Wednesday, 27 March 2013

Off to the Yukon

Wednesday March 27th 2013

As fantastic as the Canucks game was it made for a very late night. Once we got back to the hotel we took Connor's hockey gear to David's parents as they have offered to transport it back to Australia for us and went and said our goodbyes to them and to Maggie. It was then time to tuck the boys up into bed, with both of them very upset and for us to get the packing finalised ready for our early morning departure to Whitehorse.

We got up early and checked out of our hotel wishing we had given ourselves a few more days in Vancouver. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Getting to the airport and returning the hire car was much easier than anticipated. We checked our baggage in for our Air Canada flight to Whitehorse and then tried to find some breakfast options. I couldn't come at the friend bacon and egg burgers the others went for and instead settled for a chocolate milkshake.

Our flight was slightly delayed due to a maintenance issue. Given I am not the greatest fan of flying it thrilled me to see how small the plane was - 2 seats on either side of the aisle and only 13 rows. The flight itself was uneventful. The scenery was simply stunning. Looking out the windows on either side of the plane their seemed to be never ending views of beautiful snow capped mountains. The 2 and a half hour flight passed so quickly. Before we knew it we landed in Whitehorse, climbed down the airplane stairs and walked across the tarmac into the small airport terminal. It reminded us of how flying used to be at Adelaide airport although the walk across the tarmac was much much colder with a temperature of -11C displayed inside.

The baggage carousel was certainly like nothing we had even seem before - covered in river pebbles and sticks, and of course two horn-locked caribou.


After collecting our baggage we were pleased to find that just outside the terminal there was a free shuttle bus transfer service to our hotel. We jumped aboard and were at our hotel in just a few minutes. Once we checked in we went out for a walk to check out our surroundings and find something to eat for lunch. We came across a statue honouring the prospectors who opened up the Yukon before stumbling across a 1950s diner. We couldn't go passed it as a lunch choice.




At Lil's Diner we ordered hot dogs, burgers, onion rings, fries and at long last poutine (hot fries, gravy and cheese) - a local favourite. The meals were large and the atmosphere was excellent with 50s furniture, paintings of 1950s stars, booths, and of course a juke box. While we were willing to try poutine I have to say it was not a favourite. David, Ryan and I didn't really take to it but the look on poor Connor's face you would have thought we were trying to poison him - some much so he vomited it back up. That's one way to lessen your appetite for sure.







After lunch we went for a walk around the township including along the river front and down to the old paddle steamer on the bank. It was quite cold out and we had to be careful of the ice. On the way back to the room we stopped to buy Connor some more hockey cards and a packet of dill pickle crisps - our nest Canadian food to try. Let's hope its a bit more successful than our earlier attempt at local cuisine.










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