Canada (1): Yellowknife March 27 – 28, 2012

Aurora Borealis (commonly known as Northern or Southern Lights) are fascinating. As I had to be in Vancouver in early April, I joined Yeeyee and her friends to go to Yellowknife to watch Northern Lights. During my 5-day stay in Yellowknife, I saw this natural wonder on the first two nights and I was captivated. Unfortunately, I did not see aurorae at their best on the first night as I was already in bed! Anyway, I had lovely time fishing for Northern pikes in an ice-hole and driving and riding a snowmobile on the Great Slave Lake and driving a dog-sled. A white snowy world with arctic scenery is totally different from my hot and dry days in West Africa!

Background

An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere). Aurora is classified as diffused (featureless glow which may not be visible to the naked eye) or discrete aurora with sharply defined features. Discrete aurorae often display magnetic field lines or curtain-like structures and can change within seconds or glow unchanging for hours, most often in fluorescent green.

The Northwest Territory (NWT) is a federal territory of Canada with an area reaching over 1,300,000 square kilometres and a population of 42,000. The southern part of the territory has a subarctic climate while the northern part a polar climate. Temperature in the winter can drop to -50C! It is one of two jurisdictions in Canada where Aboriginal peoples are in the majority of the population (Nunavut is the other). There are 11 recognised official languages in the NWT and 33 official communities.

Yellowknife in snow

Yellowknife, the capital and the largest city of the NWT, is located on the Canadian Shield and on the northern shore of the Great Slave Lake. It has very cold winters and mild summers with the average temperature for March around -11C. The city has a population of about 20,000.

Settlement in Yellowknife began in 1935 after gold has been found. The last of the gold mines closed in 2004. Diamonds have been discovered since 1991. The city is now a transportation hub and service centre for the diamond mines and a government town.

Tourism has emerged as a sustaining industry. Yellowknife claims to be the best location for aurora viewing. Located about 400km from the Arctic Circle, it is also situated in an advantageous position under the Northern Aurora Oval based on magnetic latitude. As it also has a high percentage of clear skies, it boosts a high probability of aurora viewing i.e. 250 out of 365 nights!

Visitors especially from Japan flock to see aurorae and enjoy the arctic scenery. It hosts a local Folk on the Rocks music festival in the summer and a Snowking Winter Festival in the winter. The Caribou Carnival held during the last week of March celebrates the end of winter. This year, a new festival the Long John Jamboree was held from March 23 to 25 next to the Snowking castle.

March 26, Monday: Hong Kong – Vancouver – Calgary

I left Hong Kong in the evening and arrived in Vancouver on the same day after crossing the International Date Line. But I had to wait some six hours for a connecting flight to Calgary. I arrived at the Calgary airport at 1am. (My travel agent should have advised me to spend a night in Vancouver and I flied all the way to Yellowknife the following day)

March 27, Tuesday: Calgary – Yellowknife – Enodah Lodge

I checked in the airport hotel and slept a few hours before returning to the airport to catch my 10 o’clock flight to Yellowknife.

CK of Yellowknife Tour greeted me at the airport around 2pm. I then met Anna and Steward at Pizza Hut. They also left Hong Kong the day before and spent a night resting in Vancouver and arrived in Yellowknife an hour before me!

CK took us on a city tour. The Great Slave Lake is frozen during winter and vehicles drive freely in a white world of snow and ice! We took pictures of the Snowking castle and the ice road which takes a few months to build and is normally open from end January to late march or early April. Then we saw the old town at Ndilo which was first inhabited by aboriginals.

After the whirlwind tour, I was delighted to meet up with Yeeyee and On, Dr. Chan and Jingjing whom I first met on my November trip to Iraq. I also met four new friends (Olivia and Jeff, Tim and Catherine). Our group of 11 accompanied by Angela, wife of CK and her daughter Verda, departed for Enodah Lodge at 5pm. The lodge can be reached by boat or sea-plane in the summer and snowmobile in winter.

Fun ride (Verda on the sledge)

We were met by Ragner, a Swedish man who lives in the area for over 20 years and owns the lodge and Greg. As Ragner could only take 11 passengers in his hagglund (a Swedish made vehicle that can be used on water and on land), I took the back seat of Greg’s snowmobile while Verda took the sledge. It was a beautiful day with sunshine and mild wind. I thoroughly enjoyed my first ride on a snowmobile in a sub-arctic wonderland. Yeeyee and On took over half-way and Verda and I took the sledge behind the hagglund. It was a very bumpy ride but equally enjoyable! My ride to the lodge was the first wonder of the trip.

