It's a "nothing planned day" today. Sometimes they turn out the best and this certainly did.
First stop was the bakery across the road. Closed Sunday's and Monday's this was the first time we could sample the organic creations from the orange and brown log cabin. To our surprise it was also vegetarian. We bought up big: cheese and jalapeno sticks, leek and cheese pastries, cinnamon squirl and a chocolate brownie (which was not to be shared!!).
We returned to the booking center with passports and ESTAs and collected our tickets for our trip to Skagway on Friday. As we left we heard an announcement about two hours of live entertainment on Main Street. So we grabbed a chair and listened to quiet soulful music while eating our pastries and drinking very large coffees.
Behind us was a journalist from the CBC doing a live broadcast about the Whitehorse food street vendors, the music and community vibe. I heard him say one vendor had developed 200 recipes for a root vegetable. Potato, kumara (it's called a yam in Canada), carrot perhaps.
Harry went off to get the coffees and the journalist came over and interviewed me about our holiday, the weather and climate change. Then he introduced his co-worker who is from Auckland (yes it is a small world). The journalist said he had been to Aotearoa. Apparently, his aunt and uncle sailed there 40 years ago and never left. I guess if you like sailing the Yukon isn't the best place to be. Anyway if you listen to the CBC you might hear a sound bite from me. Then again you might not as he interviewed a number of others.
I asked him about what root vegetable he was talking about and he said he didn't know, but to listen in as he was interviewing her later on in the day. I googled it later and an article about a local resident Laliithaa Krish came up. She would attempt to break the Guinness Work Record for the most recipes created using a single root vegetable (I gather which vegetable is used, depends on the cook).
We watched mums with one year olds (various stages of mobility), played a few games of "corn hole" (throwing a hacky sack in a hole) and then wandered off to the Klondike (paddle steamer).
Another history lesson. In 1896 gold was found near the Klondike River. Over the gold rush years, more than 100,000 miners flocked to the area. Imagine the initial excitement and then how that would change as they experienced the harsh conditions (we are told there is 8 months of winter here) and found very little gold. The SS Klondike was the second sternwheeler of that name which took freight up and down the Yukon from Whitehorse to Dawson City.
We really enjoyed the museum. A 20 minute video with footage from the 1930s (film of the ice breaking up after 8 months of frozen river was rather spectacular) and then a walk around the old paddle steamer. We decided to not go for the more expensive guided tour but got one anyway as the guide was a tad bored and kept showing us the highlights and at the end said that the museum was closing down for renovations (apparently it leaked) soon - we were lucky to see it at all.
Then we wandered along the base of the cliffs stopping for more oranges and pastries in a local park. Most of the township is wedged between the river and the cliffs (similar to the pinnacles in the Wairarapa and clay cliffs near Twizel). At the base of the stairs there were signs telling us of more coyotes and bears. We climbed the stairs - we had asked a number of locals how many there were - but none had counted them (or perhaps decided not to admit they had not been up them). Harry guessed 300 and me 250 and at the top we compared our maths. I had counted 244 and Harry 251 so we both claimed victory!
The steps obviously provide a good workout as we saw a number of cyclists pushing their bikes up the stairs and cycling the loop. Others enthusiastically ran up and down a number of times, passing us when we stopped for the occasional breath.
We wandered along the path which skirts the airport. The view was completely obscured by the trees and I spied a track through the cougar and bear forest. Talking and with instructions for Harry to whistle loudly when we ran out of things to say (not Chattanooga choo choo I pleaded) off we went. Harry was a bit reluctant but the FOMO in him won out. The path didn't go downhill (we had spied steep paths from down below), but came out beyond the trees. A magnificent view of the town from up high. I smiled my "I told you so" look and Harry admitted defeat.
Back down the steps, a stop at the supermarket for tea (cheese and crackers, pad thai noodles and coconut cheese cake) and tomorrows snacks. My turn to choose a movie to watch tonight. So far, only one weed smoker has drifted our way. Hopefully they have gone out for the night.
1 comment:
The talk of gold mining reminds me of Robert Altmans film McCabe and Mrs Miller. Maybe that was set up there? David
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