The Walrus

Yes, the walrus post is finally here.  Yay!  First though, a few announcements.  Actually, only one. When I first started the blog my posts were published at random days of the week, all willy nilly.    As some of you may have noticed (and others.......not) a few weeks ago I decided to publish my blog posts consistently every Monday and Thursday.

While this initially worked well for me, I find I am not enjoying having a deadline looming over my head.  As the great Douglas Adams once said, "I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." I have learned that, like Mr. Adams, I prefer a more "free flow" style of writing. In light of this revelation, I have therefore decided to move away from the twice weekly blog post format. Instead, I will be posting at random. I will of course be updating the Facebook page for Seriously North each time I post, and the email subscribers will still receive notification that way. I hope you will all continue on my willy nilly journey with me.

And now, The Walrus.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the various things one can find on the local Facebook page, Iqaluit Sell/Swap.  One of the photos I posted looked like this:

Facebook post

My sister, who lives in Nova Scotia, sent me an instant message that went something like this: "DUDE, HOW MUCH DOES A WALRUS SKULL SELL FOR? I need that in my life."  OK, it wasn't something like that, it was exactly that.  And you have to admit, it is a great piece of decor.  You might think that finding another walrus skull would prove to be a challenge.  The last big community walrus hunt was in the fall, and it's not like the skulls are listed all the time (Coach C was interested as well when she was here, but we couldn't find one).  However, I happily did my sisterly duty and put up a post on Facebook.

Within minutes, someone sent me a private message.  He had not one, but two walrus skulls ready to go.  I asked about price.  Walrus skulls are not cheap, but when you consider this is how hunters earn a living, the cost wasn't exorbitant. (A lot of effort, money, and planning goes into hunting walrus, not to mention no small amount of risk.) To make the deal even sweeter, he offered to throw in the baculom. I have to admit, I did not know what a "baculom" was, so I looked it up. In certain novels, this appendage is referred to as a "member" or "manhood". So of course we're taking it. Walrus manhood that I can just throw in with a skull as a gag gift? Sign me up!

The seller was polite and professional, and it turns out he owns a local outfitter business here in town, Polar Outfitting. It's an Inuit owned company that takes people out on the land hunting and on various expeditions.  The owner, Alex, learned to hunt as a child and maintains the Inuit tradition of providing food for his family and others. He offered to help with the permit and to package the skull up safely for transport to Nova Scotia.

That's Alex on the left after a successful walrus hunt.

You aren't allowed to just take certain arctic animal bones out of the territory. Since my mother would be the person bringing the skull home with her, she came with me to meet Alex at the government permit office. When I asked to see the skull, it turned out that Alex hadn't just brought a skull, but an entire walrus head. With meat still on. And whiskers. And the ...ahem... "manhood"? It was there in its complete glory. I expressed my disappointment that the skull hadn't been cleaned. Alex seemed surprised. It seems many people who are in want of a skull prefer that skull to be in a more "natural" state so they can clean it themselves. "Its no problem," he said. "You can just get some beetles and put them in the box with it. They'll clean it up."

You can even see the whiskers!

Um.....hmmmmmm. No thanks. I did not want a walrus head and flesh eating beetles. I wanted a walrus skull. Alex happily agreed to take the skull and clean it for me by boiling the remaining meat and tissue off.

Ugh......gross.....

Cleaned skull and baculom

It took a awhile, and a lot of messages back and forth, but Alex managed to get the skull cleaned in time for my mom's return to Nova Scotia. Since he is a hunter, Alex's schedule is sporadic. If the weather conditions are good, he goes hunting. He can be gone for several days at a time. Combine this with the general "Whatever--it will get done eventually" attitude in the north, and its amazing it only took a month.

On Friday we drove down to the permit office again to finish completing the paperwork. The skull was measured by the government representative, signatures applied, and voila! We can now export a walrus skull.

All about walrus in inuktitut, posted at the
permit office.

And again in english.

