For Fun

Whitehorse is an incredible city, and the North is an incredible place.

Now, I've only been here for less than 10 days, but have been able to check out a few things and make a few observations.

First of all, anybody you ever knew who now lives in Whitehorse will instantly renew a friendship and share their friends. The connections here are unreal as there are lots of transplants and newbies here. I'm not sure what the term is for somebody who lives in Whitehorse, but I would just call them "nice people". Within a few days of being here, I went to a potluck with Alison who I met while she was at the College in Golden. It was like Golden except that the hostesses mother, from Vancouver Island, smuggled a frozen chicken on the plane for dinner, which reminded me of how far food travels to get to the table up here. Unless of course it's fish, game or berries, much of which is not in season right now.
The recreation possibilities are virtually endless and I am looking forward to my upcoming weekend of "100 mile recreation", kind of like the 100 mile diet. As I have been driving so much lately I thought it prudent to reduce the footprint and stay within 100 miles of Whitehorse. Which means I could go birdwatching, hiking, biking, fishing, running, canoeing, swimming, or possibly grizzly bear wrestling. There is a beautiful trail along the river that connects the downtown (and the S.S. Klondike!) with the campground and the fish ladder (have to go check that out too) at the other end of town. Lots of trails around town to check out as well.
There is a serious arts scene here as well. Lunch time concerts (free) in a little park a few blocks from the office. Lots of galleries. Pottery studio for $5/hr that I will check out on Sunday. Buildings that double as works of art (CBC North is the pinkest pink I've ever seen). I await the cancan dancers this summer. And the festival season! As well as the tourist season.
As part of the environment forum last week, I also attended an evening presentation with a local artist, Marten Berkman and he spoke about the question of whether art can really move people to be connected to place. If a photograph in a boardroom can make people who make decisions about the land actually care about it. It's certainly a good question and one that I'm not sure has an answer.
There are tonnes of good food options here, my favorite thus far being a little cafe called Baked which is right downtown (well, everything is right downtown, really). There are rumors around town that a little brewpub is supposed to open soon, but I don't really know. One of the weird things about the Yukon is that in order to have a liquor license you need to have a hotel. So there are really no standalone bars (no Taps, that's for sure). I guess it's to keep those rowdy goldminers on the downlow when they roll in to town?? If anybody can explain this one, please post in the comments!

At any rate, the bottom line is that there are lots of fun things to do in lots of pretty spots here and it's exciting to be in a brand new place to explore!