Hey everyone!! So I've been here over 3 weeks now! and 5 more to go before I explore Vancouver/Victoria/Whistler with Michelle before heading home April 11! It's been great here so far, the people are fantastic! I've had a few days off now which have been really nice to have. Last week I wandered around a lot as the sun seemed to be out a lot and make it nice and warm (it got to +1 at one point hehehehe), making walking in your parka HOT! I've found a cute little jewellery store on front street that has the nicest lady running it. I spent an hour at least in there looking at the authentic Yukon gold stuff and also the Mammoth Ivory stuff and she taught me so much, it was very cool! I've got a few things picked out, now I just have to decide what my "present to myself" is going to be! I justify the purchase by saying I've earned it and may never get to come back again lol! I've gotten to catch a beautiful sunset here, and when doing so I noticed this man walking on the river in snowshoes with like 4 tripods set up and thought "well that's intense" haha and when he came back up on the trail we started chatting and he said he was here to do some filming for a Yukon Trapping show, much like the Yukon Gold show. There's a whole crew up here following some trappers around and the guy I met was filming for the transitions in the show. He was suuuuuppperrr nice and gave me some Yukon must-do's, like checking out Tombstone National Park which is about an hours drive away. Hopefully I'll get to check that place out, it sounds just beautiful. It's so easy to just chat with people here, learn about the town and the people from it. My coworkers are awesome and I enjoy working with them and meeting up outside of work too, great environment here! So last night I was able to go out and do the Sourtoe Cocktail!! It is a real mummified toe. When I first read about the toe, I was like 'there is NO way this is actually real.. it CAN'T be a REAL toe?!'... boy.. was I wrong. It is real, and people have put it in their will to donate their toe to this thing! Last year, a guy all ballsy walked up to the bar, put $500 down and swallowed the toe..... SWALLOWED the toe!! It was initially a $500 fine to swallow thinking who in their right mind would swallow it, well that guy did, and since then the fines been bumped up to $2500 if the toe is swallowed. The objective is that when you take the shot the toe HAS to touch your lips. I was just hoping the part to touch my lip wouldn't be the severed end.....! The shot also has to be 40% alcohol, so in the true spirit of the Yukon, I picked Yukon Gold Whiskey and had a beer close by to wash it all down lol (Deadman's Creek beer - brewed here in the Yukon and its a Cranberry Wheat ale - so good!). When doing the shot you get a 'Toe Captain' and they do a little ceremony reading the certificate (picture posted) and drop the toe in the drink and then it's easy... just drink! Ha.. Ha.... not!! It looks awful... and sometimes it gets stuck in the glass so it isn't necessarily quick either! Another frightful thought... is sometimes you get a chunk of salt in the drink and when you take the shot and feel the grain of salt in your mouth you freak out thinking it's something else! Since doing the shot, I am now a "member" and can do the toe as many times as I want, it was a $5 fee for the first time. Melanie took pictures for me and captured the whole event quite perfectly lol! The toe captain let me touch the toe after, out of curiosity, and it was squishy like leather, and the toe captain said that they specifically ask for the gnarly toe nails *gagggg*! Thankfully I am all up to date on my immunizations and the 40% alcohol acts as a good disinfectant. Writing this the day after.. I really can't believe I did it and I've been cringing as I write the details.... lol Well, that's been the extent of my last week or so here between working and wandering Dawson City. Oh! Last night I caught the Northern Lights for the first time!!! They were soo pretty! It was amazing to see! They weren't super bright and came and left pretty quickly, so hopefully I'll see them again. I did get 2 pictures and will post them, but please ignore the clearly amateur photography skills, I'm still learning, and I don't have a tripod for the extended shutter speed - which will be a near-future purchase I think! It's the best way to capture the lights! So, I guess I've had a pretty productive week or so, crossing a few things off my bucket list! A Yukon sunset, Sourtoe Cocktail and the Northern Lights. Pretty awesome. I love and feel so lucky to be able to do what I'm doing! I miss everyone back at home! and I'm thankful for social media/text/bbm/facetime/skype for being able to stay in touch! I don't think I could do this without those luxuries! Hope everyone is doing awesome at home, and keeping warm!! From what I hear the Yukon is warmer still! I can't wait to come home for a visit and catch up : ) miss you all!! Until next time.....! |
