Wednesday 30 June 2010

Blast from the Past

Canada Day 18 years ago - where have all the years gone ?


Thursday 24 June 2010

Road Trip to Yellowknife

On the afternoon of Wednesday June 23 Johanna and I set out in a brand new Dodge Caravan for the drive to Yellowknife. (I had flown back to Edmonton for a few days and the van needed to be brought back to YK for the Matco branch). We stopped for supper with Bronwen in High Prairie at the local Chinese restaurant which was very good. Nice to see where she has been working for the past few weeks on her university practicum as part of her masters degree in Occupational Therapy . We continued on for a few more hours and stopped for the night at a motel in Manning - not the greatest place but all we needed was a bed to sleep.


Thursday we were up early for the continental breakfast and were on our way again by 7:00 a.m. Made good progress with stops along the way for breaks, fuel and some sight seeing. Amazing to again see such vast expanses of countryside totally uninhabited and so few vehicles on the roads. It was an experience that very many Canadians do not get and gave us a better appreciation of what the truck drivers have to contend with in getting up to Yellowknife and back. The winter driving must be brutal.





We got into YK at about 5:30 pm – 16 hours of actual driving and 1,476 km - and I gave Johanna quick tour of the place. We went for supper at one of the unique YK eateries called "Bullocks Bistro". It is in a small old log cabin and they serve just 2-3 kinds of fish – either deep fried, grilled or pan fried - and venison steak of some kind - whatever they can get hold of seasonally - all with a heap of green salad and a pile of hand-cut fries. Three women run the place - the owner who is the chef and two waitresses - and it is an incredible experience. We sat at the bar which is just a long kitchen counter next to the cooking area so we could chat with the chef and waitress and watch everything going on while we waited for our order to come along in the line-up. We chose pan fried Arctic Char - it was to die for and well worth the hour-long wait. YK time is like Africa time - so I am really enjoying it !

Friday I had to go to work so Johanna just chilled out on her own and did some walking around the town. In the evening we met up with a friend of Bronwen's who is doing her practicum up here and went for sushi and then a few drinks with her. Saturday morning we did some other touristy things - including breakfast at the most Northerly McDonald's in Canada !

For more photos of the trip visit the Facebook album Road Trip