My Morning Commute

So I got one of those GoPro cameras and the first thing recorded is my morning commute.  There are three ways to get to work.  One is walk, two is to use an ATV and three is to use a snowmobile.  Snowmobiling is the funnest way in my opinion.  Have a look at the video or if you like hit this link to go directly to the video on YouTube.

Of course there is a fourth way but I hate having to beg for a ride.  :oP

Rankin Inlet Travel

I have been away this week travelling to Rankin Inlet for work and have just returned.  Regular post to commence soon!

I didn't take any photos while in Rankin Inlet (gasp) so here are a couple of photos of the famous large Inukshuk located in town.  I can easily get my 6'2" frame between the legs with room to spare all around.  I think both photos have appeared on the blog in previous years.

Travelling

I'm travelling on my holidays for the next three weeks.  I haven't been able to post any photos because my card reader has a broken pin.  Should be able to get a new one soon and get caught up with my posting.  If you can't do without a little M of Cape Dorset come follow me on Twitter.  See the side bar.

Damn it's muggy in Ottawa.

Park Landing

A plane landing at the Cape Dorset airport.  The pilots have to come down between two hills to get there.  I was lucky to catch this one landing while playing at the park.

Odd Views

Last couple of photos from my trip to Iqaluit.  Whenever I was at the Navigator I would toss change onto this light tray that runs the length of the hallway.  It seems someone has picked it up since I was last there.  To bad they didn't clean it too.

One of the many crazy angles you will find at the Navigator.  The piles, the building sits on, are moving and lifting.  This is pushing walls, doors, windows and floors into weird angles and lumps.

That is my reflection in the window!

Post for Megan.

This is a special post just for Megan at the Snow-Covered Hills Blog.

If I can spot spelling and grammar errors it must be bad.  LOL.

This sign was posted outside the Caribou Cafe. 

Sugary Goodness

At the Baffin Mayors Forum I overheard a Mayor saying "The surgars good; it keeps you alert to ask more questions."

I try to avoid topics that are close to or about work because bloggers in the North get in trouble for that kind of stuff. So if any of my government readers think this should be taken off because it references the Baffin Mayors Forum and a quote from one unnamed Mayor, let me know and I will remove the post. Personally I don't think this crosses the line.

Favorite Morning Place

If you are in Iqaluit this is the best place in the world first thing in the morning.

This is the Caribou Cafe outside the Frobisher Inn at the Brown Building.

Footprints

It was dark when I took this photo.  Can you see the footprints?

Iqaluit Sunset

Sunset photo in Iqaluit taken last weekend.

Lonely Travel

Two snowmobiles returning to Iqaluit from being on the land. 

The lights are kilometres away.  I was using my Olympus 300mm (600mm film equivalent) at max zoom and no photo cropping to get the photo above.

Helicopter

Helicopter over Iqaluit

A photo just before going down to have supper.  Haven't seen the menu yet but I got a feeling it will be the Danish Back Ribs tonight.  Yummy!

Christmas Lights

I was in Iqaluit last week for work and stayed at the Frobisher Inn. I was staying on the 4th floor over looking the front entrance instead of the bay. I took some photos of the Christmas lights from an angle most people won't see. I am planning to go around and take photos of the Christmas lights in Cape Dorset. There is a yearly competition for who has the best lights. Hope it is going on this year because last year there was some impressive displays.  Until then here are some photos from the Frobisher Inn.

Santa and the reindeer over the entry

Fooled ya it's a polar bear.

They had light trees on both sides of the entry.

I soon bored of taking normal photos and started playing with shaking and zooming the camera during the exposures.

I really like this one.  Looks like a flower.

This one is now the background on my laptop.

More New Nunavut Blogs

Wow what's going on this year. There are tons of new Nunavut Blogs this year to make up for the ones we are losing. Sure is sad to Nathan and Jen moving south again and we will be keeping up with them once Jen has a new blog up and running. Still a lot of bloggers from the Cape Dorset area. Take a moment to go check out these new Nunavut Blogs.

Northernbound Nurse - She is just starting the process of moving to Nunavut to work as a nurse and you can follow the adventure at her blog site. Hope she likes kids because there is lots of them in Arviat.

Newbie in the Arctic - Another blogger in Pangnirtung who has been blogging since February.

Christa in Gjoa Haven - Another maritimer who has relocated to Nunavut. As you can see by the title she is residing in Gjoe Haven.

Arctic-ulate - This blogger has lived in the north for the past three years but just started her first northern blog. She is a resident of Rankin Inlet. Hey I was just there a month ago.

I will have some photos from Ottawa up soon and will be back to northern related post soon. I got home this weekend but I'm leaving Monday on duty travel for the week.

999

A little of topic for a northern blog but today is 09/09/09. It won't be until 01/01/2101 that we will see a date with repeating single digit dates.

Should have some more photos posted soon, if not later today, from Ottawa. I will be back in Cape Dorset on Friday.

New Brunswick

One of the highlights of going back to the Martimes was the train ride with my daughter going from Halifax, NS to Moncton, NB. The seats and cars have changed a lot since I last travelled on a train almost 20 years ago. Surprisingly this was also the least expensive way to go between the two cities and was only 1 hour longer than taking the bus.

This is the civilized way to travel.

By far this is one of the coolest photos I've ever taken. There was lighting storms in the distance and we were only seeing the flashes of light and about 20sec later hearing the thunder. I got lucky on a 5 second exposure and got a photo of the lighting going from cloud to cloud. Not sure what was louder the thunder or me yelling. Hasn't been a lighting storm since for me to try out some new techniques.

Makes up for missing the northern lights back home.

Rankin Inlet

At the start of my travels I was in Rankin Inlet for meetings and got to see folks that I haven't seen since the last AGM meetings. A couple of photos from the trip below.

A look through the filthy window at the Co-op hotel. Nice rooms and restaurant. I think they are the only restaurant in the north that serves a Maritime Poutine. Fries, gravy, ketchup, onions, poutine cheese, hamburger all mixed together. Yummy.

The famous Inikshuk in Rankin Inlet. Nice silhouette photo. The sun is hiding just behind the right leg. Here is a photo taken when I was in Rankin Inlet about two years ago.

Halifax

I've arrived in Halifax.

I'm only here overnight and will be meeting our daughter tomorrow morning at the airport and then a quick drive to the train station for the trip to Moncton.

I won't have any photos from my Rankin Inlet trip or the New Brunswick stay until I find a new USB cord for the camera. I'm guessing one won't be found until I'm back in Ottawa.

More later

Travelling Man

Blog posting over the next 1 1/2 months will be very sporadic because I will be travelling. I'm attending meetings in Rankin and Iqaluit and I'm going to take a month off to spend with family and friends.

I'm going to try to blog during my travels but I'm missing the USB cord for my camera and won't be able to post any photos until I get a new one. You'll have to wait and see how it goes.

A day of Travel - Video

My first successful attempt at loading videos on the blog. The videos below are from a work related trip a couple of years ago. I've always wanted to load these to show what flying in the North is like. The charter we used is from Kenn Borak.

Charter landing at the Kimmirut airport.

Taking off from Kimmirut. Sorry the sound is bad. At the end of the video I pan around the interior of the plane and the last guy that shows up is now our current Mayor. *update* Technically the last guy is me so the current Mayor is the second to last guy.

Finally the landing in Cape Dorset.