Reflections of an Unexpected Journey

Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
LEAVING YELLOWKNIFE
Our Last Day
Our bar manager friend, Ann was dead keen to visit Australia. Would next year work for us? It sounded like a great idea, and we had fun that morning discussing the possibilities. "Oh, and if you are coming back at any stage and want to visit Alaska, I'll come with you!" she enthused. 
Now, that sounded like a plan. We could imagine a reunion of Bill, Daryl, Ann, and ourselves in Alaska. After all, Daryl lived in Bethel, Alaska (one of the bases for Lynden Air Cargo), and although Bill resided in the USA, he travelled frequently, and the notion of catching up one day was seemingly not out of the question.  But we knew that such reunions rarely happen, and reality takes over. People get on with their lives; even the best memories are soon forgotten. 
We had our last gin and tonic in "Ann's Bar" before saying farewell. Our flight left mid-afternoon, and thankfully, we had a relaxed early departure.
Being a long haul, we had booked our original flight from Ottawa to Vancouver, Business Class. Following our cancellation because of the blizzard in Resolute, we could transfer this bit of luxury to our Yellowknife to Vancouver flight. We had plenty of time, and at least we could sit in the Business Class Lounge before we left. Umm... no. Sadly, Ann told us that Yellowknife, a small regional centre, didn't have a Business Class Lounge. Or any lounge, for that matter... We shrugged. We hardly needed a Business Class flight for a two-and-three-quarter-hour trip, but seeing we had paid for it, we should enjoy a more comfortable journey. 
Reaching Vancouver 
Our flight was pleasant, and the in-flight service was very good. I was determined not to eat as we would be undertaking an international flight back to Sydney after connecting in Vancouver. But the food looked so good, I couldn't resist.
Our flight took us over Great Slave Lake before heading south to Vancouver. We were delighted. 
To date, we had always approached Yellowknife from another direction and had missed the opportunity to view this vast frozen "inland sea". Contrary to what I had thought, the lake is not named because of its slavery past, but after the First Nations peoples of the Dene family called "Slavey" by their enemies, the Cree - one of the largest groups of Indigenous people in Canada.
Vancouver city is situated in the most beautiful location, amid beautiful waterways and surrounded by snow powdered mountains. On a glorious afternoon, it was good to be back in this enchanting city. It was impossible to believe that we had begun our journey here only six weeks before. So much had happened, it felt like years.
Italian Espresso Martinis OR How We Nearly Missed Our Sydney Flight... 
Our baggage was booked through to Sydney, and we were able to enjoy our extra time in the Air Canada lounge in Vancouver. Fortunately, our arrival was at 6:20 pm, and our connecting flight to Sydney did not depart until 10:40 pm. There was plenty of time for relaxing.
To our delight, we were given invitation cards to the Air Canada Signature Lounge and were ushered to a beautifully appointed lounge by an elegantly attired black-tie waiter. 
"Welcome. I am your waiter for this evening. Would you care for fine dining service? Or would you prefer a cocktail?" he asked. Oh, this was just too good...
How we cursed for eating a full lunch on our flight from Yellowknife. The Chinese-styled pork and noodles were fine, but they hardly compared with the Signature entree delicacies of Tuna Tataki, Mushroom Bisque, main courses of Seared Halibut, Truffled Beef Tenderloin or desserts such as Orange and Bourbon Sorbet and Espresso Chocolate Cake...  Furthermore, there was an extensive wine list and a great selection of cocktails. Oh, bliss...
The Signature a la carte menu was very impressive. But there was no way we could do justice to a fine dining meal. And, of course, we had no option other than to stick with the cocktails. Wonderfully named concoctions such as Sparkling Vapour Trail, Soft Landing, Van City Horizon were just too tempting. "Perhaps you may care for an Italian Espresso Martini? They are Signature Lounge's new specialty cocktails", suggested our waiter.
It was the first time we had heard of an Italian Espresso Martini, and from the first sip, we were hooked. OMG! They were so good! A mixture of  Kahlua, Averno Amoro liqueur, and an espresso shot, and the cocktail mixture was shaken over ice before serving. I recall us having several... Upon asking, our waiter obliged us with a handwritten recipe (see below).
It's amazing how time flies when you are having fun... The next thing I remember was a call for passengers Alan M Smith and Wendy L Morrison to board our plane immediately. Oops... Where did that time go?
It was obvious that we had been enjoying ourselves. Red-faced and gasping, we boarded the plane and were shown to our seats by a polite flight attendant. Within seconds, the aircraft door was slammed shut, and the pre-flight safety announcements began. That was a bit too close for comfort...
Racing to our departure gate and almost missing our flight was not a gracious way to end our epic journey to "The Edge of Nowhere". But somehow suitably fitting for two people who had never done anything with the slightest restraint... 
REFLECTIONS OF A NON-VANILLA JOURNEY...
Our journey was one of our most successful yet unexpectedly fabulous trips*.
The trip had gone like clockwork. We suffered no sickness, our schedule worked brilliantly, and even our blizzard delay in Resolute worked perfectly for us. We met friendly and interesting people and made lasting friendships. Our journey gave us insight into the Inuit culture and way of life. We also learned a lot about Canadians in general. Friendly, helpful and generous, they were lovely people.
We were fascinated by how a community lived in such extreme climates and with the extraordinary logistics necessary for the survival of small hamlets, where there are no roads and just about everything must be freighted in by air or sea.
And the geography of the polar world was nothing short of mind-boggling. Even though we have travelled many times in the Arctic, there is always something different and more to learn. We love it.
And we learnt more about ourselves. We had never been traditional tourists - just ask our friends! And except for the Tuktoyaktuk tour, we enjoyed having no other tour commitments or deadlines. And doing little on some days was OK - a massive leap for me... Perhaps it had something to do with our advancing ages?
We have also proven that, with reasonable health, age should be no barrier to extreme Arctic travel. We found it interesting that we were almost "warned" by friends and acquaintances that we (particularly Alan) were too old for this type of travel. Furthermore, there was nothing to do there, and anyway, it was too dangerous. And Alan almost proved them right after he rolled his snowmobile - for the second time! 
Our sentiments, however, are the same - as long as we can, we will continue this type of travel. While many of our friends are downsizing their housing and restricting their lifestyle because of advancing age, we are doing the reverse. But then again, we have always defied convention...
*Note: Travel in Arctic Canada has one very significant downside. It is extraordinarily expensive. In fact, to the extent of being prohibitive. There is no way around it. Polar locations are inherently expensive. But if you can travel to such destinations, we would say, "Seize the Moment!"  
FOOTNOTE
We are undertaking another journey to the polar north in February-March 2025. This time, our travels will take us as far north as Grise Fiord, Nunavut, Canada, and the Alaskan High North. Just 35 days from the completion of this blog. Now, that is a close finish...
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