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Hey everyone!! It's been a while since I've blogged, so I'm glad to have a chance to catch ya all up on what I've been doing up here (besides freezing my tail off!). I've been working lots, and haven't had the chance to get out with my camera to take photos. OK, I might have had a chance once or twice, but it's been too darn cold to wander and take photos, and I don't think my good camera would like me very much if I took it out in -50 for an extended period of time! I've also spent any downtime I have putting lotion on because despite how cliche it is, it's a DRY cold here and it certainly shows on your skin! I landed last Wednesday morning, and was asked to go straight into work after I got some groceries, nothing like jumpin' right in! Since then I've been working most days, with the odd day off where we would go warm up and have lunch at the Alchemy Cafe. A delicious little spot in town open year 'round! All yummy local, fresh food with daily specials! Everything is a pretty short walk away in Dawson which is super nice. The streets aren't paved (which you couldn't tell in winter anyways....) and the sidewalks are all wooden boards. No salt anywhere! So your shoes and cars etc don't get ruined by all that salt thrown around in Ontario! I live in a duplex a short walk away from the hospital with 2 roommates at the moment. Dawson has a lot of contract/temporary staff in and out all the time so I imagine I will have a few more roommates before my contract is up! All 3 of us are originally from Ontario. Melanie from Timmins and Justine from Woodstock, small world, eh? I'm the only one who is still from Ontario while the other girls have moved to Newfoundland and Whitehorse. I've also met a lot of people in the hospital/in town from Ontario, too. It's a small hospital, 8 ER stretchers and 6 acute beds. Brand new and beautiful though. It's rather slow right now as the population really drops in the offseason, but will pick up in the on season when the mines open up and tourism is in full swing! Dawson has a TON of things going on, even in the winter. It's a happening little place and I've really enjoyed myself so far! We've been to the Alchemy too many times to count, and had dinner at The Drunken Goat Taverna which is a restaurant/bar combo where the restaurant side is closed in the winter, but the bar is open year 'round and serves delicious greek food. It's got this awesome entrance for the winter season too - an igloo! So cool, I've posted some pictures below. I will have to go again before it all thaws and get a picture on the inside of the igloo. In mid March there is the 'Thaw di Gras' festival (which I happen to be working nights all weekend, naturally haha) but hope I can get up/stay up to enjoy the free activities like: who can boil a pot of tea the fastest by building a fire, the chainsaw toss, find the looney in the haystack, and the axe toss! Needless to say, I might be getting some ER business that weekend! The Yukon Quest has also just gone through Dawson this week. It is a 1000 mile dog sled race from Whitehorse, YT to Fairbanks, Alaska. Its got a mandatory rest stop in Dawson City and it is marked as the halfway point of the race. My roommates caught the dogs heading out to start again, but I missed it sadly, and while walking around town today I was hoping to see some dogs but didn't catch any unfortunately. There is another race coming up too called Percy Dewolfe Memorial Race on March 16. This race is to remember the man who carried the mail summer and winter via dogsled through crazy conditions (-50 temperatures, the ice flows etc). I was pleasantly surprised to find out that despite being SOOOO far north, Dawson is a happenin' little town with a great community and lots to do and see. The stores and restaurants are all one of a kind and while a lot are closed in the off season, there are a ton of things open year round. Last week we were walking around town getting some things and we were stopped in the street by a man who said "you guys must be tourists, you look like you just got off the plane"! hahaha was it THAT obvious.....?! He said he spends his winter here and when he asked what we were doing up here and heard that we were nurses he said he knew 2 of our co workers. Everyone knows everyone here. He also mentioned that he'd try and get us out on a dog sled before Melanie leaves! Hopefully we run into him again! Pretty sure he's camping up here - seriously! And there's this little community here called 'West Dawson' that doesn't have any electricity or hydro - could you imagine!? They have an ice bridge across the river in the winter, and in the summer they have to ferry across to town. They have solar panels and I can't imagine how awesome those would be on those 18 hour days of sun! It's definitely a different - but awesome - world up here. Today with the temperatures around -14, I only half bundled up and got my camera out to take photos, the snow makes all the colourful homes and downtown places so bright. I walked along the Yukon River and kept my eyes open to try and catch a dogsled (no such luck..). I checked out some stores and am trying to decide what my 'authentic Yukon' purchase will be, I still have lots of time to figure that out! I haven't seen the Northern Lights yet either, mostly I think because I've been working days and go to bed on the early side, and also because its darn cold to go out looking for them. I'm hoping to see them before I go and catch some photos of them too! Hope every one is doing well at home!! Miss you guys!! I've been lucky to meet awesome people up here so it doesn't feel like I'm as far away from home as I am. Stay warm and get the woolies out for that cold coming through!! I have wifi here - so if anyone is bored, I'm around for Skype/FaceTime : ) HI from Whitehorse, Yukon!! Well, I had a FANTASTIC time in warm and sunny Whitehouse, Jamaica last week and have made my way