Here we go again, another blogg from the bike. So here I am at Eagle Plains, essentially a few transportable buildings that are close to 30 years old and in their time were at the peak of technology. Because the place is small and in the middle of no-ware (people I tried to ring in the next town south didn’t know where it was and thought it was in the USA) it has to be totally self sufficient. That means water and sewage management (liquids will freeze in the winter) has to be done on site while you have to generate your own power to run a hotel, kitchen, road maintenance crew and camp site. EP is also the only fuel for around 300km in each direction. Oh yeh, as there are no cables going in ... read more

If your not already in a boredom induced coma, here is the final installment… While the entire trip was a challenge and provided me with the opportunity to visit some amazing places, it definitely stepped up a notch over for the last ¼ of the distance. This was when I crossed the Arctic Circle (an imaginary line, being the furthest south that the sun will shine for 24 hours during the summer solstice). It almost seemed like as soon as that line was crossed it became colder and the landscape began to change. Trees were smaller the further north I went due to permafrost (permanent layers of ice in the soil or frozen soil) and the season was literally changing before my eyes. Trees started to have hints of yellow and quickly changed to red ... read more

Its difficult to convert 49 days of paddling experiences in to words, so much is lost in the translation and there were a lot of “you had to be there” moments but here goes… The stats: Distance covered: 1500+ km Change in elevation: 175m Lacation: Northwest Territories, Canada Route: north from Great Slave Lake (the town of Hay River) through Fort Providence, Jean Marie, Fort Simpson, Wrigley, Tulita, Norman Wells, Fort Good Hope, Tsigachic, Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk on the Arctic Coast. This included a side trip to Delane on the Great Bear Lake, via the Great Bear River. Cultural regions passed through: Dehcho (in the south), Slavey, Sahtu, Gwitchen and Inuvialuit (in the north). Geographic areas passed through: flat Canadian Shield, the Northern Rocky Mountains and Arctic Tundra. The Boreal and Taiga forests of the south ... read more

32 bus hours and 6 movies later I find my self in the town of Hay River on the edge of the Great Slave Lake. This place is located 61 degrees north - compared to the bottom of New Zealand which is 45 degrees south. Woooo hoooo! My first problem - how do I get my 6 bags to the camp ground which is 6.5km away? There is no bus or taxi service. Hitch I spose… Now I was told before I came up here that people only go this far north for 3 reasons: 1) To see family. 2) For the money (mining work). 3) To hide from something. I was also told that if I wanted to go up north I’d need: - a gun - bear spray - insect repellent - and as ... read more

Well in the last 8 days I we have traveled almost 3000km through landscape ranging from tropical forests to desert wineries to glacier fields and back again. We got a hire car and then tented along the way. Was a bit wiered being on the wrong side of the road! Highlights were: The Rock Mountains and the engineering needed to create a road through them. The wildlife including wolves, moose, deer and birds (eagles, osprey, quails and ducks) but unfortunately no bears despite Jason’s reassurance that we would soon see one… The fried halibut and chips at a shop claiming to have “the best chips in the world” - apparently that means their allowed to charge $10 for one piece of fish and a few bits of potato. Having my $100 note held up to the ... read more