Easterners

I was just over reading the blog Just Below 63 and they had received information from the east cost and the address on the envelope had Saskatchewan downgraded to a city in Alberta. That got me to thinking of a conversation I had with an Easterner on our last vacation to New Brunswick.

It sort of went like this...

Easterner - Your back. How are things in Alberta?

Me - I don't live in Alberta.

Easterner - Well...where ever it is your working in the oil fields out "there".

Me - I don't work in the oil field and I don't live in the western Provence's.

Easterner - Where ever it is you work then!

Me - I work in Nunavut with the government.

Easterner - What country is that?

Me - *sigh* I work out west in the oil field.

! IQALUIT FIRE !

There was a fire in Iqaluit today in a multi-unit apartment behind Arctic Ventures. I was just sticking my camera out the window to take some photos of people wind skating on the bay when I noticed this happening. The photos were taken from the 5th floor of the Frobisher Inn. Hope no one was hurt in the fire.

First firetruck has arrived at the blaze.

Firefighters just starting to lay on the water.

Getting closer to the door. Look at the smoke!

Another look at the smoke and the gathering onlookers.

Another firetruck heading to the fire.

At this point some firefighters have entered the building.

After a about an hour after the first photo the fire looks like it is under control.

At this time (20:23) the fire is completely out and it looks like there is still some firefighters at the scene. I'm guessing it is the fire inspectors.

To the Lake & Back

Last weekend Michele and I went out to Fish Lake for a quick run. It's only about 5-6 miles one way to the lake so it doesn't take much time. Since we haven't had much snow in the last month it is like a four lane highway going there. No chance of getting lost on the way. Below is a photo journey there and back.

This is were the real journey begins on the other side of Malliq island. This is were there is a long line of Inukshuks on a ridge. You can just see a snowmobile going through the pressure ice. A couple of times on our trip we had to wait for other travellers to get through.

Entering the pressure ice is always the scary part of the trip.

We came out of the first bit of pressure ice with overflow areas on both sides. These are areas that have cracked open and sank far enough for the water to flow out of it. Typically they are very slushy because of the salt in the water.

One of the many cabins in this area. That isn't a power line you see to the side it's a clothesline. No power out here. One of the cabins in this area is were the teenager was shot a couple of weeks ago.

Some folks camping and fishing on Fish Lake.

This fishing hole was hand chiseled into the ice. The ice in this area is five feet thick. With the freshly chipped ice pile we were able to suck on the ice for a refreshing drink.

You can see one of the ice chisels in this photo. It is the long slender pole to the right. The snow forts you see are used to block the sun from reflecting in the hole. That way you can see to the bottom of the lake and when fish go by the bottom. Those aren't packs on the ice it is Inuit laying down and looking in the holes.

We are now on our way back and the next photos are from travelling through the pressure ice.

The Ice in these photos, forced up by the tides and pressure, are the size of houses.

This piece was about 4 meters height (15 feet).

Didn't know why all the tracks divided and went around this area but when travelling in Pressure Ice it's better to keep to the statis quo.

That is a ridge of pressure ice we had just came down. The lines you see aren't tracks they are cracks in the ice. The ridge is about 7 1/2 meters high (30 feet).

Nothing special just a pretty piece of ice.

We are on top of a ridge of pressure ice about to go down. This was a long stretch of pressure ice to go through.

Crack at the top.

And on and on...

Wall of ice caused by the tides in the area.

Hard to see but this is looking at Cape Dorset on Dorset island from Malluq island. A version of this photo now graces the top of the blog.

The entire trip including hanging out at Fish lake was about two hours of time on a Saturday afternoon. Great fun.

Blogging Vacation

I have been on a blogging vacation. I have been very busy at work and have been travelling alot in the last couple of months. I just haven't had the energy or motivation to blog. In fact I leave again Friday for seven days and will be heading to Hall Beach and Igloolik. I do have some things to blog about and will try to get them out before I leave on Friday.


