It’s been a while since I’ve been to Yellowknife. At one time, I was there pretty regularly, often on my way from or to Iqaluit. The land is ruggedly beautiful, and clearly, it is currently drawing large numbers of tourists. Based on what I saw over two days around the hotel, they are mostly from Japan.

Yesterday I took the time to drive out onto Great Slave Lake and there was a small group of Japanese tourists on snowmobiles headed out onto the lake. They were dressed heavily – I was in my light jacket! It was only minus 9 and no wind… I was comfortable. I wondered what they were thinking.

Looking around Great Slave Lake, there are numerous boat houses – these have been here for years, and I was told originally that people live on these (year round) so they pay no property taxes. Which makes me wonder, just how high are the property taxes??!

Driving out on the lake – are you nervous? The ice is some ten to twelve feet thick!

Flying in and out of this city is always challenging, or it seems to me, it is. I have learned not to take West Jet or Air Canada…nope. I fly either Canadian North or First Air – the northern airlines who seem to fly when the “southern airlines” do not.

On my flight up to Yellowknife I was in one of the usual planes that I have flown on – a 737 that has the first half of the plane set up as cargo – the whole side of the plane will open up and cargo is loaded and unloaded quickly, which you want to do at minus 50 C!! When you get into the plane, through the rear entrance, the bulkhead is quite close. I always find it looks odd.

I enjoyed being around the city – they have a Starbucks now! And I ended up using it as my office my final morning because the hotel was going to charge me $100/hour to have a late check out. Off to Starbucks!!

Yellowknife is not as attractive a place as Whitehorse. I certainly loved Whitehorse, and enjoyed a very different feeling to that northern location, though the populations are about the same.

And as I was there working to support TSA in the north, it was great to be with Tony and Bev. They are great leaders, kind, disciplined, hard working! And there’s a tremendous need in the NWT – and we are working to make our work as effective and sustainable as possible.

Finally, in the YK airport, is this wonderful display around the luggage carousel – you can’t NOT take a picture.