Visiting the Victor Bay Iceberg

One of the local nurses came up to me the other day and said that she laughed after seeing my extreme ironing photo in the newspaper.  She suggested that I should try ironing on the iceberg in Victor Bay.

            

"Is it accessible?" I asked, "because the large one near the airport doesn't have a stable flat piece."

"Yes, it is accessible," she replied.  "It's much smaller and next to the plowed ice road.  Very easy to climb onto and there even is a nice rounded crevasse at the bottom for taking great pictures."

            

I thanked her for the information and said I would check out the iceberg in the near future.  The opportunity arose on April 18.  JF had gone seal hunting in Victor Bay on the weekend and forgot his niksik.  He asked me if I could give him a lift on my skidoo.  When I told him about the iceberg he said he knew where it was and that we could visit it after he found his niksik.

            

JF goes looking for his niksik (seal hook).

JF returning with his niksik (seal hook).

We drove out to Victor Bay in the late afternoon.  April 18 was a Monday, a workday.  The sun was out, as always, and the weather was clear.  I followed the road, but drove on the shoulder.  I didn't want the ski runners to get damaged.  I stopped by some cabins and let JF walk down to the ice.  He walked out to a section of the plowed ice road and managed to find his niksik. 

            

I took several pictures of the surrounding landscape while I waited.  There is still plenty of snow and ice on the ground in April.  Nothing starts to melt until May.

            

I asked JF if had successfully caught any seals that day but he said no.  His pet dog found quite a few seal holes but no seals.        

            

A camp site in the distance.

JF pointed out the iceberg before I started my skidoo.  I drove down to where the shoreline connects with the ice road, then followed the road to the iceberg.  The iceberg was definitely smaller than the one next to the airport.

            

We were able to climb up to the top of the iceberg with relative ease.  There were just a few slippery spots we had to watch out for.  The path up to the top was already covered with footprints.  This iceberg appeared to be the second natural attraction in town.  I made note that there was enough flat space on the top to place an ironing board.   Ironing here is a definite possibly, I thought.

            

Me standing on top of the iceberg.

Onward to victory!

JF took several pictures of me standing on top of the iceberg.  I made the photos more epic by posing with my machete.  (I carry a machete for emergencies).  I thought of myself as a famous explorer or a warrior leading his arctic fighters to victory.  We drove back to town after the quick photo op.  A second extreme ironing (4th overall) stunt in the same month would depend on my work schedule.

                    

The short skidoo trip was a nice way to get out on the land on a weekday.  I usually shy away from such adventures during the week because I'm worried that I won't be ready for the following school day.  The excursion reminded me that sometimes it's good not to wait until the weekend.

            

On a more somber note, the annual Nunavut Quest dog sledding race had to be cancelled due to lack of funding.  It was an unfortunate announcement to hear.  The event is always a big hit with the people of Arctic Bay.  

  

Victor Bay.