Rosie and The Operator fly to Whitehorse in Canada today and leave Juneau after a truly glorious six day stay of which we will remember forever. The sights we have seen, and the day trips we have taken are to places totally unique in this world.
Flying over the Gastineaux Channel for the final time we wave goodbye to Juneau.
We are hoping our next adventure in Canada, travelling the Klondike, Top of the World and Alaska Highways to and through the small towns, reliving the Gold Rush History and following in the footsteps of the stampeders’ will be just as awesome.
To get there we are flying with Alaska Seaplanes and there are only four people on our flight in this tiny 8 seater plane. Sam is our pilot and he tells us that ‘today is a perfect day for flying and we are in for a treat as the journey from Juneau to Whitehorse is very beautiful from the air. Seeings it’s a small flight I will take you on the sceanic route’, he said. Yippee, said Rosie!
There are no boarding passes on Alaska Seaplanes, Sam the pilot called the flight in the waiting area, he checked our passports and walked us out onto the tarmac to the plane. Sit anywhere you like he said and make yourself comfortable. He turned from his seat and gave us a ‘brief’ safety briefing, showing The Operator how to open the cabin door in case of an emergency. We sat right behind the cockpit and could see everything he did, it was awesome to be able to see the controls and watch Sam during the flight, so reassuring old school, before the world went to crap.
Sam was right, the view was jaw dropping. Over a new side of the Juneau Icefield we went, the mighty glacier looking like swept roadways of ice from the sky. Over the other side of the mountains into the Yukon we flew.
As soon as we crossed into Canada, (we could see it on the cockpit electronic map) the landscape below us changed, it was a patchwork of rustic browns and yellow with a smattering of orange and purple. Rivers wound below us in tight snake like coils and the trees were still there for as far as the eye could see but large patches of swamp like land also dominated.
Long straight roads are also cut into the landscape and are beige in colour like they are unsealed and seem to stretch on forever.
The name Yukon came from a native Indian word meaning Great River, so named after the mighty Yukon River that flows through the province and Alaska before emptying out into the Bering Sea.
The cloud closed in and a smattering of rain welcomed us to Whitehorse Canada as we were met on the runway by a customs official and escorted into the terminal building. It all felt so posh and the attention so personal like we were celebrities on a private jet! We bid Sam farewell, picked up our rental car…the girl at the counter was surprised we did not want to take the extra windscreen cover…most of our claims are for windscreens she said…no thank you said The Operator we will be right. Rosie hopes so…she was very emphatic and it is a flat $1200 penalty if the windscreen chips or breaks. Fingers crossed I guess.
Hello Whitehorse! Capitol of the Yukon. Did you know that the Canadian Province of The Yukon is roughly twice the landmass size of New Zealand…but only 40,000 live in the entire area…with 30,000 of them living in this town! Crazy! That’s a whole lot of land for the other 10,000 people. There must be some huge empty spaces out here alright!
The main street of Whitehorse is still festooned with late summer flowers in baskets and in planters, it is painted cheerfully and is neat and tidy. Yup we are certainly in Canada now!
It was late afternoon when we rolled in and we were planning on moving out early the next morning…we will be spending a bit more time here on the return leg of our journey. We checked into the Elite Hotel Downtown and went for a walk to check out supplies we might need on the road.
The drive is long and the roads can be a bit dicey we have heard, plus we were told to prepare for all contingencies…one of those being stuck on the road so pack food and water. It all sounds rather exciting but any advice is good advice so we do a small supermarket shop and bump into this friendly wee fellow…all bedecked in a custom made puffer onesie, suitably and strategically cut so that he could lift is leg and do its business on every pole it seems in the car park. Canadians, they are all so friendly!
We head out to Klondike Ribs and Salmon, the number one place in town for dinner and are chuffed we are able to have a meal there, it closes for winter in two days time! There is a queue waiting outside for a table and we will have to wait thirty minutes…
…….that’s cool, we will nip around the corner for a drink first…Dirty Northern Bastards it is!
We went back to the restaurant exactly thirty mins later and in we went to enjoy a scrummy meal. Rosie was so excited she didn’t take a pic of her Elk Carpaccio until halfway through…it was delicious and so intensely meaty tasting. We shared a platter of ribs and wild salmon kebabs with veges…they were so delicious! And…yes there was more! The house specialty desert of bread and butter pudding which was the most delicious ever.
Wandering through the town afterward on the way home Rosie noticed The Midnight Sun Emporium was still open at 8pm…they sell a little bit of everything and their claim to fame in town is their clothes peg guestbook. Oh Yes, this is right up Rosie’s alley! Visitors sign a clothes peg and pin it onto any of the lines and lines of pegs that festoon the ceiling from one end of the shop to the other. You know Rosie couldn’t resist!
Back to the hotel for an early night and an early start in the morning. We are planning on driving nine hours tomorrow on the Klondike Highway to Dawson City. Travelling the route of the original Goldrush Pioneers, crisscrossing the mighty Yukon as we go and experiencing this beautiful empty wilderness which is The Yukon firsthand.
