Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, CanadaBACK TO YELLOWKNIFE...
Our Arrival
It was a pleasant but surprisingly long flight from Resolute to Yellowknife. But then again, the distances in Canada, like Australia, are enormous. We had travelled nearly 1,600 km on our route.
Approaching Yellowknife, our charter aircraft flew low enough to view the many lakes and waterways surrounding the city in detail. Still frozen, they were etched with fantastically crisscrossed snowmobile trails.
It felt quite bizarre to see trees, vegetation and civilisation again. Strangely enough, as much as I love trees, I'm not sure I was comfortable with this new vista... After our travels in the polar regions, the scenery looked well, just a bit unremarkable… Furthermore, much snow had thawed from the countryside since our forward visit just fifteen days before. And somehow, a place seems to lose magic without its snow.
We had experienced similar sentiments during our previous travels. Once we had experienced the Arctic adventure, everything else looked and felt a bit ho-hum. Was it the polar geography, the way of life in harsh and remote locations, or the diversity of the cultures and friendly, generous nature of the people who lived in this extreme environment? Perhaps it was a combination of all these factors? We really liked the frontier city of Yellowknife, but on our second visit, it became very much the people rather than the destination.
We farewelled our ATCO friends, some of whom we would meet that evening for drinks in the Chateau Nova Hotel bar. And I bet, like us, they were hanging out for a few drinks after being in the dry hamlet of Resolute for eight weeks.
We were about to catch a taxi when a young woman approached us. An employee in one of Aziz's Yellowknife companies was there to give us a lift to our hotel. Another kind deed by "Ozzie", we were very grateful.
As we drove back into Yellowknife in a huge four-wheel-drive truck, we asked her what business she worked in. "Oh, I work in one of Ozzie's mining businesses. And he is involved in - well, just about everything!" she laughed. It seemed there was no end to Ozzie's entrepreneurship. Like everyone who knew Ozzie, she was very praising of him.
Our First Evening in Yellowknife - a Great Reunion with Ann. Meeting Bill.
Ann was a very funny person. Bar manager at the Chateau Nova's Quarry Lounge, Ann had a fantastic sense of humour and a genuinely warm and outgoing nature. Often using a crazy megaphone to welcome guests, she could be hilarious. But despite her humour, she ran a mega-tight ship, keeping an eagle eye on her guests and staff. And everyone loved her. Ann was indeed a very special person.
On our forward journey, we met Ann and several cargo pilots and flight engineers working for Lynden Air Cargo. They were super friendly, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there - mostly due to the interesting conversations and friendships we made. And we are still in contact.
A few days before, I contacted Daryl, the only one of the Lynden Air group whose contact details we had, to inform him of our changed itinerary. We hoped to catch up with him and some of the others in Yellowknife. We were in luck. Daryl would meet up with us in a few days.
I didn't have Ann's contact details, so she had no idea we would be returning to Yellowknife.
On entering the bar, Ann looked like she had seen a ghost. Staging a flamboyant fainting attack, she threw herself onto her back on the bar floor, crying, "I can't believe it! You two are back!" I must admit, it was quite some performance. Little did she know that Steve, the general manager for Nova Hotels, had walked in behind us... It was very funny.
Ann's outrageous performance was another good introduction to some of the Lynden staff we hadn't met. We soon met Bill, a flight engineer and Hunter, a logistics manager. When we asked after Daryl, no one was sure when he would be back in Yellowknife. But they hoped it might be soon. Known by his nickname of "Duckie" by everyone, he was obviously very popular with the Lynden group. On our forward visit, we sensed even a certain reverence toward him. Perhaps because he was a flight captain? Or just that he was a nice guy... Or perhaps like Ozzie, Duckie walked on water... Who knows?
Smugly, I asserted that I knew he would return in a few days because of our recent text exchange. There was an astonishing reaction from the Lynden group. "Well, how is it that YOU have his contact details?" asked a surprised Bill. As seriously as I could master, I replied slowly and solemnly, "Well..... We have a relationship..." To this day, I have no idea why I made such an outrageous comment. Of course, it was a joke. But I had a horrible feeling...
Now, as Alan will attest, this was not the first time I had gotten myself into a lot of trouble with my "not-thinking-before-acting" quips and bizarre sense of humour. To my horror, Bill immediately rang Duckie, asking about "this relationship". Goodness knows what a Mrs Duckie would have thought. I hoped, if there was one, that she wasn't around. It was, after all, just a joke... Alan just shook his head. He had seen and heard it all before...
Later in the evening, we had drinks with the ATCO team. It was sad to say goodbye. We enjoyed their company. The following day, they would be heading off in all directions to their homes for four weeks before returning to Resolute. Their excitement was palpable.
And we had five whole days to lounge around Yellowknife. It was bliss not to have any deadlines and to cruise in the final days of our trip.
HAPPY DAYS IN YELLOWKNIFE
Wanders Around Yellowknife
Our following days were delightfully idle. And that is really unusual for me. Alan had often commented that I only sat down to rest when I had a glass of wine in my hand...
We did what we wanted. Alan read back at the hotel while I took walks on my own, exploring the supermarkets and the curiously old-worldly shops in downtown Yellowknife.
It certainly had a frontier feel to it; the central part of the city looking like a facade of an old Western movie. A lot of the buildings were built like log cabins. There was obviously no shortage of timber surrounding the town.
