A travel day - from the "south" to the "north"

Once again today I had the opportunity to see a bit of Northwest Territories from the air as today was a travel day.

For those of us from southwest/central Ontario, being up here in NWT gives a whole new meaning to "land 'o lakes".  I know we've got a lot of water in our cottage country but up here far surpasses!!

And this is Yellowknife

Another look at just how real the forest fire situation is.  And both times I've been in the air - coming from the east and then leaving going north/west I wasn't anywhere near where the fires are at their worst.

Mid flight we had a brief stop in Norman Wells.  Norman Wells is a small town of about 800 people, located on the north side of the Mackenzie River.  Oil was first seen by Alexander MacKenzie during his exploration of the river in 1789 but it was not until 1911 that an oil bearing formation was discovered.  Imperial Oil was established in the area in 1937 with a refinery built in 1937.  During WW2 Norman Wells was deemed important as a source of oil for military operations in Alaska and the Yukon. The Canol Road and pipeline project was undertaken to enable the piping of oil to Whitehorse, with the flow starting in 1944.  Although Norman Wells crude was light and easily flowed at temperatures as low as −62 °C, the line did not work well and was shut down shortly after the war ended and the road was abandoned.

In this part of the Territory you can also see views of the Franklin and Richardson Mountains.

 The Mackenzie River

Some more flying, north and west, and I arrived in Inuvik.

Inuvik has a population of about 3500 people and is north of the arctic circle - and west of Vancouver.  It enjoys 56 days a year of twenty-four hours of sun... and that's now.

Inuvik was conceived by the Canadian government in 1953.  It was intended to replace the hamlet of Aklavik, in the Mackenzie Delta, which was subject to flooding and offered limited space for expansion.  In Inuvialuktun, Inuvik means "place of people".

Petroleum exploration in the Mackenzie Valley and Beaufort Sea provided tremendous employment and business opportunities in the region beginning in 1971.  These activities continued until 1990 when petroleum companies decided to pull out, however since 1999, oil and gas companies have once again begun to explore for natural gas.  Today Inuvik is the administrative and commercial centre for Western Arctic and is Canada's largest community north of the Arctic Circle.

These colourful houses have been nicknamed "Smartie Box" housing.  Again here, all houses are built on pilings and these colourful houses definitely do add character.

 "Smartie Box" houses

 The Anglican Church of Ascension

 I'm staying here - at the Nova Inn

And for all you doubters - yes, it can get nice and warm up here in the Arctic

Inuvik is situated on the East Channel of the Mackenzie Delta.  The Coast Guard vessel The Dumit is here right now - on its way to put finish putting the buoys into the Mackenzie so that the barges can start their operations for the year.

I'm hoping to take a tour inside this church while I'm here, but just walking around town it's impossible not to notice the "Igloo Church".  The Igloo Church bears the same official name as the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris - Our Lady of Victory.

Our Lady of Victory church in Inuvik was built by volunteer labour.  It took two years to build from start to completion and the ceremony of blessing was performed in August 1960.