We debated the best way to get the skull home. My mother could have taken it as checked baggage, but it is quite heavy and she will be traveling back to Nova Scotia solo. In the end Alex agreed to package it up and ship it via Canada Post. My mother will have the honour of packing the baculom in her suitcase (wrapped in a garbage bag). We were advised to coat the tusks in vaseline. "Walruses are marine animals," explained Alex. "if you don't coat the tusks, they will dry out and start to chip." He also explained why the teeth on the lower jaw weren't sharp. "Walruses don't chew very much, they suck up their food. They don't need sharp teeth."

Alex with the skull in the back of his truck.

Isn't he cute? My sister already has a named
picked out.

Later that night we all watched The Crown on TV (via portable hard drive). JJ went outside to let Buffy out, and as per usual checked for northern lights. He came dashing back in to get his coat and said "They're there!" Off we went to put on boots, parkas, mittens, etc. We stood out on the deck watching the most glorious display of pink and green dancing lights that we have ever seen. Afterward, we came in to go to bed. I turned off all the lights and began the usual routine of herding my animals to the bedroom. Buffy sleeps at the foot of our bed but is afraid of the laundry room door so needs to be escorted every evening, and Mylo can be quite temperamental if he isn't included in the parade down the hall. Since he sleeps on my pillow (just above my head), it's best if he is in a good mood.

I noticed the lights on in the kitchen a short while later and went to investigate, as I had already turned everything off. My mother was there, holding the baculom in her hand. "It's leaking!" she hissed, trying not to wake the kids. "And it STINKS!" The heat in the house had caused the water and soft tissue left in the bone to seep out. Unsure of what to do, I think she was going to try to wrap it in a garbage bag. Instead, I advised she throw it out on the deck in the snow. After all, it is quite dry out there, so it will either help it to dry out, or freeze it. This of course meant that JJ now had to get out of bed and come back out to the kitchen to close the door to the deck (the cold has warped the door frame sufficiently that only he is able to manhandle it closed enough to turn the deadbolt).

Now we are wondering if the ravens will manage to make off with the walrus' manhood. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Update: The ravens did NOT consume the walrus' ding-a-ling on the deck. My mother brought back in when it time to pack up her suitcase, and wrapped it in 2 layers of garbage bags.

Tune in again next time to read about what's been happening lately with our family in Iqaluit.

Stuck

So, today's blog post is NOT the post you were supposed to be reading.  That's because on Tuesday Iqaluit was hit with a huge blizzard.  If anyone remembers from the last post, Captain Jack flew back home on Monday.  JJ and I decided to stay an extra night in Ottawa because the flight back the next day was far cheaper.

On Tuesday morning we got up at 6:30am, hastily threw our bags together and drove to the airport.  We returned our rental car, and checked our bags in at the First Air counter.  Then we walked to our gate.  We sat there for about 10 minutes before First Air announced that due to the weather in Iqaluit, our flight was CANCELLED.

First Air, being the small northern airline that it is, is very accommodating.  The gate agent said "Everyone just come back here tomorrow, same time."

We called the hotel we had just checked out of, and managed to get a room (the last one). We collected our bags, and rented another car (a mini-van, the only thing the rental place had on short notice).  In the meantime I heard from CJS's teacher and school principal (via text and facebook) that despite the kids having arrived safely at school on the bus, they were now being sent home due to roads being closed.  A quick call to my mother was up next, to make sure she was in the loop.  (By 9:54 the school buses had brought the kids home again. )

We managed to make it back to the hotel in time for the buffet breakfast, around 9am.

The city of Iqaluit shut down (again), the government shut down, the roads were closed, and all the flights across Baffin Island were cancelled.

The view out the dining room window.

This is my Christmas swag hanging on the front door
(the kind with evergreen branches, fake cranberries,
pine cones, etc.).

The back deck.

The kids and my mother spent the day hanging out, crocheting, drinking tea, and playing with the kitten we are kitten-sitting (one of Freya's, whose new owners were going out of town). We spent the day 1) looking for socks and underwear, 2) eating (Popeye's chicken! Red Lobster!), and 3) watching "I, Tonya".  While this is all good news for me, it is NOT good news for you, blog reader.  The delay meant I just wasn't able to get a post together in time for Thursday.

