The time has come. Tomorrow I fly to Ottawa, then on Thursday its a non-stop to Iqaluit via AirCanada. There are a couple of airlines that go up there daily, so there are a few options, however the cost is quite high. A 2200km flight is nearly $1200 one way. Compare that to the 3000km flight to Calgary for about $250 one way. But what other options are there? Plus you likely have the plane nearly to yourself, so the cost is spread less. I hear jet engines don't like the cold up there (perhaps the fuel), and a lot of companies are flying DC-2s and older cargo planes, so that will be interesting to see.
Iqaluit is on Baffin island, 63degrees North. It is above the tree line, but just south of the actual arctic circle. Roughly 10,000 people live there, many being involved with the government since it is the capital of the newly formed territory. Between mining, politics, and possible new trade routes, it is a very isolated area that is growing extremely fast. I will get into more on their culture and history another time.
For now, I have to pack! Yes, I left it to the last minute. I have been busy pegging my internet connection downloading every movie and TV show I could think of. I have internet up there, but I heard it is painfully slow (think, 56k), and caps as low as 2gb, so what I bring is what I have for the next few months. I also picked up a couple of books, one being "Journey to the Edge of the World". Its about a guy who goes from NFLD, to NU, to the Yukon, then down through BC, basically going around the edge of Canada. I picked it up due to the chapter on Iqaluit, but enjoy reading about people's adventures that I could only dream of doing.
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