It was about 6pm when we reached the lodge which is rustic but comfortable and clean. I stayed in a quad-bedded room with Dr. Chan and Jingjing. As everything is frozen in winter, Ragner has to install a Swedish eco-toilet and provides guests with bottled water for washing (but no shower!) In the summer, guests can swim in the lake and enjoy an outdoor hot tub!

We had a short walk and then watched a gorgeous sunset with red, orange and pink hues before dinner. Though I had been to Antarctica and the Scandinavia, it was the first time I watched a sunset in a snow white world!(second wonder)

Angela and Verda prepared a hotpot with delicious white fish, fish and meat balls, beef and plenty of fresh vegetables. This meal was the third wonder of this trip. Around 9:30pm, the first aurora appeared when the sky was not pitch dark. The changing green and violet aurora against and dark blue sky was enchanting. This was the fourth wonder of this trip.

As we did not expect the lights to come so early, most of us had not even set up our tripod and camera. I had never learnt to take night photos with my single-lens reflex manually with a tripod. Hence, I had to seek help from Tim who kindly gave me a one-minute tutorial! As expected, my photos hardly captured the beauty and magnificence of the aurorae that I had seen!

It was not as cold as I had imagined. But as I had no proper sleep since leaving Hong Kong, my back started to ache and my head was heavy. As I was still on antibiotic and the lights became somewhat diffused around 1am, I decided to retreat and call it a day. What a mistake! I lay in my bunk bed and did not fell into sound sleep till Dr. Chan and Jingjing returned to the room.

They told me that they came in around 4am after witnessing some most captivating aurorae in strong hues and various shapes and forms.  They saw dancing aurorae and the lights pouring down like raindrops! I was exasperated as I had missed this rare opportunity to witness one of the best natural wonders.

March 28, Wednesday: Enodah Lodge

Originally we would only spend one night at the lodge and return to Yellowknife at 4pm after ice-fishing. As the lodge provides a unique setting and experience for aurora viewing, we decided to stay one more night.

We had a sumptuous breakfast around 10am.  Anna and Steward decided to take a rest and did not join our fishing expedition.

I had a wonderful day. First I learnt to drive a snowmobile which is fairly easy.  Then, accompanied by Ragner, his two assistants, Greg and Mike, 11 of us set off around noon for a fun day on ice!

The lake is famous for its Northern Pike. Riding a snowmobile on the lake is great fun. Ragner has a small shed on a small island where he keeps his cooking utensils and tables and chairs for guests. Ragner drilled 11 holes in a circle close to his ‘island’ while Greg and Mike prepared the bait.

The ice was about one metre deep and the hook was dropped another metre before reaching the lake bed. We sat patiently on a stool hoping a pike would come for the bait. The day was nice and warm around -5C. After waiting for an hour, I decided to set up a trap so that I could drive a snowmobile on a frozen lake for the first time in my life (fifth wonder).

When I returned to the fishing spot, I saw Greg running to my hole. He knelt down and started pulling the string. I had no idea what was happening. Then when I reached my hole, Greg pulled a pike out of my hole and put it on the ice. What a lucky hole and I was supposed to catch the first fish of the day! It was the first fish I ever caught (sixth wonder). I was excited and took plenty of pictures! Others were also excited and hoped more would come so that we could have sashimi for lunch.

Greg showing Jingjing how to bring the fish up

Mike taking photo of his fish

Sashimi - our lunch

Mike, who set up a trap in the traditional way using tree branches, claimed that he had another big one in his hole. I did not really believe him till I saw the large pike coming out of the tiny hole after lunch. It measured 39 inches long and 18 inches at the girdle. It was heavier as it had tens of thousands of eggs.

We had a wonderful lunch in the hut with lots of sashimi. Ragner prepared a hot bull soup and home-made bread.

After lunch, I walked with wooden snow-shoes and took pictures. But the snow was more than a metre deep and powdery. I fell several times and had great difficulties in getting up. I had a wonderful and most enjoyable day and I was sad to leave this paradise.

We caught five pikes. We had some for sashimi. Mike baked the fillet for dinner while Angela used the bones and heads for a most delicious soup for dinner!

As I was no longer tired, I stayed up till 4am hoping to see more spectacular aurorae. I was disappointed though I saw a few good ones. But I was thrilled to dark sky dotted with millions of stars and an orange moon setting on a white horizon (seventh wonder). (Please read Part 2)