Today was a long day but the roads were a little better in places. We crossed into the Arctic circle today and got photos at the sign.
We crossed from the Yukon into north west territories. Then the road got much better for a while and Mike was actually speeding. The speed limit was 60 km/hr so it wasn’t hard.
In the north west territories the scenery suddenly changed and it was a beautiful drive through large green hills.
We had to do two ferry crossings today. The first one was the Peel river and we were the only ones on it. We stopped in a small town of fort McPherson for fuel. We didn’t need it, but thought we should top up anyway.
The next ferry crossing was the McKenzie river which there was a wait. There was just us and a few locals, and a couple of motorcycle tourists. This ferry also crossed to a small community with a church on the hill. We didn’t have an option to get off there.
Today we drove on two emergency airstrips. It’s good to know they can land planes here for emergency.
The remainder of the day was slow, dusty and tiring. Most of the locals we passed would slow down. It’s the tourists that are idiots. One motorhome came tearing down the road towards us, no effort to slow down, sliding towards us a bit, and chucking up stones. What an arsehole. This road is renowned for flat tyres and shattered windscreens. Even trucks slow down.
We made it to the town of Inuvik, a major town for the region with over 3000 people. There is also an airport here.
We arrived on a Saturday and the town seemed really sketchy. There’s a cool igloo church here, but there seemed to be a lot of homeless and drunk people around. I wanted to get internet but the library was closed. And the grocery store was closed. It’s a Saturday on a long weekend here, so it seems like every thing is closed for a few days.
We backtracked 4 kms to a campground with showers. It’s quite a nice campground and after 3 days of dust buildup, it was so nice to have a shower.
Up here, they have 56 days when the sun never sets, from June through to early August. How amazing is that! We met another couple who drive at night and they’re seeing so much wildlife. So we might give that a go.
Tomorrow, he head towards the Arctic Ocean!