Here's a bit of what has been happening:


There won't be a Pangnirtung Part two because I had a food allergy attack while I was there and was just to sick to get out and explore. I didn't miss any work time but it was unpleasant. Such is life. I did go back to Pangnirtung for a different reason but was only there overnight and had lots to do in a short time. There is a token photo below.


Michele's Mom came in today to visit and will be staying for about a month or so. I will be posting some photos later this week. She is very excited.

A future post will have some photos from being out on the land. I have been out a lot but haven't been taking the camera with me. I will be more disciplined in the future because every time we go out I always say "That would be a good photo and that would be a good photo. Gee I wish I had my camera with me". LOL.

Thanks to the folks that stop by on a regular basis and I will be up to normal blogging soon.

Pangnirtung Photos Part 1

The famous entrance to the fiord and park in Pangnirtung. There will be more coming over the next few days.

Pangnirtung

I've made it to Pangnirtung the last stop on this 20 day duty travel trip. I didn't take any photos while in Qikiqtarjuaq because I didn't have the time and I've posted photos from here before. I will have the opportunity to get out this weekend and explore around Pangnirtung and will have a guided tour Monday afternoon. That one will be part work and part play.

Depending on the weather there should be a good display of Northern lights this Saturday night because of an approaching solar wind stream from the sun. I am already trying to spot some good places to get scenic shots of them. Unfortunately I don't have a tripod with me so I have to chose spots that I can set the camera down on. Hand holding wouldn't produce good photos. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Stay tuned for more.

Northern Lights - Iqaluit Style

Last night, just as I was getting ready to hit the hay, the northern lights showed up over the city of Iqaluit. I snapped these photos from the 5th floor* of the Frobisher Hotel. I don't have a tripod with me so I braced the camera in the window and kept as steady as I could. Most of the photos turned out okay.

I think the large light circles you can see all over the image below was caused by light entering the rear viewer from the room behind me. All of the photos were taken looking towards Frobisher Bay. The bright white glow are apartments and the North Mart. The details will be a bit blurry because the camera was hand held.

You may notice in the photo below a dark line cutting across the northern lights. The line is a shadow caused by the exhaust of a passing airplane. When I noticed the line developing in earlier photos I thought something was wrong with the camera.

Note: My apologizes to anyone who may have looked up at the 5th floor of the Frobisher Hotel and seen a half naked, hairy, bit overweight fellow hanging out of the window. Okay maybe not that hairy.

Clyde River

Previously my only times in Clyde River were for brief stops on the way to either Pond Inlet or Iqaluit. It was nice to spend some time in the community this time. The hotel was nice and the food was excellent. The only problem we had was the waste pipes were frozen for the first day and night leading to a nasty looking toilet by the time they were unfrozen. I had a bit of time to look around before we flew out on Friday.

This shed was in front of the hotel and was almost completely buried in by a snow drift. Clyde River gets a lot of snow in the winter. Last year they were in a state of emergency after a blizzard that left entire buildings buried under the snow and it was over a week before all the roads were dug out.

I believe this is one of the streets that had entire buildings buried under snow.

I did get out to wander around the pressure ice. I've modified the photos below to show the colors in the ice. The first photo below has only been lightened.

Hue and saturation changed to about +18 to show the greenish blue color in the pressure ice.

Hue and saturation all the way to the right and gave an effect I really liked.

My favorite shot. A lot of modifying done to this one.

Our Daughter

She makes us so proud.

:o)

You can tell she takes after her mother.

We miss you and love you.

It's Travel Time

I have started travelling for work and will be hitting several communities. I am now in Iqaluit and will be travelling to Pond Inlet, Clyde River, Qikitarjuaq and Pangnirtung. Hope to get some free time to snap photos in each community and post them on the blog. I will be back in Iqaluit next weekend in between the Pond-Clyde and Pang-Qik portions of the trip. I am either hanging with a friend tonight or if that goes bust then I've heard there is a poker tourney in town I might try my luck at. Just for fun can anyone guess which hotel I'm staying at by the photo below?