Hello everyone! I figured out how to put longer videos in my posts! How cool is that?
I immediately thought of my blog-y-verse when I saw this drone footage of Iqaluit. It shows the city and surroundings, and really helps to put things into perspective. (Not to mention make a person realize just how isolated from the rest of the world this place really is.) The drone footage shows the vast, cold, emptiness of the tundra. There is nothing but snow, ice, and rocks for miles, and then suddenly there is this tiny city plunked down in the middle of it.
And yet.....what's really neat is here I am sitting on my couch in this tiny, dark city, on a snow-covered island in the Arctic Ocean...and people in 10 different countries are reading what I'm writing! There have been readers from Canada and the US (of course), but also Mexico, Pakistan, Norway, New Zealand, Thailand, Germany, Morocco, Philippines, and Chile (Hi Ann!). Thanks readers! Sometimes, the internet is good.
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| Not my photo, but a great shot of the city from the frozen bay. Source. |
Today I took my iPhone and went downtown to try to capture some of the beautiful rock carvings. I didn't get pictures of everything, my fingers started to go numb and my phone battery dies quickly in the cold. Plus, you only have decent lighting for a short period of time now that the sun sets so early. I parked at the post office, and just walked around. Everything downtown is relatively close, although "relatively" depends on how cold it is outside. Something 300 yards away may as well be a mile when its -30. Thankfully, today it was only -15. The first stone sculpture is outside the RBC building.
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| By Master Carvers Inuk Charlie, Paul Malliki, and Looty Piijamini. The black plaque in the background says the sculpture represents the beauty of the Inuit culture and "embodies our tenacity, our spirituality, and tell the story of our history and how far Inuit have come in Canada". |
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| Raven catching a fish. |
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| This looks like a mermaid to me. |
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| Whale and fish rock carving. |
There are a few Hudson's Bay buildings down along the waterfront near Apex that date from 1949. I think everything downtown, however, was built relatively recently (think 1970's and later). Frobisher Bay (the former name of Iqaluit) wasn't officially even a "settlement" until 1970, and officially became a village in 1974. The first doctors and teachers didn't even get here until 1959.(source)
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| Polar bear carving outside the Arctic College building. |
There really are carvings everywhere along the main road downtown. There are also large boulders that have been made into benches, and some that are just artfully arranged outside buildings. They blend in very well with the surroundings, and if you don't pay attention you'll miss them.
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| Inukshuk |
Downtown you will find an office supply store, banks, the post office, government and office buildings, hair stylists, churches, an arena, City Hall, the aquatic centre, and souvenir shops.
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| What looks like just rocks from far away turns out to be two Inuit people. |
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| Polar bears frolicking downtown. |
Tumiit plaza houses different businesses. There is a chiropractic office, my hair stylist, a radio station, cell phone company, etc. It is also home to Carvings Nunavut Inc., a shop that sells artwork made by various local artists. The artists are paid on consignment. Art includes small rock carvings, dyed pelts, paintings on canvas and paper, sealskin items, jewelry, and bone carvings. I bought my sealskin boots there.
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| Outside Tumiit Plaza. |
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| Another view of the "face rock", and downtown buildings in the background. |
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| This grumpy face seems to reflect the feelings of people waiting in line at the post office. |
These are not all the carvings around town, not even close, but these photos give you a bit of the flavour of the downtown atmosphere.
Up next: not sure! School, igloos, dogsleds, could be anything! Stay tuned to find out.
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