Coraline teaching Captain Jack how to crochet.

Finnegan decided to help.

Funny story about people in Iqaluit:  Captain Jack Sparrow's teacher texted me to say she needed to know what to do with him once school was cancelled at the last minute.  Then she got word from the principal that I had already messaged her back on Facebook, so not to worry.

Thinking about my blog, I sent a text to my mother asking her to take photos of the blizzard. "Could you take some photos of the storm and the kids at home for my blog please?" After a few minutes of not getting a response I double checked my texts and realized I had mistakenly sent this message as a reply to Captain Jack's teacher. "Ooops! Wrong person! Please ignore and enjoy your day off," I texted.  She texted me back: despite not fully understanding the message she had already started taking pics for me.

The bus pulling away from the school
to take the students back home at 9:15.
(courtesy R.L., Gr 3 teacher)

Did I mention  how cool it is having unlimited internet? I've been clicking on videos!  For, like, anything!  News videos! Doofy cat videos! Silly Facebook videos! And I keep thinking "someone at the hotel is going to catch me.....oh wait! Its FREE!"

Update: We made it home without incident on Wednesday. Back to the cold! (And no more streaming videos.)

Up next: .........stay tuned............fingers crossed...............

 

Hockey in the North (and South!)

Captain Jack Sparrow has been playing hockey for a few years now.  In Thunder Bay hockey can be quite intense, with parents screaming (getting kicked out of and/or banned from arenas) and leagues "stacking" teams with the most talented players, etc. JJ and I didn't want the drama that can come with hockey in Northern Ontario, so we found a league whose motto is "Have Fun".  Normally the Northwood Hockey League (which calls itself the "other NHL") has 7 teams, with 16 kids on each team. Each team has a name (CJS has been on the Northwood Jets and the Northwood Wild).  Every player gets a team jersey.  Each week a "hardest worker" award is handed out for each team.  There are normally two games a week and one practice every two weeks, with team standings published online. (This is how it works in most leagues in Ontario.) CJS's coach (Coach K) would write up the games and send parents an email with details about each player's successes, examples of good sportsmanship, the game strategies being used, who scored their first goal, who had an assist, etc. 

We were determined that in coming to Iqaluit the kids would not have to give up their chosen sports.  Before moving here, I checked to make sure figure skating would be an option for Coraline, and that a hockey league existed for Captain Jack Sparrow.  And one does.  However, the only way it is similar to Northwood is that both organizations are volunteer-run and everyone can play (there are no try-outs).  The Iqaluit Amateur Hockey Association (IAHA) has registration in the fall. In CJS's division (Novice 2) there are roughly 30 kids registered in total.  This is not enough to have a "league" of teams that play against each other.  Instead, every week there are 3 "hockey times" at the arena.  Mostly this time is spent on drills and exercises.  At least a couple of times a week though, usually for a brief time (20 minutes), there is a game.

One of the things Captain Jack loves about hockey is the fans cheering from the stands.  He loved to hear "GO JETS!" when he was on the ice, or parents shouting out "You can do it! SHOOT! SHOOT!"  During playoffs with Northwood there are parents with noisemakers in the stands.  One year Coraline made a poster for Captain Jack's team and hung it up on the glass behind the team bench. (Then he hung it up on his bedroom door, where it still hangs today.) None of this happens here in Iqaluit. When its time for a game (which is whenever the coaches decide), players split into 2 groups.  One group gets red pinnies to wear over their jerseys, the other gets white. No one cheers from the stands, except if a goal is scored, and then it's just mild clapping. Games are informal, with no score being kept. Teams change week to week. The kids take turns being goalie. Other than the coaches, there are no referees, no stats, and no play-offs.

Red vs. White 

That's CJS at the top of the frame, wearing a yellow
jersey under his white pinnie.

