Sunday, October 1, 2017

return to Iqaluit


When we first arrived in Iqaluit, we had a five-hour layover before we had to get back on the plane to Yellowknife via Rankin Inlet. The new airport hadn't opened yet and the old one was still a short walk to downtown, so we decided to take the opportunity to do a little walking tour of town.






sightseeing














I was in Iqaluit first on a layover, and then back again a few days later for work. What really clinched Iqaluit as a city for me, was not the Francophone Centre or the mosque, but the opening of the brand new Aquatic Centre. It was like a spaceship that had landed in a Western movie. It's huge, ultra-modern, and even has a water slide! I went for the really nice gym, and I went pretty much every day.

I also got to play a few games with the local ultimate frisbee scene at Iqaluit's Glorious League of Ultimate (I.G.L.U.). My favourite Arctic frisbee team will always be Cambridge Bay's, but the Iqaluit players are a fun group of folks and I'd love to play with them again.



Gloria the tourist (I was actually visiting the Law Society)
I also took my opportunity there to eat Arctic char whenever I could.


Eggs benedict with Arctic char



but also lots of Chinese food at the Navigator Inn, of course

My colleague took me for a drive around town, because she's sweet like that. I got to ride around in her truck with her adorable kids. This was a treat, not just because I got to hang out with her kids, but because, as I mentioned, you can see a lot more of Iqaluit with a vehicle, including some of the breathtaking rocky and mountainous tundra landscape.



 hanging out at Apex Beach
  
the old Hudson's Bay Company store in Apex


Apex beach
  

awesome road trip buddies

It was so nice to have a chance to get back to Iqaluit, and to have a chance to return to Nunavut, the land that I have not stopped thinking about ever since I left.


Qulliq lighting ceremony