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It's a very interesting place - the people are welcoming and friendly (well YMMV, but if you are willing to listen and understand the local challenges and cultu
by jjkaczor 7y ago
It's a very interesting place - the people are welcoming and friendly (well YMMV, but if you are willing to listen and understand the local challenges and culture - then you will have a good time).
Food security is a challenge for people who do live here, due to the general high-costs. Interesting fact - at one point in time, Amazon Prime shipping to Iqaluit was 2-3 times the national average for Canada (and that probably increased with their purchase of Whole Foods - items, which may be most expensive through Amazon for the rest of Canada can often be cheaper than purchased 'locally') - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/iqaluit-amazon-prime-1.4193665 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/iqaluit-amazon-prime-1....
The landscape is beautiful (personally, I am a sucker for mountainous/rocky terrain and ocean) - it is above the Arctic circle, so - no trees! The weather is currently really nice - a little rainy today, but no snow - the big freeze hasn't happened yet. Myself, I find that even during winter months, the cold is not unworkable - as technically the local climate is considered a polar desert zone, so the reduced humidity helps.
Myself, I don't live here - but I do come up every 2-3 months, primarily working on Microsoft-stack products and technologies.
Most often, one gets here from a flight from Ottawa - almost 3-hours in duration. (And hey... you still get a hot meal in-flight!) However, it is possible that you might fly in from another territory or community - during the summer there are some flights to/from Greenland.
All data/communications connectivity currently occurs over satellite connections (your flight lands, your phone connects to a local "LTE" network, but that is then bridged back over satellite automatically - no extra charges ;-)) - this can be challenging during weather events, heavy rain, snow or fog can often interfere.
There are plans for undersea fiber, but that will take a few years - the upcoming newer LEO satellite networks will bridge the gap until that arrives.
- aerovistae 7y agoWhy does your work require you to be up there? Consulting?
- jcranmer 7y agoDo you have any recommendations for people who want to visit it? One of the reasons I have a curiosity about learning Inuktitut was its different writing system, so the Inuit officially moving away from it saddens me.
- arcticbull 7y agoNot OP but: Stay at the Airbnb, there’s one run by the only parole officer in Nunavut. Check out each of the restaurants and the Nunavut brewing company ^_^ check out Sylvia Grinnel Park, walk down to Apex and the old HBC outpost. I hear prices went up at the museum, but there’s a fantastic local art scene, and Janet Armstrong is a great local artist. You can always hang out at the restaurant at the Frobisher and get better deals directly from the artists. Watch out for airfares, they’re crazy high, $1200-1600 usually round trip on Canadian North out of Ottawa, but they partner with Aeroplan and with enough advance planning Aeroplan only charges 7500mi + $30 each way, and you can transfer from AMEX Membership Rewards. [1] [1] https://travelupdate.boardingarea.com/first-air-and-canadian-north-merger-and-redeeming-aeroplan/ https://travelupdate.boardingarea.com/first-air-and-canadian...
- jjkaczor 7y agoThanks for replying (OP here - I have been "heads down"), yes - have had a friend stay at the Airbnb, he loved it. (Better internet than at the 2 hotels) Oh - and the art is amazing - and yes, when at the Frobisher, local artists will always be showing their work for you to buy directly, but there are stores as well. Also - make sure you tour the Legislative Assembly (when open) - https://www.assembly.nu.ca/faq https://www.assembly.nu.ca/faq Come in the Winter if you like snow - come in July/August if you want to get out on the water or like rocky hiking. Get some coffee at the Black Heart Cafe - https://www.facebook.com/BlackHeartCafe/ https://www.facebook.com/BlackHeartCafe/ There are about 4-5 good restaurants, 2 attached to the current hotels, but I also recommend "Yummy Shawarma" and "Big Racks BBQ". Something interesting for the HN crowd - a new hotel is going up, built from modular shipping-container sized units - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/iqaluit-hotel-rooms-built-in-shanghai-china-1.5212876 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/iqaluit-hotel-rooms-bui...
- anadem 7y agoLucky you! Just fyi wikipedia says "the city is well south of the Arctic Circle" and ".. has a tundra climate, featuring long, cold winters, and brief summers that are too cool to permit the growth of large trees." [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iqaluit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iqaluit]
- arcticbull 7y agoI thought Air Greenland scrapped the Iqaluit to Nuuk flights [1] Definitely one of the ones I really wanted to take. [1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/air-greenland-cuts-nuuk-iqaluit-scheduled-flights-in-2015-1.2985006 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/air-greenland-cuts-nuuk...
- jjkaczor 7y agoYeah, apologies - I was "told" about it from a co-worker, but haven't checked it out - would have been interesting to make a bigger trip at least one time.