Backyard Yellowknife Winter Adventures on the Ice and Snow

Enjoying the great outdoors during winter is not a difficult thing to do when you live in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, particularly given our very long winter season. Over the past four weeks (mid-March to mid-April), I’ve been on some exhilarating Yellowknife backyard winter adventures on the ice and snow (and I experienced four “firsts”). Each adventure reminded me of what a truly spectacular place I live in! Although I’ve always known this! No matter the season, …

Four Seasons on Yellowknife Lakes

One of the many great things about Yellowknife, Northwest Territories (my home town) is the great outdoors, fresh air, wide open spaces and ease of access to nature – you’re never more than 10 minutes away from a fresh water lake.  Boating, jet-skiing, tubing, swimming, ice fishing, snowmobiling, skiing, skijoring, dogsledding, and more!  You can enjoy being out on the lakes year round, with plenty of room for social distancing!  Let me share with you …

Build It and They Will Come Up the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway

November 15, 2017 marks the official opening of the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, a $299 million 140-kilometre all-weather gravel road leading to the Arctic Ocean. This highway represents the final link of a transportation network spanning across Canada, connecting its people from coast to coast to coast.

Located at the top of the world in the Northwest Territories, along the shore of the Beaufort Sea, the hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk (otherwise known as “Tuk”) and its 900 residents …

Deline Northwest Territories Indigenous Self-government

September 1, 2016, is the effective date of the Deline Final Self-government Agreement, the agreement (modern day Treaty) which established the Deline Gotine Government, Canada’s first and only community-based Aboriginal public government, located in Deline, Northwest Territories. Deline is a small Dene community (population 550) situated along the shore of Great Bear Lake in the Sahtu region of the Northwest Territories.

Over the coming days, there will be no shortage of news coverage on the …

End of World Travels and Back to Reality

Apparently it’s time for me to go back to “reality.”  This is what people at home have been telling me; as if my round-the-journey I just returned from was nothing but a dream. My sabbatical is over, my time is up and now I have to live a “normal life.” (What is “normal” by the way?)

Back to reality? Hold on a second, if I wasn’t already there, then where was I for the past …

Destination Yellowknife-Home Sweet Home

For the past 5 weeks, I have been a visitor in my own hometown, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.  It’s a real strange feeling being here, not living in my own house, no Monday-Friday workweek to follow, no garden to tend to (and yet this is still my home).

When I left Yellowknife in April for my 10-month long round-the-world journey, I had no intention of coming back to Canada for a visit. But after …

arctic husky dogs in winter

Husky Dogs – Northern Beauties

Husky dogs are resilient, tough, and beautiful animals. Many of them are raised as working dogs – for pulling sleds and racing. Northern people have relied on husky dogs throughout history; they are loyal, hard working, and can provide great companionship – especially during the cold winters! While they are domesticated (some more than others), the large majority of huskies are outdoor dogs; they can withstand very cold temperatures (colder than -30 degrees celsius) and …

Aurora Borealis

Aurora Borealis – Spirits in the Sky

Witnessing the Aurora Borealis is a magical experience, no matter where you are. In Yellowknife, Northwest Territories – Canada, the Aurora Borealis (aka “northern lights” in the northern hemisphere) appear at night time (this is pretty obvious), and generally between the months of late August to March. I won’t attempt to get into the scientific explanation of this natural phenomena, just know that it’s something that you have got to experience in your lifetime.

Having …