To the TOP of the Globe...the land of 24hour darkness...

Well this blog is going to be short..(famous last words from me!)...Just wanted everyone out there ie) my Mum and Family... I'm on the road again..... I'm heading to the TOP of the WORLD... no lies... it's true... I'll be in Resolute tomorrow evening...and Thursday I'll head up to Grise Fiord.... I'm pretty stoked to be at the top of the world... and to experience TRUE 24 darkness (the sun isn't rising in Grise...and the sun's hours are limited in Resolute!) How exciting.... I'll try to keep you posted while I'm on the road again.....

Now just to pack... because today it was -40C with the wind chill in Resolute..when I checked the weather online...

The Dark....

So it's been getting dark fairly soon... and since the time change it's pretty crazy because it was 'dark' at 3:15pm today!  Around 3:45ish my work building was closed due to water and sewage issues.. so I walked home... and then took the photo below!  (Now it had a fairly long shutter speed--so it makes it look a bit lighter--but was taken at 4:05pm...)

I've always had a bit of a fear of the dark...but the fear is more of 'moving in the darkness'one of my really good friends Sage coined this brillant phrase! So let me explain...I hate turning off lights and then walking in the dark--I have since forever!  My mum use to get mad at me in high school because I'd leave lights on when I went to bed!  Sage and I shared a apartment for a year while I was working on a post-grad program! I always made sure I was in bed before her--so she'd have to turn off the light and stumble in the dark to bed...but one night.. she beat me too it.. and then made fun of me complaining and being a scardey cat about it!  I picked up this funny kids 'little tyke' flashlight... it was a Hippo...(which when it was on it laughed this stupid laugh)... But saved me from my fear of 'moving in the darkness'....

Why did I share this little tidbit of information? I'm not sure... but now that the darkness is happening earlier... I thinkI should invest in a flashlight--because I don't have one, my trusty hippo went into storage!  But also it has made me wonder why I choose to live in a place that soon will have 24hr darkness!

Flying home...

In yesterday's blog post... I talked about my 'plan' to arrive at the airport at 8am, board and leave Iqaluit by 9am and arrive in Pang at 10am and be back in bed by 10:45am by the latest... Now some of you that are regular travellers of the north probably laughed and said...often when you plan things like that...well they don't normally happen!  So my flight was 20mins delayed....which was ok.. I picked up a book in Iqaluit from (which was the newest in a series I had been reading)...at one point in my flight I looked out my window...and thought I saw "Mt. Thor"  but shook my head because that was in Auyuittuq National Park...which is between Pang and Qik NOT Iqaluit and Pang... I just buried my nose back in my book... and continued reading... When we began our final approach---I realized that it wasn't Pang where we were landing--and it indeed had been Mt. Thor--and I hadn't gotten any photos so was a bit bumed out!  My guess was that indeed I was in Qik...but really wasn't 100% sure! 

After spending 30mins in the terminal in Qik... while the Cargo was offloaded and the plane was refueled... I returned back to Pang.... and I actually put the book aside and watched out my window.... it was a perfect day to fly over the Park!! 

I was able to fly up to Qik in the begining of June for work, and to visit my friend Emily who was teaching there...and LOVED the flight then....

I honestly think that this 30-40min flight is one of the most beautiful ones that I've EVER been on.....

Coming into Pang there were some 'clouds' just hanging around on the top of the Pang Pass mountains....

All in all it wasn't my plan to be on an airplane past an hour.... BUT I think it was well worth it... I got to fly the most AWESOME flight and take a million and one awesome photos.... and make me realize once again... I live in the most beautiful spot in the world!!

(oh and if anyone was wondering I did arrive home about 1ish after a stop at the Northern and actually didnt' go back to bed but dozed on the couch!) 

...Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween Party au centre francophone = TONS of FUN!!!

Last night I joined some friends in Iqaluit and I headed over to the Francophone Centre and my oh my... they know how to have a party! So much fun.... the dancing was good.... My favourtie costume of the night was a girl being "Pamela Anderson" she was wearing a red bathing suit (white tank under it), balloons to enhance a certain area, blonde wig, towel wrapped around her waist... RED lipstick and well of course her 'stuffed' seal and she often 'posed with it and kissed it!'... some good friends helped me pull together the costume...here's a photo from last night!

gotta luv red make-up..or just looking like you have a MAJOR sunburn!! lol....

This morning I got to the airport at 8am..... and the plan of the day would be to board the plane and leave by 9am... be in Pang at 10am, have bags and get a ride home by 10:20am...and back in bed by 10:30am.... well needless to say that didn't happen..... but I did arrive in Pang and at home just before 1pm! (I'll blog more about that tomorrow...)

