Explaining Iqaluit to your kids

..............when you don't really know what you are talking about. 

When we told our children we would be going up to Iqaluit "for awhile" they were initially pretty excited.  They knew hubby and I had gone up without them before, and felt left out. This time they were excited to be able to join us.

"Will we see northern lights?" asked DJ, age 7.  "Not in the summer, no.  In fact, in the summer up there its daylight most of the time.  Even at night."

"WHAT?" exclaimed Coraline, with the typical drama of a 10 year-old girl. "How will I ever sleep?  This is a DISASTER! Can we put boards over the windows?"

"NO," I told her firmly. "We will not be hammering boards over the windows.  I will look into getting you a sleep mask and we'll put up blackout blinds."

Slightly mollified, she quickly changed the subject.

Sleep masks from Amazon.  I hope we don't need the earplugs...

Later I showed them some books I had picked up online so they could read about where we are going before we actually get there.

"This is their LANGUAGE? Weird!!" exclaimed Coraline, again with much drama, as she perused Nunavut's Discovery Magazine for Kids.  The slim magazine is half in Inuktitut, half in English.

Inuktitut page about beluga whales

"There are no trees?" said DJ, in shock, after we read Lyn Hancock's book, Nunavut.  "How can we breathe?" Slightly panicked. "Will we be able to breathe?" Yes, we will be able to breathe.

"Arctic char and caribou?  Do we have to eat those?" I reassured DJ that while arctic char and caribou are common dishes, when hubby and I were there we were also able to order pizza and buy other food. "Oh, good" he sighed, visibly relieved.

Needless to say I am expecting some culture shock, but I hope know the kids will roll with it.

On Friday two of Coraline's friends from skating had a "farewell" dinner for her!  It was at Wacky's, a restaurant with an attached arcade (I was unfamiliar with Wacky's, but quickly learned its kind of like Dave and Buster's).  The kids had lots of fun playing arcade games and eating junk. Coraline received a photo frame with pics of her and the girls figure skating to hang in her room in Iqaluit!  It was really sweet, and will remind Coraline of home.

Coraline with friends from figure skating

In addition to prepping the kids, I'm trying to get the dog (Buffy) ready for the trip.  We adopted Buffy from a rescue group about a year and a half ago.  She came to us as a terrified little girl who had just had a litter of puppies. The puppies were all adopted quickly, after all, everyone loves puppies! Sadly Buffy--who was only 2 years old at most--wasn't wanted.  She is a quiet, friendly dog who LOVES people. She has been the perfect addition to our family. (Plug for rescue dogs: please keep in mind if you are ever adopting that all dogs need homes and lots of mature dogs have wonderful personalities.) Nothing makes Buffy happier than a belly rub. She is content to lounge around on the couch all day. She is not, however, excited about her travel crate. We're working on that.

Helping Buffy get used to her new crate,
 with freeze dried chicken treats!

Our next post will be from the road or after we arrive!  Our internet may take several days to install, and then will be slow, so please be patient.

Prep-work continues

OK, so looking back at my last post I think it may have been slightly "extreme".  I didn't need to purchase/pack absolutely everything my entire family and pets will need for 12 months.  North Mart and Ventures (the two department stores) do have essentials, and Amazon.ca is amazing in that it doesn't charge any extra to have items shipped to Iqaluit (as long as those items are sold "by amazon.ca" and not one of the many other online retailers that sell on amazon, and so long as those items aren't large or heavy). And a lot of things can be purchased online as long as you don't mind paying exorbitant shipping. (Ikea website quotes a billion dollars to ship couch to Iqaluit)

Yours for a cool billion dollars.

