We spent the day in Whitehorse doing chores. Our muffler had come loose where the tail pipe and front pipes connect. We rang one garage and they are fully booked for July. The other place in town had a 10 day wait. No wonder people are driving around town in crappy cars. Mike picked up some muffler weld paste with the hope of fixing it himself.

Then we did laundry, shopping, and spent the afternoon at Starbucks uploading a video.

In the afternoon we had a brief nap , then Mike fixed the muffler and changed our filthy air filter.

We went to the Whitehorse markets which on every Thursday from 3pm to 7pm. It reminded me a bit of gourmet in the gardens. We had dumplings followed by some southern bbq brisket which was really yummy for so far north.

Then we decided on a very early night as we were both so tired, collapsing into bed just after 9pm, still in the Canadian superstore carpark.

We only have about an hours drive to finish the Dempster highway. We were going to head back to Dawson City to check on the status of the wildfires blocking our route south, but that would have meant an 80 km detour. So we asked Matt again to check the status of the road. That Garmin has come in handy when out of range.

The road has been closed off for weeks with pilot cars ferrying people through when safe. People I’ve spoken to, said it’s about an hours drive through thick wildfire smoke. Last I’d heard, the road was completely closed and they were evacuating people. I’m not looking forward to it, that is if the road is even open by the time we get there.

I was very surprised when Matt got back to us, to say the road was open. At the end of the Dempster was an unattended fuel station and thankfully we were able to fill up and be on our way.

Heading south towards the fires were no cars for ages. Then a jeep over took us. Not long after he pulled over and turned around. Did he just get word the road had closed again? I asked Matt for another update, and thankfully the road was still showing as open.

It was weird travelling on tarseal again after 9 days on dirt. When we finally made it to where the fires were, there was a sign saying wildfire smoke for about 100 kms. We expected there to be a pilot car but nothing. The road was completely open, just a bit of smouldering here and there. The rain must have helped heaps.

It was a long day as we kept on driving until we got to Whitehorse. We parked at the Canadian superstore carpark with a few other vans for the night and stocked up on supplies.

It rained on and off during the night. We’d been told the roads are very slippery when wet so we weren’t sure whether to sit out the rain or continue on. We used our Garmin Inreach to contact Matt for a weather report. Rain was forecast for today ( Tuesday), fine Wednesday then rain for the rest of the week.

We continued to Eagle Plaines and fuelled up and checked our route. Wildfires were still blocking our route south, but we’d worry about them when we got there.

It wasn’t raining as yet so we decided to push on and get as far as we could before the roads got muddy and slippery.

We had some heavy rain on the drive and this is when our wipers decided to pack up again. Mike drove for 50 kms in the rain, on a dirt road with no wipers before we found a decent place to stop and fix them. We had some lunch first and by the time we’d finished the rain had stopped. How convenient!

Mike tried to fix them but he didn’t have the correct tool. A couple from Quebec pulled in to help. He had a better tool and they were able to fix it. It barely rained for the rest of the day!

The road surface is so bad on this stretch, it was really slow going. We stopped on the side of the road for a 40 minute nap before continuing.

We found a little gravel pit off the side of the road with trees separating us from the road and settled down for the night.

We reluctantly left our spot beside the Arctic Ocean at around 10am. It’s supposed to rain for the next few days and we didn’t want to get stuck in the mud.

It was about 4pm by the time we made it to inuvik. We filled up with fresh water, fuel, and dumped our waste and rubbish. We were going to stay the night at the campground here, but rain is forecast so we decided to drive as far as we could.

We drove back a lot faster as we knew there weren’t any major potholes in the road. Mike was doing 90 km/hr for some of it. Our main aim was to get past the 2 ferry crossings as these would be a nightmare when wet. Also I saw them as weak points which may cause us to be stranded up north.

It was a beautiful drive back. They’d already had a bit of rain and it wasn’t quite so dusty, and the clouds made it cooler.

We made it to the Mackenzie river ferry and there was no wait this time. Just us and a big truck. We’ve just heard that this ferry is now out of action until further notice, so we are so glad to have made it back!

The next ferry crossing was an example to us of what the road is like when wet. The dirt was soft and spongy. The exit from the ferry was rough and steep and would have been very slippery and rutted if wet.