Despite the differences in playing hockey here, CJS is still having a blast.  Just before Christmas he won an award for being one of the fastest skaters on the ice (all the kids won awards, some for "sportsmanship", others for "best goalie", etc.) The award was an Iqaluit Blizzard ball cap.

Blizzard cap and candy cane.

So, who are the Iqaluit Blizzard? That's a good question.  I'm not exactly sure.  The coaches here wear "Iqaluit Blizzard" jackets.  I see kids wearing Blizzard hoodies to school.  There is no "Major Junior Hockey" team in Iqaluit.  Nowhere to go and watch the "local" hockey team play visitors. There is certainly no NHL team.  So, who are the Iqaluit Blizzard? I think that is what any hockey team traveling from Iqaluit to the "south" to play other teams is called.  So if Captain Jack travels to Ottawa for a Novice tournament in February, his team will travel as the "Iqaluit Blizzard".  My guess is they will wear Blizzard jerseys (and not play in red pinnies), but who knows?

That's another thing--this team will only play real "games" against other teams during a tournament in February. This is their only team travel for the year. With plane tickets costing up to $2400 per person (return) to get out of the territory, a lot of fundraising will be needed.  I think it's neat though, that he may get to travel by plane with his teammates (and parents), and that this small hockey association has such dedicated volunteers and coaches to make it happen.

I wrote the first part of that post about 6 weeks ago.  It is now February, and we have travelled to Brockville (via the only direct flight out of Iqaluit to Ottawa).  Sixteen players were selected for the "travel team". The players were chosen based on three attributes: ability, attitude, and attendance. Ability, obviously for their skill as hockey players.  Attitude, because the coaches wanted to select players who were keen to play and showed good sportsmanship.  Attendance was equally important: players who regularly made it to all three practice days every week had a better chance of making the team.

We were happy and proud when Captain Jack Sparrow was selected to be on the travel team.  And guess what the team is called?  You got it.  The Iqaluit Blizzard.  It IS the name every team traveling from Iqaluit goes by.  Each player selected was given "home" and "away" Blizzard hockey jerseys (on loan--the same jerseys will be used by next year's team).

On Thursday, players and coaches met at the Iqaluit airport to take the First Air flight to Ottawa.  The kids were thrilled.  For some, it was their first time traveling without their parents (flights and hotel for the players only cost about $450, because of year-round fundraising efforts--parents' flights and hotel were not covered at all, but were available at a reduced rate.) For a few, it was their first time on a plane. Bear in mind, these kids are 7 and 8 years old.  To travel off of Baffin Island for the first time, without a parent, is a pretty big deal. The north breeds them tough.

First Air flight to Ottawa

Doesn't matter where you live. Kids at airports look like this.

Trees!

The flight down was uneventful.  As we landed Captain Jack Sparrow stared out the window. "Mommy!" he exclaimed, "Trees! I haven't seen trees in so long!"  When you are only 8 years old, 6 months must feel like forever.  As we were taxiing in, the flight crew came onto the overhead speakers to wish the hockey team "good luck" on their weekend tournament. The cabin broke into applause. Looking around, waiting for the doors to open, I took note of the passengers.  Several women were wearing Victoria's Arctic Fashion parkas.  Other passengers were wearing Pang hats. (I didn't see any sealskin, its too warm to wear in Ottawa right now.) These clothing items have become familiar, yet still scream "north" to me. It was interesting to think that in just a few minutes, the people wearing this traditional clothing would be swallowed up in the cultural melting pot that is our capital city. 

We landed and went to collect our luggage.  As always, when traveling from Nunavut, a fair amount of luggage was actually big blue rubbermaid bins.  This has become so ubiquitous with travel on First Air or Canadian North, a travel magazine has actually written an article on it.  People traveling from Iqaluit bring these bins down, fill them up with stuff we can't find in the north (or can buy much more cheaply in Ottawa), and fly them back up to Iqaluit again.

Rubbermaid bins. Half the luggage from
Iqaluit looks like this.