Shop owners were curious about where I was from and where I had been travelling. Most were astounded when I told them we had spent most of our time in the High North in Nunavut.
Once again, the local people were super friendly and helpful. Just what was it about these Canadians? We had always heard that they are much like Australians in their culture and laid-back manner. And from the people we met, that is true. But I would have to say that the Canadians were even more genuinely friendly to visitors and also to each other.
Interestingly, Yellowknife did not appear to have a central area, and I didn't find any modern malls or shopping centres. It reminded me much of large regional Australian towns. Not surprisingly, I felt very much at home.
I walked through snowy parkland to the regional Legislative Assembly Building and the adjacent Yellowknife Museum. The museum was well-presented, but I was over museums and sightseeing by then. Even with snowmelt conditions, the walks around the parks were lovely.
Our hotel was comfortable, and the evening restaurant meals were excellent. We soon became used to coping with the enormous servings. The easiest way to deal with them was to share. Even then, they were larger than we would typically eat at home. And, of course, Ann's bar was a great place to relax in the evening.
During our stay, we occasionally ran into Steve, the General Manager for Nova Hotels. We had met him on our first night in Yellowknife - just after Ann's fainting performance. "Oh, I could see she was happy to see you!" he smiled. Steve was an impressive manager, walking around in a seemingly casual way, it was obvious that nothing much escaped his eagle eye. And he was very praising of his staff, especially our Ann.
News of the B.I.G Team's Project at Isachsen, Nunavut
Later in our stay, we heard news of the all-women B.I.G team venture. As mentioned in the previous chapter, the group finally departed Resolute for Isachsen in the far north the day we flew to Yellowknife.
We were pleased for them. The amount of effort put into the venture's planning, logistics and operation was enormous. And they were badly running out of time for their tiny window of opportunity.
Bad weather hampered their trip from start to finish. They planned to traverse by ski across the Prince Gustaf Adolf Sea, taking water, snow and ice samples from where some of the oldest ice in the Arctic Ocean accumulates. Poor conditions and consequent severe logistical issues, however, forced a change of plan. The team was instead dropped off by plane on Ellef Rignes Island on the eastern edge of the Prince Gustaf Adolf Sea, where they battled yet more bad weather to access the Arctic Ocean sea ice.
They completed their sample collection, but disappointingly, it was within a more limited area than initially intended. However, they managed to make the best out of their venture and, in extreme conditions, survived a really arduous journey.
An upside of their journey was that they achieved a Guinness Book of Record for the highest latitude cocktail party ever. A bit chilly for evening attire, but they certainly did look happy. Probably because they survived...
Concerned for them, we were relieved they were safely picked up and no ill outcomes occurred during their icy journey. It was, to put it mildly, an ambitious and challenging project.
Note: The above photos are courtesy of the B.I.G Team. Special thanks to team members Sadie Whitelocks and Edel Kieran for informing me about their Nunavut project.
Last Days in Yellowknife
On the last evenings of our stay, we enjoyed drinks in "Ann's" bar with Bill, Daryl, and some of the other Lynden Air Cargo Group members - and, of course, Ann. It was great to catch up with Daryl again. A laid-back and unassuming man, Daryl was great company. But, try as we might, we couldn't call him Duckie. Especially as Ann, with her strong Newfoundland accent, pronounced it more like "Dockie".
It was amazing that we just "clicked". For people who had never known each other before, our friendship was immediate, and we felt almost like family. We spent hours chatting and could have done so all night had it not been for Daryl and Bill's necessity for early nights. Getting up at 4:00 am to fly out to the remote north, more often undertaking three flights per day, they were very sensible about getting a good night's rest.
We talked about their work with Lynden Air Cargo. An American airline based in Anchorage, Alaska, Lynden Air Cargo operated scheduled cargo services and on-demand charter, international and domestic flights, including services for the US military. The company had a ten Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules aircraft fleet and employed over 200 staff. It was an impressive company.
In 2023, the large mining consortium B2 Gold, an international senior gold producer headquartered in Vancouver, contracted Lynden Air Cargo to transport heavy underground and surface equipment for constructing five new gold mines along an 80 km belt in the Back River Gold District of Nunavut. The logistics and cost of creating a mining establishment without road transport were mind-boggling. Where no roads initially existed, air was one of the most practical means of transport in the high north. Goodness knows how they accommodated their staff transport, accommodation and other needs...
In 2024 however, a winter ice road (WIR) was created to facilitate the transport of products from Bathurst Inlet to Goose Lake, the most advanced of the mining sites. Over 2,100 loads of materials, fuel and equipment have been transported from the Marine Laydown Area (MLA) at Bathurst Inlet across 160 km of ice road to the project site.
The 2024 Sealift was completed in September 2024, with ten ships and one barge unloading 123,000 cubic meters of dry cargo, more than 84 million litres of Arctic Grade fuel and 58 additional trucks for the WIR from global locations. This was really BIG business!
Daryl was one of two pilots, and Bill was a flight engineer involved with the Lynden Air Cargo cargo transportation to the five Back River Gold mining projects. Daryl and Bill's work also took them to Lynden's international air bases worldwide, including Australia, where the company had an air base at Toowoomba in Queensland. We laughed, saying they should just keep flying south closer to where we lived in the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales. After a few gins and tonic, that sounded feasible...
At the end of our last night, we all swapped contact information, genuinely hoping that sometime, somewhere in the world, we may catch up again. And stranger things have happened, haven't they?
2025-02-08