Having crossed both ferry’s our next goal was to make it to the campground we stayed at on the way up. We liked it as it’s off the road, up a hill on hard packed gravel.

With just a few kms to go, Mike was getting very tired, not enough to relinquish the driving though! He’d been driving ten hours and was making a few mistakes. We stopped at the Arctic circle sign for a quick photo stop, then found our gravel pit. Nobody else was here this time, so we had the place to ourselves!

We went straight to bed.

We left our camp at 7.30am and fuelled up before driving up to Tuktoyuktuk, a village on the Arctic Ocean.

I was having a bit of anxiety this morning about the trip, locals having told us the road is rough. Also it was spitting with rain and the roads are known to be very slippery when wet.

As we headed out of town, we saw a lynx and that perked up my mood. It was really cool, like a giant cat,

The road from inuvik to tuktoyuktuk is 144 kms and takes most people 2-3 hours. Not us though averaging 30 km/hr. But going that speed we saw lots of wildlife. We saw many owls flying around and two arctic foxes.

As the day went by, a few people overtook us, people we’d seen along the way. We’ve even come up with names for them. The first people to overtake was box trailer people, a couple who we stayed at the same spots for the last couple of nights.

Then we kept running into white ram van lady who kept stopping to look for wildlife. There is a real comraderie on this drive and it’s like a special club, where we’re all wearing our dust with pride, like a badge of honour to the few people who make this journey to the top of the world.

5 hours later we could see tuktoyyuktuk in the distance and it now became about the destination, not the journey. We just wanted to get there.

Our excitement was crazy as we finally saw the Arctic Ocean sign and snapped our photos in front of it. I’ve wanted to drive up here for so long, and we’ve finally done it!

We then went to Grandmas kitchen for lunch as it’s highly recommended. It was mostly burgers on the menu so we just opted for poutine. She then sent us to the beach hut to wait.

While we waited, her husband came out with a local delicacy to try called Muktuk. It was little squares of whale on a plate. It was actually whale skin and blubber and had a weird look about it. It was chewy and tasted a bit like bacon.

After lunch we went back to the Arctic Ocean to paddle our feet. The water was not that cold, probably no worse than a nz beach.

All our friends were camping beside the ocean . Box trailer people were there. She went for an actual swim in the sea. We got chatting to ram van lady. She lives in her van and just travels around the country. Very brave to come up here on her own, but she had a modern van.

We decided to camp as well. We picked a nice spot overlooking the ocean and the sea mist cleared and it was sunny and warm. I was just so excited about being this far north at latitude 69. Absolutely amazing.

We cracked open our zero Guinness which we’d been saving for when we got here, and I can’t say we watched the sun set over the sea, as it doesn’t set this time of year.

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!

Day 2 on the Dempster

We had a great sleep at our camp by the river. Nobody else stopped during the night so we had the place to ourselves.

Today was a slow and dusty day. The road surface was crap and we averaged 20 km/hr. But it’s quicker than cycling, right?

There was a bit of traffic going the other way, and they were mostly jeeps going super fast, kicking up so much dust that we had zero visibility. They mostly came in clumps, so we’d see nobody for hours, then a load of them. Then I say a load, we maybe saw 10 cars during the day.

At km 350 we saw smoke smouldering on the hill. We mentioned it to a truck driver who was filling his truck with water from a stream. He said that was leftover smouldering from a fire they put out yesterday. It’s pretty scary and the threat of being trapped up here is very real. So I try not to think about it.

At km 369, we made it to Eagle plains, a little place with fuel, a pub and a motel. We filled up our van then had a coke in the pub while we used their free internet.

It was 5pm by the time we left, and dark clouds were forming to the south. Luckily we were heading north. We drove for about 2 hours before finding a nice place to camp, off the road but on a ridge. It was very windy and the storms threatened to come. But they didn’t, and the wind died down and mozzies came out in force. They were all lined up on the flyscreen waiting to come in. Some were already in the van. Thankfully I’d grabbed a free John Grisham novel from the free library in Homer, and it was coming in handy for squishing them!

The allure of the midnight sun has been keeping us up at night, so tonight we were determined to get to bed early. We played a game of cards, then settled down at 9.30pm. I’ve found if I pretend it’s just an afternoon nap, then that helps to get to sleep.