Captain Jack hasn't stopped talking about how "warm and moist" it is here in southern Ontario. It has been unseasonably warm, with temperatures hovering between 2 degrees and -10 degrees. When you are coming from -50, that's a big change.  One of the player parents was chuckling, telling us about how the antifreeze in his snowmobile had started to gel since it was so cold lately.  The kids keep talking about how warm it is, and how wet.  I have to admit, for the first few minutes it felt very strange NOT to hear snow squeaking loudly under my boots. And it is odd for all of us not to have our hair floating around due to static.

Getting ready for the game.

Victoria's Arctic Fashion parkas worn by fans of
the Iqaluit Blizzard. 

GO BLIZZAAAAAARD!  That's CJS in front (with the puck!).

Lucky number 7.

Captain Jack won MVP for the first game.

The local newspaper wanted a photo of "the northern team" for
an article on the hockey tournament. The players and coaches were happy
to oblige.

So far, the team has played 3 hockey games, been to the movies (Jumanji), ordered Swiss Chalet delivered to the hotel, gone for a swim in the hotel pool, eaten out at Boston Pizza, and gone skating on the Rideau Canal*. 

 Aside from the movie, which was in a theatre the size of which Iqaluit has never seen, everything the hockey players have done are things that are impossible to do in Nunavut.  A player, upon seeing a group of boys in the hotel pool, came in surprised.  "I can do this?" he said. "For FREE?" When we were traveling on the team bus we drove past a farm.  "Horses!" yelled one of the coaches. "WHOA!" yelled back half the kids. For a few of them, it was their first time seeing horses in real life. Walking past trees a thought occurred to Captain Jack. "Mommy," he asked, "Do they have sticks here?" My dear boy, as much as he loves rocks and bones, misses sticks.

*For those of you who don't know, the Rideau Canal in Ottawa freezes over every year.  It is cleared of snow and maintained as the "largest skating rink in the world", about 7.8km or 4.8 miles. It meanders through parts of the city, and food shacks are set up at various points. It is AMAZING. You skate past forest, apartment buildings, historic government buildings, ice sculptures, etc. I highly recommend it if you are ever in Ottawa during the winter. If you do, try a "beavertail" pastry.

Skating on the Rideau Canal. This isn't CJS,
but a teammate of his.

The team at the canal.

In addition to cheering on hockey players, I have taken advantage of our trip to do things I can't do in Iqaluit.  First, I updated the operating system on my laptop. JJ did this in Iqaluit, and it was a real pain. Our internet is spotty and slow, so you wait with bated breath to see if anything is going to go wrong. It did.  For some reason the download happened twice (10 gigs!) which pushed us over our cap for the month (therefore costing us extra money-- $10.00 per gigabyte over our limit).  We both agreed it would be far better for me to wait until we were somewhere with free, unlimited internet--something I will never take for granted again. (I'm actually watching videos streaming online!)

I've also downloaded a few movies and kids' TV shows, and have gone shopping for the kids for Easter.  (As for shopping for myself, I was running low on eye liner so I went to pick some up. An Anthropologie store threw itself in front of me as I walked by. An additional forty percent off stuff already on sale!  WHAT?!) In fact, while the coaches took the players skating, ALL the parents went shopping at various places across the city. 

JJ and I have an extra day in the city after Captain Jack flies back home tomorrow with his team (for some odd reason it was much MUCH cheaper for us to fly back on Tuesday). We plan to spend the day relaxing, and maybe catch another movie (Black Panther!). Wish us luck on our trip home on Tuesday. 

Up next: I'm not really sure. The walrus saga is still ongoing, and has not yet reached its final conclusion. Stay tuned. 

