THE LAND OF ETERNAL SUNSETS
The Yukon
(with Anne and Shea, a couple of finger puppets and Grey Stone Eagle)
This program is so dang annoying its making me curse out loud! I thought I had figures it out but it always does crazy things to surprise me. Someone better be looking at this and appreciating it because its driving me mad!
But rather than vent I'll instead calm myself with musings and recollections of The Beautiful Yukon, the place Anne and I dubbed The Land of Eternal Sunsets. Because thats pretty much what we experienced the whole time we were there. We managed to be there over the summer solstice period which meant it wouldn't get dark until maybe 2am and then only a dark blue type night and by 4am it would be a slow dawn. Sunset would last for HOURS! It was gorgeous. Anne and I camped our way round a loop that took us into Alaska and back to Whitehorse where Shea lives. We then collected him and drove south to Northern BC for a few days camping with the wonderful Yukon host Shea. He told us all about the area and took us up this Mountain you can see in the picture up above this writing or next to it or god knows where on this entry. On that walk we met the miner Larry (I think there is a picture of him somewhere too) who showed us how he sluiced his way to gold and he even found some while we watched. As Anne and I are so charming and Larry himself quite friendly and chatty we ended up having beers with him and getting a squiz at the biggest nuggets he's found. He also showed me pictures of his caravan that was torn in half by a grizzly! Extraordinary. When you go for hikes around there it's not so much IF you'll run into a bear as much as WHEN and what to do when you do. I even had to watch a video on bear behaviour to be prepared. Mum was a bit worried by that news. Oh, speaking of Mum, the picture that is sideways (I can't figure out how to make it vertical) is of me talking to you on your birthday! Just on a side note, isn't it funny that i apply for teaching jobs all over the world and proclaim a confidence and ease with IT and here I am struggling to simply publish text and pictures on the net. Don't tell anyone....
I just tried to preview this entry and its all over the shop, terribly sorry about that. the photos that I can't seem to write text next to include the finger puppets showing the time difference between the Yukon and Alaska, Anne and I dandelion dueling, that sideways one of me, me trying to explain to Shea what is happening in A Midsummers Night Dream (we watched on summer solstice) and I think this was the moment of clarity which was nice to see as I wasn't really sure I knew what was happening in the play but didn't want to admit that! And now I'm going to write some text at the bottom of this malarkey and hopefully post it before i manage to simply delete everything!
(with Anne and Shea, a couple of finger puppets and Grey Stone Eagle)
This program is so dang annoying its making me curse out loud! I thought I had figures it out but it always does crazy things to surprise me. Someone better be looking at this and appreciating it because its driving me mad!
But rather than vent I'll instead calm myself with musings and recollections of The Beautiful Yukon, the place Anne and I dubbed The Land of Eternal Sunsets. Because thats pretty much what we experienced the whole time we were there. We managed to be there over the summer solstice period which meant it wouldn't get dark until maybe 2am and then only a dark blue type night and by 4am it would be a slow dawn. Sunset would last for HOURS! It was gorgeous. Anne and I camped our way round a loop that took us into Alaska and back to Whitehorse where Shea lives. We then collected him and drove south to Northern BC for a few days camping with the wonderful Yukon host Shea. He told us all about the area and took us up this Mountain you can see in the picture up above this writing or next to it or god knows where on this entry. On that walk we met the miner Larry (I think there is a picture of him somewhere too) who showed us how he sluiced his way to gold and he even found some while we watched. As Anne and I are so charming and Larry himself quite friendly and chatty we ended up having beers with him and getting a squiz at the biggest nuggets he's found. He also showed me pictures of his caravan that was torn in half by a grizzly! Extraordinary. When you go for hikes around there it's not so much IF you'll run into a bear as much as WHEN and what to do when you do. I even had to watch a video on bear behaviour to be prepared. Mum was a bit worried by that news. Oh, speaking of Mum, the picture that is sideways (I can't figure out how to make it vertical) is of me talking to you on your birthday! Just on a side note, isn't it funny that i apply for teaching jobs all over the world and proclaim a confidence and ease with IT and here I am struggling to simply publish text and pictures on the net. Don't tell anyone....
I just tried to preview this entry and its all over the shop, terribly sorry about that. the photos that I can't seem to write text next to include the finger puppets showing the time difference between the Yukon and Alaska, Anne and I dandelion dueling, that sideways one of me, me trying to explain to Shea what is happening in A Midsummers Night Dream (we watched on summer solstice) and I think this was the moment of clarity which was nice to see as I wasn't really sure I knew what was happening in the play but didn't want to admit that! And now I'm going to write some text at the bottom of this malarkey and hopefully post it before i manage to simply delete everything!