Day 1 on the Dempster

Today we start our drive on the Dempster highway. But first, we have a load of things we need to do, First, run some duck tape over the door seals in Rodger’s rear end. Then put some plastic over the air conditioner to stop dust coming in.

Then we just seemed to procrastinate. We needed more water, dust masks, marking pen (more on that later if we need it). Then we were told we needed to take cash. The bank would only let us get $400 out. I asked Mike to transfer some money to my wise account so I could get some too. Oh, no internet. So we went back the the campground where there was internet. Oh, no more money in our account!

So I tried transferring some from nz but it wanted to send me a text message to my nz phone. So I got Mike to put my sim in his phone. Oh, no cell coverage. We have a weekly transfer coming in on weekends, so I’ll just have to hope my credit card works until then. But they’ve been known to block me for using it abroad.

Anyway, we finally got on the road about 1.30pm. It was hot, going to be a high off 29 degrees. Not ideal for a van with no air conditioning, with all the windows shut on a dusty road.

The road started ok, a few corrugations in places. It was slow going, about 30 to 40 km/hr. On some of the smoother bits where it has just been graded, we got up to 70.

The drive is beautiful, through the tombstone mountains, then into more open areas with tundra. There was quite a bit of traffic on the road in places, mostly people going the other way, but very fast kicking up dust.

We stopped to help a young English couple from London who were having trouble with their solar panel falling off. They’d just bought their van and were having a lot of problems. They’d been stuck for an hour. Someone had given them a strap to strap it down but they didn’t know how to tighten the ratchet strap. So Mike helped them secure it. They are driving all the way to Argentina so we’ll follow their journey on instagram @ramonthepanam

After the initial apprehension of driving the Dempster, we had a great day, driving just over 200 kms. We found a lovely spot off the road to camp, overlooking a river and lakes, with mountains around us. A perfect spot and nobody else here!

Today we left the town of Chicken and continued along the top of the world highway. It was a gravel road all the way with lots of corrugations and potholes.

We crossed into Canada today and there was a haze in the air from wildfires. It would have been stunning views otherwise.

We had to catch a car ferry to the town of Dawson City, not a city. As we were in the visitor centre a man reported a lightning strike and smoke coming from it immediately. It was only 7 km from the town we’re in. Smoke billowed over the town and they shut all the doors. It’s pretty scary.

We paid to camp in the RV park which is really full. It’s possibly because people are trapped here due to fires. To the south is a big fire on both sides of the road. They are occasionally letting people through in the mornings when the wind is low. But people are driving up through the smoke, just to come to Dawson city, and then they plan to go back that way as the only other way back is through Alaska. Stupid people, why even risk driving through the fire just to come to a town. Madness.

The town is quite quirky. It’s an old gold mining town with original buildings painted up nice. We took a walk at 8pm last night and it was like a ghost town, hardly anyone around considering how packed the rv park was.

There is a hotel here that has an interesting cocktail. It’s called the sour toe, and it actually has a human toe in it. It’s a shot of whiskey and your lips have to touch the toe. Lots of people were doing this, which I thought was weird. But they get a certificate.

It’s still really hot even this late at night. We had our first shower for ages and it was so nice.

Tomorrow we plan to drive the Dempster highway, a remote dirt road for 1400 kms which will take us to the Arctic Ocean. We spoke to our neighbour and they only made it 190 miles before getting a flat and having to come back. And I’ve also heard a fire has sprouted up on that road. So we’ll play it by ear in the morning.

Our neighbour is stuck here waiting for the fires south to be under control. He didn’t bring their passports so they can’t detour via Alaska (300 km detour)

Today we stopped at the end of the Alaska highway. There was a cool historic road house here which is now a museum. Then we started back on the Alaska highway but in reverse!

We stopped at Tok for some last minute supplies and a burger and chips at fast eddys, a restaurant recommended by a local. It was delicious.

We came up through Tok, but we are going back a different way. We are turning off the Alaska highway and heading over the top off the world highway to Dawson city.

It was a pretty bad road with lots of bumps, so we took it slow. We stopped in the town of Chicken with has just a saloon, cafe and free camping. It’s a quirky little place.

Tomorrow we head to Dawson city where we decide whether we do the Dempster highway. There is very little to no cell signal around.