Where to stay in Iqaluit

On Monday I posted about the various ways we cope with being stuck inside for long periods of time (because of the extreme cold and dark). As you can imagine, despite everyone's best efforts, around mid-winter being cooped up inside and feeling isolated starts to get to you. The kids have been bickering frequently (board games and tea can only take you so far). School has been cancelled every time it is colder than -50, and it looks like the winter camp I signed the kids up for this week will be cancelled tomorrow with temperatures falling to -54. Even the dog is starting to get antsy. My mother is in town this month, so this past weekend JJ and I escaped for 2 nights to enjoy a local "getaway" alone, no kids invited. We decided to stay at the Frobisher Inn. What started out as a simple weekend getaway unexpectedly turned into our "Tour de Frob".  This is great for you readers, because you get to see more of the hotel!

The Frobisher Inn

Known as "the Frob" (rhymes with "robe"), the Frobisher Inn has everything you could possibly need during your stay in Iqaluit under one roof. There is a movie theatre, a sit-down restaurant, a lunchtime sandwich spot, a convenience store, conference rooms, and of course typical hotel rooms.  The rooms are decently appointed, clean, and smoke-free.  If its cold outside, you NEVER NEED TO LEAVE!

That said, staying in a hotel in Iqaluit isn't exactly like staying in a hotel elsewhere. Yes, there is a lunchtime cafe, but they had one kind of sandwich on Sunday at 12:30 (ham and cheese), and one type of soup (seafood chowder). The convenience store did not have apple or orange juice, but lots of pop and energy drinks. You know how most hotels have options to watch movies on demand? Not here.  The satellite television at the hotel is the same satellite television offered anywhere else up here. (We watched the Olympics.) The hotel is kind enough to provide you with a list of channels. The internet is extremely slow, so slow we both used the personal hot spots on our iPhones. (By slow internet I mean all but unusable.)  The fireplace didn't work in one room we stayed in, and in another room the remote wouldn't work to turn the TV off (turning it on worked fine). No one living here in Nunavut would be bothered by this, its just an accepted part of life in an isolated area. Repair people and contractors are in short supply up here, as are replacement parts.

Educating southerners about internet rules in the north.

To the right of reception. Down the hall is a
convenience store, bar, and lunch cafe.

Left of reception is the movie theatre and conference
rooms.

We began our stay in room 406, a regular guest room with kitchenette.  To our surprise the room had  2 microwaves and 2 mini-fridges. I'm assuming this was NOT simply a case of poor planning, but is in fact in case we both decide we need to warm up two different things simultaneously that won't fit in the same microwave--a problem often encountered in hotel rooms. (Ha!) And because two refrigerators are better than one. (Unlike the hotel in Kimmirut JJ stayed in, you can have the fridge and microwave plugged in at the same time.)

Queen size bed.

Microwave and fridge next to the bed.

Microwave and fridge in the closet.

JJ shows off a food magazine...

...and hosts "Welcome to our Room", a
made for cable TV special.

Shortly after we got to our room JJ slipped away, saying he was going to "get some drinks" for us from the vending machine.  He came back up 15 minutes later and announced we were upgrading to a different room.  Apparently he told the woman at the reception desk that his wife is a famous blogger, (with over 5000 page views!) who wanted to showcase the "best" that the hotel had to offer.  She immediately upgraded us for free, and offered us a free bottle of champagne. 

OK, so that last part didn't really happen.  (But wouldn't that have been awesome?) JJ wanted our stay to feel more like a getaway, so he had upgraded us to a room "with a fireplace and jacuzzi tub".  We packed everything up that I had unpacked, and off we went to room 501.

Room 501 was much more spacious corner suite, also with a kitchenette (slightly disappointingly more like a normal hotel room with only one microwave and one mini-fridge). Technically, there was a fireplace.  It was electric and blew hot air into the room, but was broken so there were no flames (or more accurately, no light to simulate flames). The jacuzzi upgrade meant that our bathtub now had jets. It was a nice, clean, comfortable room. We also had FOUR chocolates on our pillows, as opposed to the measly two chocolates we had had in the regular guest room. Wahoo!!! We spent our first night there.  Then came "the incident"......

Our sitting/dining area.

Fireplace, and king size bed this time.

A room with a view.

Our house is on top of that hill!

