Week 7 of
The Amazing Race Canada took the teams about as far north in Canada as you can go... but we are getting ahead of ourselves.
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| Quebec City is Canada's only walled city... |
The teams began in Quebec City, which we wrote about in our
Week 6 blog post. Before we leave this amazing spot, a few more facts about Quebec City:
- Quebec City's old town (Vieux-Québec) is the only remaining fortified walled city north of Mexico
- Vieux-Québec has been declared an UNESCO World Heritage Site
- There are lots of things you can do in Quebec City - here are just a few
From
Quebec City Airport (YQB), the teams flew north north north to Iqaluit, Nunavut.
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| Iqaluit Airport's distinctive yellow terminal building |
Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut, Canada's largest, northernmost and newest territory, created when the region officially separated from the Northwest Territories in 1999. The teams landed at
Iqaluit Airport (YFB) to tackle their challenges for this leg of the race. As so many other sites have detailed the team's activities, we'll focus our attention on the airport.
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| 1928 Sikorsky S-38B at Iqaluit Airport (Source: Polar Pilots) |
While tiny, Iqaluit Airport plays an important role as a diversion airport for airlines flying
Polar Routes. As such, Iqaluit Airport can handle any type or size of aircraft.
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This Douglas C47A 10DK Dakota 3 (DC-3) ran out of fuel and
landed on the tundra about 45 nm north east of Iqaluit in 1975.
Like many arctic plane crashes, the plane is still there
to this day. (Source: Polar Pilots) |
Here are a few interesting websites about the aircraft that have landed here, various incidents and the airport's services, including:
Another reason the airport is so important here is that there are few roads in the region. Most travel is by air, although there are some trucks in Iqaluit. The most common form of transport amongst locals is by ATV (during the short summer) or snowmobile (during the very long winters). You may even see some dog sleds if you visit here.
Unless you arrive in winter though, you will find that around town most things are within walking distance.
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Bilingual Inuit and English stop sign in Iqaluit.
The sign may say STOP, but if you are intrigued,
you should GO to Iqaluit! |
If you are intrigued to the point of considering a visit, check out the
Iqaluit Visitor's Guide - it is very well done and contains a wealth of information.
We hope you've enjoyed learning about this destination where the Race passed through. More next week...
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