All good Things Come To An End.

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 and orange. My constant feeling of being cold was finally explained when I visited a fishing camp and saw that at 1pm in the afternoon, the thermometer hanging up outside read 5.5deg.


Another notable feature of this land was the random huts and fishing camps made of canvas tents. These were seemingly in the middle of no ware and at times hundreds of river km from towns (being a population of about 1000 or less) and could only be reached in boats. There-in lies the attraction no doubt…


As the river neared the ocean it started to slow down and turned into a large delta. This meant that navigation became more complicated that simply point the kayak down river and go with the flow. My maps were pretty good so finding a passage through wasn’t too difficult. I was not keen to cook that night as I was nearing a town (Inuvik) so getting lost was not high on my list of things to do.


I did meet a guy in a motor boat who relied solely on his GPS to find the town and got lost. He then proceeded to run out of fuel and needed to ring the local boys in blue to come get him. They then also got lost on the way back…


Inuvik was my second-to-last stop and only 4 days from my final destination so I was quite excited to be there. While in town I caught up with some other paddlers who I had met before and we all shared stories and checked out the town.


There was a bit of randomness to my stay in that I met a woman who lived 15min from home in Australia, made fireballs by throwing petrol on a bonfire, watched the Australian movie The Castle with some Americans who didn’t get a single joke, was invited to a wedding in a large greenhouse and visited the worlds loudest library - it was full of kids using the internet and running amuck.


There were also a number of community events running which provided all you can eat food which was a welcome change to cooking camp food. There was goose, fish and caribou (North American “reindeer”). I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.


Also up there was a guy who had just finished 3 months of bike riding. He simultaneously crossed Canada from East to West and South to North, not a bad summer. In doing so he rode through the some pretty rugged terrain, including the Rocky Mountains and averaged over 100km a day.


Just when you think you’ve seen it all, I then met a guy who had ridden for 4 years from the bottom of South America to the top of North America. While in Argentina he was robbed at gun point and had everything stolen except the clothes he was wearing…


Other highlights of the delta and the final 4 days of this trip were the barren lands of the arctic tundra. The tree line pretty much cuts out after Inuvik and its dead flat. The whole area was covered in low blue berry and cranberry bushes (yum) all of which were changing colour as autumn was starting to set in.


Another unique feature of this area was a land form known as a pingo - basically a large mound of ice covered in soil and plants which can be up to 10m high. These landmarks of the north were stunning in contrast to their surroundings. The one I climbed was right on the edge of the Arctic Ocean and the views from on top were amazing. Gold, yellow, orange, red and everything in between for as far as you could see to the south and the sea to the north. Fotos don’t even do it justice.


This last stage of the trip proved to be the coldest and most mentally challenging. After waiting out one storm and with another one approaching (and snow forecast), I decided to make a dash for it. What was the ocean going to be like? Would it snow? Would there be big waves? Did I bring enough water to last me until the next town? I knew there was a lot of open water and if the weather turned bad it would be very cold and things would be ugly.


I left Inuvik in sunshine and was visited by a river otter that night which was pretty cool. The next day however, I could see a large bank of cloud on the horizon. Within 1 hour it had moved overhead and totally covered the sky, bringing with it snow and wind. It’s quite an experience to paddle in snow. The next day brought snow too but not enough to hand around. Mornings were cold and anything left outside the tent was stiff with ice. My map was like cardboard.
The 4th day was sunny again and proved to be a fantastic finish to the trip with no waves or wind. On reaching town I did my last sign in with the police and my paddle was officially over.


This last town was Tuktoyaktuk (Tuk) and like all others, it proved to be quite unique. On doing this trip I passed through 3 main cultural regions, being Slavey, G’witchen and finally Inuvialuit. While there were some similarities, each area had different languages and traditions which became evident the further north I went. The Inuvialuit (formally called Eskimos) are known for their stone, horn and bone carving. One guy I met had 2 whole Muskox (sort of an arctic bison) heads out the front of his house which was pretty cool to see and had done some amazingly detailed work using walrus tusk.


His 2 teenage daughters, some backpackers and I had a feast and bonfire on the beach that night and stayed up until 3am watching the northern lights and swapping stories. The girls left huddled together for the dark walk home after trying to scare us with local ghost stories and becoming scared themselves - funny stuff.


Other notes on Tuk are that in the winter they have Polar Bears around, its dark for 3 months and its not cold until it gets below -40 deg C (not including wind chill). They don’t even bother saying “minus” when describing the temperature. Tuk is also home to Beluga whales which I was looking forward to seeing but I was about 1 month too late. And the local food of choice? Muktuk, whale meat and blubber, what else? Unfortunately I couldn’t get my hands on any which was quite disappointing.


I have lots more I would like to share but I'm staring to ramble so I’ll leave it there.


…learn by doing…

…hear my actions

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