Nunavut: Trip To Baffin Island Communities

Tuesday October 8, 2013

It has been a while since I have been in the North. I guess I forgot a few things, like weather delays at airports are a given.

The plan was to leave Ottawa at 9:15 for Iqaluit, have a two hour layover before heading to our final destination of Clyde River, Nunavut at 4 pm.

The reality: I tried to check in with First Air, but was informed that there was a three hour delay. Canadian North, the only other airline to Iqaluit that day, had already cancelled their flight, due to 100 km/h winds and because Iqaluit had no power. I opted to go home for a couple of hours, rather than sit in an airport which will be my fate for the next couple of weeks.

I continually checked my flight progress, which was still on delayed schedule, so I hopped in a cab and headed back to the airport. The First Air attendant asked me to wait another fifteen minutes because there is still a chance of the flight being cancelled. Tick Toc. An announcement comes on the PA "First Air flight 820 to Iqaluit has been cancelled due to bad weather and power outages". At least I have another day to eat some fruits and vegetables before I am stuck with my freeze-dry diet.

Lets Try This Again

Wednesday morning the flight to Iqaluit is a go! My flight neighbour was the cutest inuk girl called Kunuk. As she says "it's spelled the same forwards as backwards". She was on a shopping trip to Ottawa with her cousins. She kept asking me if I new various people in Ottawa, assuming since I live there that I should know everyone she met. I had to tell her Ottawa is too big for me to know everyone.

We arrived in Iqaluit and I was greeted by Joanne and finally met Chan, the dentist I am to work with. Joanne had some documents for us to bring to Clyde River, she gave us her phone number in case of any problems and said goodbye.

Ten minutes to boarding the PA comes on "Low visibility in Clyde, may not be able to land, will likely fly over and stay in Pond Inlet". Great. Long story short we opted to stay in Iqaluit for the night. The only problem was that there were miners in town so all of the hotel beds were completely booked up! FYI when you stay in a hotel in the North you are buying a bed, not a room. There is aways a chance you could be bunking with a random roomie.

Thankfully, I was able to call Joanne. She was kind enough to open her home to two complete strangers and allowed us to stay the night. She lives in a newer part of town where they are starting to bury the water and sewage pipes. Joanne is thrilled, because now she does not have to worry about the water truck coming (see older posts).