One thing that is tricky is a vehicle.  We could take one of our own, but both our cars are 8 years old.  To ship one via sealift would be roughly $3000-$4000, and would have meant being without a vehicle for weeks (to months) before we left, and for weeks after we arrived in Iqaluit.  Unless we somehow were unlucky enough to miss the last sealift delivery due to early ice in the harbour. (The sealift is the big ol' delivery ship that comes up several times during the spring/summer as long as there is no ice. If ice stays late or arrives early, the sealift can be cancelled.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/ice-prevents-iqaluit-s-last-sealift-ship-from-offloading-all-its-cargo-1.3297748

Vehicles shipped via sealift. (Courtesy CBC)

If we missed the last sealift, we would have NO car. Add to that the difficulty in finding replacement parts or having to wait for said parts to be shipped in if need be, plus unpaved Iqaluit roads being notoriously hard on vehicles, PLUS having an 8 year old car sitting outside in -40 degree weather for weeks on end.....and it just seems silly.  We will be leasing a car while we are there.  Lucky for us there is a Ford dealership in Iqaluit!  Wahoo!!! We have a vast array of choices for our new vehicle. Those choices are: Ford Explorer or Ford Escape.  (Unless we want a pickup truck.)

Sealift

And that's pretty much how I expect life will be in Iqaluit.  You want a car?  You can get one.  You want canned veggies?  Need underwear? No problem. Just don't be choosy. And be prepared to pay through the nose.

The other way to get things is through the Iqaluit sell/swap Facebook Group.  I joined this (with some difficulty-more on that later) after our visit to the north last fall.  The people of Iqaluit use this group to sell any number of things: jewelry, used clothing and household items, freshly killed caribou, polar bear skins, etc. (I am not kidding.) You can think of it as a giant Facebook yard sale, but in addition to your usual yard sale items you'll find canned goods, meat, fur, and narwhal tusks. (For those of you who don't know what a narwhal is, imagine a whale crossed with a unicorn. Seriously. Look it up.)

As seen on Iqaluit sell/swap Facebook Group

Getting ready to go

Moving to the north is a unique endeavour.  Having grown up in a military family, moving is second-nature to me. A typical move, while daunting, can be broken down into very manageable parts:

1) Go through your stuff.  Don't bother packing what you haven't used in years.
2) Have a garage sale.  May as well make some money off the stuff you no longer need!
3) Arrange to pack up your stuff, or have it packed for you by the moving company.
4) Coordinate your arrival at your new home with the moving company.  This usually means spending some time on the road staying in hotels.  Sometimes it means rushing to get to your destination in time to meet the movers (who have all of your stuff).
5) Unpack.  This can be tedious, but is not especially difficult.

If you use a U-Haul, the move becomes even more simple.  Get boxes. Pack up your stuff.  Put it in the rental truck.  Drive to your new house/apartment.  Unpack.

Moving to the north, however, not so simple.

1) Find someone to rent your home, because this will not be a permanent move, only a little "adventure".

2) Go through your stuff and figure out what's coming and what's staying. (We are moving into a mostly furnished home.  This means we don't need to take much furniture or kitchen supplies.) Keep in mind your things will be moved via air cargo, which is notoriously bad on breakables.

3) Figure out what you will absolutely NEED up north that you do not currently own because you don't live in a refrigerator.  Like a super warm coat--not just any old coat you can pick up at Mountain Equipment Co-op or Patagonia, but an authentic ludicrously expensive Arctic-rated Canada Goose Parka.  Each member of your family will need such a parka.

Nunavut staple: The Canada Goose Parka

You will need to buy these well ahead of time because you will be moving in the summer, when supply and sizes are low.  This will mean guesstimating how large your children will be six months from now, and hoping everything fits all next winter. Which will last 10 months. Easy!  Buy crazy warm-rated mittens, hats, snow pants, snow boots, etc., also 6 months in advance. (Keep in mind that you'll likely be picking up sealskin mittens at some point also.  The Inuit are really on to something there.)

4) Realize that not only will you need to bring up the warm weather supplies, you will also need to purchase other goods not readily available in the arctic. There are two main "department stores" (I use the term loosely) in Iqaluit.  They have a mix of various things available, and not a lot of selection.  You're all set if you want to buy a snowmobile (though the store may only stock one model of one brand). Or average sized men's winter boots. A generic mixing bowl or other kitchen supplies, as long as you aren't picky.