WAYYYYYYYY north!!! I left Campbellford Saturday afternoon and my parents and I made our way to Ottawa for my EARLY Sunday morning flight. I left Ottawa at 0730 Sunday am, landed in Vancouver at 1030 (Pacific Time) and then took off again at 1230 and landed in Whitehorse at 315 in the afternoon. It was a long day, but it's nice to lose those 3 hours because it still makes you feel like you have a bit of a day when you get to where you're going. I met a lady while waiting for the plane in Vancouver who lives in Whitehorse, she was absolutely fantastic. So warm and friendly. She gave me some great tips on my day off, and when we were waiting at the luggage carousel she went and grabbed me a bunch of brochures for Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake. So nice of her, she also helped me with finding a taxi before leaving with her family. I've learned if you just start talking to people randomly, if they want to chat then they'll chat, if not, it'll be a short conversation but at least you tried! But I've also learned, 90% of the time, people will chat! This experience has certainly made me much more outgoing and confident that I will strike up a conversation for the sake of learning something about them or where I am or where I'm going. This lady also ran into me today when I was walking downtown - literally!! I was being a silly tourist stopping and taking photos and she walked right into me haha! Super nice and said "I thought of you today hoping you were going to get out and see the town!" - how nice?! So I'm staying in Whitehorse for a few days because I need to get some training in the X-Ray Department - haha what.....?! That should be interesting..... Hopefully I'm not gonna be running the hospital in Dawson City - what have I gotten myself into!? haha we shall see soon enough!! Everyone here keeps saying "Dawson, eh? and you think it's cold here?" haha yikes!! I settled into Crocus Ridge, a hospital residence building on 3rd and 4th floor, with offices on the 1st and 2nd floors. It's pretty new, and right down the street from the hospital. It is beautiful!! I have a bachelor suite, so Bedroom, Kitchen, Living room, Dining room are all in one room, and a separate bathroom. Perfect for a few days here. I'm facing a mountain ridge, and if I was on the other side I'd be overlooking the Yukon River (hopefully next time I can get the other side ; )). It's clean, bright, one HUGE window and has everything you could need. What I especially love are the blinds (yes - I'm a shiftworker) they cover the whole window and make it super dark! I thought "wow, they splurged on the blackout blinds" and then remembered that at one point they have 18 hours of sun a day.... if they didn't have blackout blinds I'm sure the nurses and other shiftworkers would be veryyyyyy unhappy! How weird would it be to work a night shift and only have 6 hours of darkness??? Wonder what the "sundowners" would be like then, eh? I walked out of Crocus Ridge this morning around 1000, walked around the block, realized I have no idea where I am going and more importantly - its EFFING COLD! So I chickened and went back into my building and called a cab! He took me to the Burnt Toast Cafe downtown that a friend of Matt and Jamie's suggested, she lives up here in Whitehorse, YT. I had a fantastic "Croque Madame" at the waitress' suggestion for something authentic that I won't get anywhere else. It was sourdough french toast stuffed with smoked cheddar cheese and peameal bacon with a sunny side up egg on top - delicious!! I wandered around after breaky, freezing my butt off! The downtown is very cool, western looking with a bunch of neat shops. I went into a sport store to get me some better winter gear haha! I got a "buff" balaclava/headband/scarf thing since my face froze and also a thicker pair of gloves to wear. I went through some more trinket gift type stores looking for something that I can only get in the Yukon to remember my trip by. Haven't found something yet, but I was more or less browsing, looking forward to seeing what Dawson has for me. One store I went into had the roof covered in strings of clothespins, and on a closer look, it had peoples names and cities on them! So cool! So I filled out their "guestbook" - a clothes pin with my name and date on it and where I'm from. A piece of me will ALWAYS be in Whitehorse now. Such a cool spot! I'll post pictures of it below! I found a great wintery trail along the Yukon River and took some photos, hopefully they turned out as I was snapping and walking to keep warm! haha so cold!! The mountains are stunning, they're all around you, and the steam coming off the river makes a pretty heavy fog, and its always flowing, it's so quiet you wouldn't even know that it's flowing unless you look at it (and notice the steam.. haha). I grabbed a few groceries and some tea bags to warm up back in my place. I'm in here for the evening now! The sun will set around 5pm and there's NO WAY I'm going out in the cold when there isn't any sun to help warm you a little! I have training from 8-4 tomorrow, and my flight leaves around 815 Wednesday morning, I will get to Dawson around 955 and have the day to settle before I go into work on Thursday from 8am-8pm (it'll be like sleeping in compared to the usual 7am-7pm shifts!). I hope everyone's keeping warm at home! And have dug themselves out of all that snow! I got outta there just in time apparently!!! Miss you's! Enjoy the blog and photos : ) |