Canada Part 2

By harmony tee | May 19, 2023 |

DAY 8

We woke up early to catch our flight (Air North) to Whitehorse, Yukon. Our return ticket costs us about SGD400 per pax.

After about 1.5 hours later, we were at Yukon, which is situated north of Vancouver. Whitehorse is really cold and half the time and I was still cold even when I was dressed in multiple layers. So if you’re afraid of the cold and you’re visiting during winter, please do not forget to pack your ear muffs and face scarves to shield your face from the strong winds. I was semi-suffering because of the cold. My nose was flowing and red for the first two days and I could barely feel my limbs. It is really cold in whitehorse!

One thing to note is that there are no Ubers operating in Whitehorse. Initially, Jeremy wanted to rent a vehicle from a car rental shop situated about a 10 minutes drive from the airport. We thought it would be easy to get a cab in Whitehorse, just like in Vancouver. The cold weather there rendered it difficult to do so and we ended up renting a car from the airport instead. Jeremy was witty enough to make reservations for car rental from both car rental shops. If you’re planning for a trip, do remember to reserve the cars in advance as you might end up with no available cars for rent if you do not reserve in advance.

We wanted to see Yukon Suspension Bridge and the information online gave us the impression that it was open for visitors even in winter. However, when we drove to the parking site for the bridge, there was a signage that stated “no parking”. We then tried to find a place to park nearby so that we could hike over. While trying to find our way to the suspension bridge, we noticed there was another couple also looking for the a way to the bridge. However, routes were covered in snow and it would be difficult to get to the bridge. In the end, we didn’t make it to the bridge but instead sipped some wine at Whitehorse Lake.

We checked in to our airbnb and settled in for the night.

DAY 9

We visited Yukon Wildlife Preserve where we learnt the difference between an elk and a moose. We also managed to see mountain goats, arctic ground squirrel, and the Canada Lynx. The ticket to enter the Wildlife Preserve is about 18SGD per person. We did not follow any tour but explored the entire place by foot and it took us about 3.5 hours. I was exhausted at the end of the walk. At every stop, there is a sign post that has information on the animal that you could spot in the enclosed area. The entire place is quite big and at times, the animals might be only at a particular spot and hence you’d still have to walk through the entire Preserve to ensure you don’t miss anything.

After visiting Yukon Wildlife Preserve, we went home to get ready to go to the Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs. This hot spring is a must go if you’re in Whitehorse. It is even better than the springs we went prior to this. You have to purchase tickets to enter this hot spring and purchasing them online prior to going over would save you some money. Also, try to book a time slot that is during non-peak dates to save even more!

Upon entering The Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs, you’d given a basket to place your belongings. You will then enter a shower room to rinse yourself before you’d be allowed to enter the pools. You will also be given a locker to store your items while you explore this place. The fee for your locker is part of the admission fee. There are three pools at The Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs filled with waters with varying temperatures. I cannot remember the name of the pool I liked best but it is the one with the highest temperate In Singapore’s slang, it was super “shiok” to have my body immersed in extremely hot water when the weather was to me, extremely cold. In winters, hair freezing contest is also being held at this place, where you could style your hair in a particular manner and freeze it in the cold to have it set in place. There are also sauna rooms and cold rooms at this place but because Jeremy and I were not that keen, we did not enter these rooms. You’re not advised to wash up after using the pools for the water is said to be rich in minerals that are good for your skin. Nonetheless, Jeremy and I washed ourselves up before trying to hunt for the auroras.

This is the first night we tried hunting for the auroras on our own and we stayed till 2AM on the mountains but failed terribly. There was no aurora to be seen.

Two factors determine if one is able to see the northern lights - 1) the geomagnetic level activity and 2) the level of cloudiness. Some phone apps will sound off an alarm when there is a high level of geomagnetic activity predicted in the next few hours by measuring the Kp-level. Kp-levels indicate the strength of the geomagnetic activity in a particular area.

DAY 10

We went to Mount Sima to ski the following day. A day ticket was about CAD55 per person and provided us with access to all ski trials and ski lifts. We started at the Bunny Hill but the lift at the Bunny Hill was not like the one at Switzerland. There was no magic carpet (something that resembled and operated like a travelator travelling uphill) and one had to grab onto a lift to get transported up the hill. It was a little tough and many children couldn’t even grab hold of the lift to get themselves up the hill.

Jeremy and I then decided to take the lift up to try the green slope - Haileys. Looking back, it is quite hilarious because we took slightly more than an hour to get back down at the bottom. I was falling so many times and had to take a break countless times. In fact, I almost wanted to give up because there is a part of the slope that is really steep and I lost control of the skis, causing myself to fall and bruise my elbow. I took my skis out and slided down that particular part of the slope but in the midst of doing so, the staff there approached me and asked if I needed help. If I needed help, they could send a snow mobil to transport me down. It took way longer than it should, but I still made it down, without a snow mobil.

To make the best use of our monies, we skied till Mount Sima closed at 4PM. Then someone who apparently migrated from Singapore to Whitehorse messaged me on Facebook and initiated a meet up.

We met up at Macdonalds. Shirley is the Singaporean who migrated to Whitehorse years ago and have been convinced living in Canada is way better than in Singapore. To be honest, I’d be lying if I tell you I wasn’t the least bit tempted to think that Canada could really be a much better place to live in, especially with the increasing competition in Singapore. Shirley’s husband owns a tour agency and offered to take us on a Northern Lights Tour. We paid about SGD150 per pax for the tour.

Jeremy and I were glad that we paid for the tour because we learnt how to sight for Auroras and we did managed to see the aurora. The aurora was so subtle in the night sky when the geomagnetic activity isn’t that strong that I might just mistake them for light pollution from the city. The Northern Lights were vibrantly captured on the cameras but trust me, with the naked eye, the sighting can be a little bit underwhelming.. at least to me. Also, we learnt relying on the phone apps to see if there was aurora to be seen could be not as accurate as we would like to think. The best is still to drive to a big open space on a cloudless night to catch the aurora, regardless of the Kp level. A big open space is needed because the aurora could be lying low on the horizon and having buildings nearby could potentially block the lights from our view.

DAY 11

It was another day of skiing and eating in as we bought fresh produce from Walmart to have our dinner. Jeremy is crazy over the beef steaks there as they are apparently a lot cheaper than in Singapore. So we ate beef for three consecutive dinners.

In the evening, we researched online on the Facebook Groups and found a free place to view the aurora. It was at Lake Laberge. It is about an hour’s drive from the city centre. Do drive safely there as it can be a little hard to navigate. There are some areas where there can be no street lamps at all and the only light available will be those that is from the car. As it was winter, the lake was frozen and we could walked on it. We managed to see the Northern Lights on our own and this time, for free. So if you ever want to catch the lights in Whitehorse, you can consider this place if you have a car.