Anne and I on the ferry that shepherded us from our campsite on one side of the mighty Yukon to Dawson City on the other.I'm struggling with some noodles that just wouldn't tear. See what I'm wearing? It's a bug jacket because the bugs would get so bad you may need to cover up your face entirely otherwise they'd eat you right up.
Summer Solstice - I guess these were taken after midnight sometime (and after sometime of wine consumption). We hiked along the ridge of Mount Grey which overlooks Whitehorse and managed to do it all with full mugs of red wine. We sat and watched the sun continue to set and talked about life and all that good stuff for hours. On the left is an Inuksuk which natives used as trail markers (amongst other things) and the one on the right I can't really remember what was going on then...something to do with sunsets I'm sure...
On top of "The Dome" overlooking Dawson City with a rainstorm in the background. I guess this was taken at midnight - it was just glorious!
ME!
A German tourist took this picture and made us fix our posture before he would actually shoot the shot! We're having lunch on a bench that straddles the USA/Canada border. I'm in Alaska and Anne is in The Yukon.
Our campsite on Atlin Lake and our dinner spot and admiring-of-the-eternal-sunset spot.
Anne and I just chuckling together. The sunset had been going on for a good four hours by this stage.
Atlin is a small town on Atlin Lake. This was our lunch spot where we took over an entire dock with our food and games, magazines and clothes. It had poured all morning and Shea forced us to go on a bloody trek through some dripping undergrowth to look for an abandoned mining town. We kind of found some of it but Anne and I were wet and kind of bug stressed (thats honestly a term for getting overwhelmed by the continuous bugging of bugs!). We stopped here for lunch and the sky cleared we ate good food and then I dozed off amazed at how great adventures can be.
On the left is Anne and I busting through some saloon doors in Dawson City (some guy told us to do that as he took our picture, hence the bemused looks on our faces) and the pic on the right is lovely Larry showing us how to sluice the final stages in the gold minng process. He's been on this claim since 1979! He works it during the summer months only.
Salmon that was caught and cooked for us by Shea on a pebbly beach on Atlin Lake. We were overlooked by towering mountains that still have snow on them (even though its the middle of the summer) and we could just watch the sun set and set and set....This is my last little text bit because I just feel like having a wee free ramble about the Yukon. Anne is a one of the wonderful people I have met through work at DARE. She and I met pretty much on my first day here and clicked straight away, just one of those folks that you know will be a great mate. We work on the same crew at work which mean that she and I are the main two female's in our boys' lives. We work on a staff team of about seven I guess. (The boys, by the way, reckon they can tell anytime I lie, they tell me to not try to con conmen, forgetting I suppose that they're actually in custody and so perhaps not the best conmen in the world. They don't realise that when I told them that Drew and I actually rode kangaroos to school that that was a lie. They're pretty into Drew's wedding though, we've had the most extensive chat about bridesmaid dresses and what colour would suit me. And then if the dress is to be red, what colour should I dye my hair. It's pretty damn funny to have discussions like this with teenage thugs!)
Anyway, as Anne and I work on the same team, we never get to see each other because its rare that they schedule two women on at the same time. It's been a bit frustrating, particularly as we get along so well. So we booked this trip together, causing a sensation at work for taking two weeks off and buggering off to the Yukon. It was absolutely marvelous. Maybe one of the best trips of my life. Honestly. It was the company; Anne and I just worked so well as a team we ended up being able to communicate without talking. She became my interpreter as well as she understands my Australianisms that others don't get. Like the time I thought the guy in the shop in Chicken, Alaska was saying that if I gave him all my PENNIES he would chop them up and shoot them out of a canon. Anne was by my side when I proffered my handful of pennies and excitedly told him I'd love to see him chop up my pennies and shoot them out a canon. When he said he didn't want my pennies but my pennies (think drawling American accent) Anne pointed out the mis-communication. Informing him I thought he was asking for pennies, informing me that he was actually asking for my panties.
I declined.
Meeting Shea and spending time with him was wonderful as well. He was a brilliant tour guide for us and became one of those people that you feel you've known a lifetime after only a few days. He showed us his beautiful Yukon that held us in awe.
Anne and I ate amazing food the entire time, drank loads of red wine and just marveled at where we found ourselves: unpressured, independent and blissful. It was magical.
I could rave on about this for a long time but realise that would get boring. Thanks for listening and I hope the pictures aren't too frustrating to figure out. If you're a potential employer I challenge you to work this website. In all other aspects of IT I am competent and able.
Ooh, and I think I'm heading home soon! More on that later I guess. Fo from Britain is joining me for some kind of adventure homewards. It's been four years since I've lived in Australia and Mum says it's time to come home. The next chapter looms....
Comments
Cheers and hugs
Abby