Northmart: grocery store (plus more!)
Photo courtesy of hothtrek.wordpress.com

Essential stuff waiting to be packed.

Anything specialized you will need to bring yourself or have shipped up later (expensive). Sporting equipment for the kids!  Yes, there is a hockey league for DJ to play on, but better bring up all your gear!  And make sure it will fit next year!  Make-up! Cooking spices! Toys! Christmas gifts for next Christmas! Electronics! Yarn (as my goal is to learn to knit)! Want to watch television?  Better burn as many of those movies and TV episodes onto a portable hard-drive that you can, after all: internet is CAPPED (not to mention slow)!  No more Netflix marathons! And its not just internet that you won't have access to, its alcohol too.  If you want wine or beer, better pack it!  Only your moving company will not pack liquids.  The booze supply will need to travel with you to the airport, which is TWO DAYS AWAY.

  Foundation IS a necessity.

5) Yes, you will be driving for two days to catch your flight because you have pets.  This means driving with them for two days from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to Ottawa, since you are traveling in summer (when airlines often won't allow animals to travel as cargo) and would be making connecting flights (also a no-no most of the time with animals). Iqaluit is not reachable by road, so flying is your only option. The only flights to Iqaluit leave from Ottawa, Ontario.  In a way, we are lucky to be only a two day drive away.

2) Rent two passenger vans.  You, your hubby, your mother (who is coming to help out for the first month), two children, dog (plus airline approved travel crate), cat, and luggage will not fit into one van.  Did I mention it will take the movers an estimated 8 weeks to get your things to Iqaluit?  You need to have supplies to last you for 2 months until your belongings arrive.  Luckily the northern airlines realize this and allow you to check (for a price) a crazy number of suitcases per person traveling. So, we need room for 15 suitcases in the van (towels, bedsheets, jackets, clothing, school supplies, kitty litter, litter box, toys, etc.).

6) Get confused as to which supplies you have purchased and which you have forgotten.  Make a list.  Start crossing things off, then forget to cross things off. Go through the maze of things stored in the basement to double check that yes, you did in fact pick up a year's supply of contact lenses already.
Six months ago.

......To Be Continued

Land of the Midnight Sun

"Sun Dogs" seen mid-afternoon in Iqaluit, Nunavut

Iqaluit is the capital (and only) city in Nunavut, Canada's newest territory.  It is above the tree-line, which means it is so cold that trees can't even grow there.  It is on an island and is extremely isolated, accessible to the rest of the country only by plane most of the year.  It has a "polar climate" officially: the summers are short and cold (averaging about 10 degrees celsius during the day).

Watch out for snowmobiles!

During the summer the sun shines 20.5 hours a day, in mid-winter this falls to roughly 4.5 hours of sunlight. The majority of the population there is Inuit.  There are polar bears living just outside town, and caribou.  People speak Inuktitut and English (as well as some French). All-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles are commonly used methods of transportation. Dog sleds are also used (though not as much as they used to be). Despite there being no roads out of Iqaluit most of the year, there are still vehicles (cars and trucks) in the city.

How do I know this?  I know it because my husband and I have made the crazy decision to move there with our two children, our dog, and our cat, for a year.  A few years ago JJ (my husband) spent a month in Iqaluit working.  He loved it--the isolation, the cold, the lack of resources, the feeling of being a bit of an "explorer".......What's not to love?

We both went up to Iqaluit last fall to scope out schools, housing, sports/activities for the kids, etc.  It will be a very different way of life than what we are used to. We currently live in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which would be considered "remote" to many people in the world--but at least here there are 3 Walmarts in town.

I am going to attempt to blog our year in the Arctic (technically Iqaluit is not in the Arctic, as it is not above the Arctic Circle, it only has an Arctic climate).  I have never written a blog before, so bear with me if it looks a little rinky-dink for awhile.

Wish us luck as we head even further north, and follow us on our journey.