feet were numb, so Sally had to practically drag me inside. I had to keep them moving to heat them up. Good news guys, I didn't get frostbite and I still have all ten toes! We were then given hot chocolate and brownies while we sat in front of the fireplace.
Our guide then dropped us off in town. We went and ate dinner, then we were craving apple pie. We asked a local where to go, then walked 5 mins to a restaurant in a hotel and we each had a slice of warm apple pie with icecream. It was amazing. We got a taxi back to the hostel, then stayed up for awhile chatting with Nancy and other travellers.
On the Sunday we got picked up to go snowmobiling! Our guide Andre was so nice. We picked up a couple from Singapore who were doing the tour with us. We drove out about 30 mins to the site which is right by Fish Lake. We got into their proper gear including a jacket, boots, mitts, balaclava, goggles, and helmet. It was only about -16 degrees. Warm for us compared to the days before! There was one snowmobile per couple.
Sally tested it out around the cabin while I sat on the back, then I tested it out. It's not too hard to use, you just have to get the hang of leaning your body to help it during turns and stuff. We started off and I was driving. It was incredible and so much fun! We got to drive over Fish Lake because it was frozen, then there was a thick layer of deep snow on top. The sun was still rising over the mountains and it was such a gorgeous sight. We then drove halfway up a mountain. Sally and I took turns driving. We stopped along the way and saw animal tracks in the snow like from rabbits and lynx. We walked through some knee deep snow! It was awesome.
The further we got up the mountain, the deeper the snow became because there was a snow storm overnight that dumped a lot of fresh fluffy snow. Andre was on his snowmobile leading the way and creating a trail for us to follow. At one stage the snow got so deep his snowmobile got stuck and he had to get a shovel in order to get it out!
Even with the trail it was hard for us to drive up it. We stopped at two lookouts on the mountain to take photos of the gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains and Fish Lake.
At one point I was driving through the deep snow and we tipped over!! I fell off into the deep snow. It was hilarious and I was laughing so much. Andre was like "Good work ladies!" and gave is high-fives! We got off and he helped us get it out. Sally and I alternated driving for the rest of the way.
After getting dropped back off at our hostel, we had some hot chocolate (I think I overdosed on hot chocolate over this weekend), then we walked into downtown for some last minute shopping in the stores we hadn't gone into. I got some postcards, a sachet of candy cane flavoured hot chocolate, a sachet of gingerbread flavoured hot chocolate, and a Christmas/birthday/thank you present for Mum! We then flew back into Vancouver and made our way back to UBC. It was such a memorable trip and I'm so glad I got to experience everything I did!
Much more to blog about!
Love,
Emily