A couple of years ago JJ purchased something called the "Thing Charger".  It's basically a charger that still allows you to use electrical wall sockets while charging phones, iPads, etc. on the top of the charger.  This has never given us a problem and we have taken it multiple places.  However, as Justin was unplugging it in the morning the metal cord for the blind (that was hanging right next to the electrical outlet) hit the prongs of the Thing Charger.  We heard a loud SNAP, JJ saw sparks, and we promptly lost power in our hotel room.  Nothing worked.  Our bathroom lights, lamps, television, etc. had no electricity flowing to them.  The wall outlet now a big black patch on it, as did the Thing Charger. While it was very interesting to consider the science behind how this all happened, we now needed a room with power.  We called the front desk and were promptly given keys to another room, room 401.

An accident waiting to happen?

Thing charger. 

Thing charger converted to "charge no more".

Back downstairs we went with all of our stuff again.  Room 401 was identical to room 501, except that THE FIREPLACE WORKED! We spent our second night in room 401, which was quite cosy and comfortable. In the morning we ordered room service for breakfast, then put the "do not disturb" sign on the door.  We were sitting there luxuriating in our child-free, sleep-in morning, eating our bacon and eggs, when suddenly I noticed our doorknob turning. The door opened and in walked a woman from housekeeping, humming to herself.  When JJ turned and said "Hello?" to her she suddenly SCREAMED and ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her as she went.

I guess nobody told housekeeping the room was now occupied.

You can't tell, but this fireplace has real simulated flames. And it works.

So, where else can you stay in town?

The Discovery

We haven't actually stayed at the Discovery, so I can't comment as to the quality of the rooms (or how modern they are). Like most places in town, the place isn't much to look at from the outside.

source

The hotel advertises itself as Iqaluit's only "boutique" hotel, and the photos of the rooms I found online are quite nice.  We have been to The Granite Room, Discovery's restaurant, on several occasions.  They have a great (if pricey) brunch with lots of selection.  The Granite Room is known in town as the most expensive, but also the most posh, place in town to have dinner.  A popular dish is the "Surf and Tundra", which consists of arctic char and caribou cooked to perfection.

The restaurant has low-lighting, which I love, but which also makes

taking a good photo difficult.  No worries, I stole more from the web.

source

Screen shot of the Granite Room.
source

Our surf and tundra (char and caribou).

Screenshot from the web of the beds at Discovery.
source

Capital Suites

source

This is another hotel I have not stayed in. It is the only hotel in the area that allows pets, so I imagine we will be staying there the last day or 2 before we leave town (while we are having the house we are renting professionally cleaned, packed up, etc.). I haven't heard many reviews of the hotel, other than the rooms are a little "dated" and "worn".  Each room comes with a full kitchen, so it's ideal for longer stays.  There is also a self-serve laundromat, and like the Frob there is a little convenience store inside.

Facebook

I kid you not, another way to find a place to stay in town is to ask on Facebook.  The Facebook Sell/Swap group regularly has people posting to ask if anyone has an extra room or two to rent out for a week or more.  People also offer to housesit for free while you are out of town.  Also, a couple of bed and breakfasts advertise this way, (and on a few of the other accommodation sharing websites like Air B'n'B). Trouble is, the Sell/Swap group is a closed group, and you need to know a member of it in order to join.  Mostly its used by people who have already lived here, or are currently living in Iqaluit.

And that's it!

Note: The Navigator Inn used to be a place to stay, but rooms are no longer open to guests.  It still houses a lounge (bar), and a Chinese food restaurant. The Chinese restaurant is one of those "hole in the wall" places with slanted floors and torn vinyl upholstery. I highly recommend it if you enjoy Canadian Chinese food (like chicken balls). The lounge (located in the same building) is sort-of like a sports bar.  The bouncer working the door wouldn't let me in with Captain Jack Sparrow (we were looking for the other restaurant) so at least they are on the ball.


Up next: The story of the walrus continues to unfold. Will it finally make the next post? I'm skeptical, but stay tuned to find out.