Now onto my first Halloween night in the Arctic! it was pretty darn cold.... the weather right now is like -12C with a windchill..but it's colder than that... I think! LOL...

Now to put everyone in a Halloween mood...here's a shot of the moon.... (perfect "Halloween" type moon eh!?)

So it was prety fun.... handing out candy... I ended up taking my candy to a friend's house.. and shelling out there with their family!  it was pretty steady... and lots of fun to see the costumes... and well that kids were "REALLY bundled up well!" the peak time was about 6:30ish.... my favourite sight (I didn't get a photo of it!)..was this little boy (probably about 2-3ish)in an elephant costume..... but he looked like a lion..because the costume was over his parka.. and the fur from the hood was 'peaking' out.... he did look toasty warm!!

I even got a bit dressed up... used my flowered leis and was a 'beachy' gal.... complete with flip flops in bare feet... yup my toes were FROZEN by the end of the night.... LOL

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!! :) enjoy your candy... I'm so glad mine is out of my house... and YES I managed not to eat ANY of it before tonight...

Some Explanations...

I love getting comments...it shows me people actually READ this..and that they enjoy it!! I just thought I'd post a comment I received this morning...and thought you might like to see my response!!

On the Walk-on-Ice Blog Post Anonymous wrote: at October 30, 2009 6:23 AM

I really like ur blog but please stop writing in yellow.....no one can read it and it hurts my eyes...thank you :)

Dear Anonymous,

Thanks for giving me your feedback on my blog..and for reading!!!  I must admit this blog has gone though some 'changes' with format since I started it.  You see originally it was a BLACK background so the 'multi-coloured' font especially YELLOW stood out awesome.. and looked really cool!  Then in June sometime... I switched up my blog a bit... and went with a different background (changed blog headers photos) and then again in July I switched the blog header photo... I must admit I'm ready for a change again--but just haven't had the time to play around to FIND something that matches what my vision is!!   Anyways back to the different colour fonts... when I orginially changed from the black backgrounds- I did change about 10 posts to 'black' colour font.... but this took like 3hours of my time!  (I had to manually go back and 'edit' the posts change the font colour and 'repost' it....) it was crazy....and to top it off with my 'slower than slow' internet connection... I gave up... and decided to leave it just as the colours it was and 'someday' maybe go back to fix it all.... but I'm afraid to say "someday" hasn't happened yet!!  So that's the story.... and you'll notice if you read my more recent posts--there is NO yellow! (I learned my lesson!)...

One other point... when I first started this blog my family had trouble commenting so I enabled 'anonymous' comments for them to post under--but always with the understanding that they'd sign their name with the post!! So next time you comment please leave your name!! :)

Hope you have an awesome day... and understand why the font is 'multi-coloured'...

Cheers!
Newbie-in-the-North

Strange Houses....

oday at lunch, while I was walking around Pond... I found this HOUSE.. it's got to be the most unique one I've seen in a long time!  Someone told me that it's not 'officially' move in ready...water and sewage tanks need to be hooked up... it was pretty awesome!! I'm imagining an Arctic Hobbit might live here!? who knows!

Of course I'm never one to pass up a pose in my 'super duper marshmellow puffy' Snow Goose Jacket!! (so glad I was wearing it today..with the windchill it was probably about -22C or so...

Just another look at the 'main' door.... can you also see a 'person!?'... this had a lot of thought in it... I'd love to see what it looks like inside!! I'm imagining a lot of 'custom' built-in furniture!

So yesterday I didn't take a photo of the AWESOME mountains on the other side of this water.... so here's my awesome mountain photo... (can you see them?) squint.. and you 'might' see them through the snow clouds!! (ps this photo wasn't lightened but was taken just after 1pm!)

The ice if forming... I actually could 'hear' it cracking and popping.. and hissing...(it was the weirdest sound)...can't really describe it.. at first it sounded like children playing... then I thought it sounded like an animal crying...but no just ice... cracking.... (you can also see some smaller icebergs that have washed in on shore..... that are soon to be 'ice-locked!'...)

That's the news from Pond... the sun rose this morning at 9:53am and set today at 3:58pm  (the sun will soon set in Pond not to rise again til the new year.... I think someone told me today that they are loosing about 15mins on the rise and 15mins on the setting time too!)... let's just say it's been a bit more difficult for me to get out of bed with no sunlight.......... I'm glad I was here to see some of the light.. because Pond is a Gorgeous place!!

Happy Birthday Dana!!!

Hope you have a day filled with lots of laughter, love and happiness!!

Nice job 'rockin' the party hat!!!

Thanks for being an awesome sister... (none of that in-law stuff for us!!)

I'm so glad that my big bro found someone as cool as you to marry...
and I got the big sister I've always wanted!! :)

Wish I was there to have cake with you,

luv ya... Sarah