Share the road (And the winner is......)

Good morning everyone! In today's post I'll be telling you about what its like to drive on Baffin Island.  Also, Coraline will be announcing who won the giveaway contest!  If you can't wait, and need to know NOW if you won, scroll down until you get to the video.  (Then, come back up and finish reading the rest of the post, of course.)

I knew rules would be somewhat more relaxed than I was used to when it came to driving here.  For one, seatbelt rules are not enforced.  Nor are car seat regulations for infants and toddlers.  Rumour has it there are two RCMP officers responsible for policing the entire city (I don't know if this is true). They have more important things to do than worry about who is wearing a seatbelt.

The speed limit is at most 40kph--about 25mph, and is even 30kph in some places, so most accidents are minor (4-wheeler crashes when people don't wear helmets can be tragic).  There are no roads out of town, no highways, nada. Its just this little old town plunked down on an island.

There are no traffic lights here.  It used to be there was only one four-way stop.  It was referred to as  "Four Corners".  There are more four-way stops now (maybe 3 or 4 real intersections) but Four Corners has kept its name.  The roads for the most part are dirt.  There are some paved roads, and others, oddly, are a strange combination of both.  The road from Iqaluit to the small suburb of Apex (about 5 minutes away) is notoriously potholed and uneven.

Four Corners.

Four Corners at rush hour.

I was unprepared for the type of vehicles one sees cruising the roads.  All-terrain-vehicles (or 4-wheelers) are a common way to get around.  These drive on the road just like everyone else.  So do dirt bikes, golf carts, and cars that are missing nearly half the front end due to previous accidents.  As long as it goes 40kph, it seems any vehicle is "street legal". I thought some of these vehicles would disappear from the road once the snow fell.  I was wrong.  People still ride them, they just bundle-up more.

So, I kinda like this one. It has a roof and everything!

Jane Kokan (photographer) took this fabulous photo
while she was visiting. 

Once the snow is down the snow machines (snowmobiles, skidoos) come out from under homes and tarps.  I wasn't sure if these would also be considered street-legal, and it turns out they are not. There is a series of unofficial trails that people drive on.  They only cross the road to get from one side to the other. (You know these are snowmobile crossings because the snowbanks are smooshed on either side of the road. Also, there are occasional signs to indicate "snowmobiles are around". ) Kids are picked up from school by parents on snowmobiles. They are often pulled up for gas at the gas station alongside cars, and parked at the convenience store. Sometimes the snowmobiles are pulling qamutiks behind them.  (As an aside, you may have noticed I spell various Inuit words differently at times.  There is no standard spelling for many Inuit words, as the Inuit alphabetic is not phonetic like ours--it is syllabic. Many words have several acceptable written forms using our alphabet.)

This sign just means "be aware of odd vehicles on the road."
I think.

Its difficult to get a shot of a snowmobile driving by
that isn't blurry. Here is one (with qamutik) pulled over
to the side of the road.

And a better shot of the qamutik.

Snowmobiles even have their own parking
spots at the airport.

And at the aquatic centre.

Map of the city. Green trails are walking trails, blue trails are for snowmobiles,
pink is for both. I think its a hoot that the blue trails just go out into the
bay (or disappear into the tundra).  

Dogsleds are not used in town. They are used out "on the land", on the ice in the bay, and in the territorial parks where there is more room for them to maneuver. They always have right-of-way.

Had to throw this pic in again.

Yield to dog sleds.

Of course dogsleds have right-of-way.
No brakes!

We have a winner!

Finally, the moment you have all been waiting for--the winner of the giveaway contest!  We had 33 people enter the contest!  Yay!  Blogger tells me statistics, so I know there are many more readers who check in regularly. That means a lot of you lurkers didn't enter and are content to just sit by and watch the results.  That's cool, I'm an introvert too.  (I don't think I've ever entered an internet or blog contest.)

Folding the strips of paper for the draw.

HOWEVER, that means the people who did enter had more of a chance to win, so WAHOOOO!!!!!  I typed everyone's first names and last initial on a piece of paper and printed it out, then cut it out into little strips.  Each strip was folded and entered into my high tech plastic ziploc container.  Coraline felt it was important that we go outside to draw the name, so out we went....... and voila!  The winner is...........

So, congrats to Lisa B for winning your very own piece of the arctic. This contest was a lot of fun for me and the kids, from choosing the art work, to negotiating price with the artist's nephew, to watching the entries roll in, and doing the video/draw.  It was so MUCH fun, we'll be doing it again within the next couple of months. If anyone has any suggestions for prizes, we're all ears.  Locally we can find more art work, soap made with narwhal oil, jewelry, etc. 

Next up: I've talked about how important Facebook is to the community, but in this post I'll actually show you.