I’m sure most of us, at one point or another, get tired of our jobs. We don’t enjoy it anymore, it makes us miserable, it is too easy or we just get too comfortable. Well that is exactly what happened to 32-year-old Dave Conroy when he turned 30.
He was living in Vancouver working in the Information Technology industry and worked from home. His commute in the morning was a mere 15 steps. He said when he turned 30 he needed a change. In his words he needed to press the reset button. That’s when he took up biking. With minimal research he said he got a bike and one thing led to another and soon enough he was biking across Canada, then possibly the world.
It didn’t just happen over night though. For a little more than a year and a half a lot of planning and prep was put in place. While sentimental items might have been put in to storage, most of it was sold. Eventually the bed and house were sold as well. That is when Dave knew it was real.
Dave first came on my radar back when he first left on his journey in April, from Vancouver. He had mentioned Yellowknife as a possible destination, which came up in a Google Alert. I looked through his website, TireofIT.ca, which has a lot of his stats, reviews, video and blog posts. It was interesting, but no date was mention as to when he might me in town, so gradually I moved on. That was until, I got an email from Dave, and I jumped at the chance to hear about his journey of a life time.
We got together one afternoon and created the videos below. The one thing that I think will interest a lot of people is Dave’s take on bicycling to Yellowknife. I often think Yellowknife is missed on tours of all kinds, just because we are the end of the road and so far away from anything. Bicycling to Yellowknife presents several risks, due to the lack of services and people and places. It is also a real downer to think you have to travel back the same road you came on. That being said, I got the impression that Dave was glad he came. He said “the reward at the end of the road was greater than expected”. Mentioning that within only being in town for a day or two he had found a place to sleep and was invited to a traditional fish fry. To top that, Yellowknife made such an impression on Dave, he will be flying back for a visit in the coming weeks.
Watch both video below to get a full idea of what it is Dave is doing and why (If you can’t at work, bookmark for later). Make sure you follow Dave on his website, Twitter and on Facebook.
Tourism week is happening right now and goes until Sunday, June 13. This is a nation wide celebration highlighting the economic impact and social benefits tourism has in Canada. The week-long event, which is held annually is to recognize the $71 billion contribution tourism has in the Canadian economy. It is also the largest renewable resource-based industry in the NWT, worth more than $133 million last year.
Minister of ITI, Bob McLeod says:
The tourism industry has the potential to create successful ventures in each of our 33 communities and Tourism Week is an opportunity to highlight our industry and the people involved in it. Tourism is a sustainable sector and contributes to diversifying our economy and providing all of our communities with jobs and business opportunities.
Tourism is something I hold very high. I love promoting, this town and sharing it will anyone who will listen. I have worked in and out of the Tourism industry in this town for the past 10 year and hope to get back into it. Along with the Fun in the Sun Golf Tournament happening this Friday, there will also be a BBQ at the Northern Frontier Visitor Centre on June 13, in conjunction with the opening of the weekend Arts Market.
Like I mentioned above, tourism is something every important to me and I could probably write about it all day long, but I wont. What I want to know is what does Tourism in Yellowknife/NWT mean to you?
Yk Quick Tips is your guide to Yellowknife, NT. Whether you are moving to the city or just visiting, we can offer information about all the best things. The show will contain information about what to do while visiting, things to know about moving to the City and everything else interesting about Yellowknife.
Bush Pilots Monument is the topic for Episode 6 of Yellowknife Quick Tips and we have all you need to know about this local attraction.
Bush Pilots Monument, or just Pilots Monument like I normally refer to it, is a local monument honoring the bush pilots of today and yesterday, who helped open up the north to the rest of Canada. For a long time there was no road into Yellowknife and even before there even was a Yellowknife, Bush Pilots would make the trip in to a vast land of nothingness searching for adventure. Once Yellowknife did start to grow though, bush planes became a vital source for transportation of people, food, supplies and vehicles. Although Yellowknife did get regular barges in the summer months, planes where available year round and are always coming and going.
Today the monument sits up top “The Rock”, a six-story rock hill in the centre of old town. To get to the monument follow Franklin Ave down into Old Town, turn left onto Wiley Rd and the right on to Ingraham Dr, which will take you part way up the hill to the parking lot. Once you are in the parking lot, park your vehicle. A sign at the beginning of the stairs will great you, which has the name of the monument and some information about commemorating 100 years of aviation. As you make your way up the stairs there are a couple different resting areas. Chances are the average person won’t need them, it only took me 30 seconds to walk up, but if you want to take your time they are there. The view is amazing on the way up as well.
At the top of “The Rock” you will see 2 different platforms, one being the deck attached to the stairs. The other being the actual monument, which is made from concrete. The monument has a plaque explaining it significants and certification. There are so other plaques at the top, one about “The Rock” itself and the other about Jolliffe Island.
Look at the view. Look at how vast the land is and how there is really nothing out there. The view from the top gives you a great panorama of what is going on around the shore of Yellowknife Bay. The city skyline is also one of my favorites. This spot is popular place for landscape photos and portraits.
Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society put on a social BBQ and Fair on May 24, 2010 to highlight biodiversity. Booths where set up with much information about biodiversity in the NWT and CPAWS, those involved with CPAWS were also there to provide any information for those interested. For the kids there was a table set up for fish painting. Wooden cut outs of fish could become any colour their painter wanted.
Biodiversity is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, or on the entire Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems. The biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The year 2010 has been declared as the International Year of Biodiversity and within that May 24 is International Biodiversity Day.
To find out more about Biodiversity within the NWT and CPAWS-NWT check out their website www.CPAWSNWT.org
Yk Quick Tips is your guide to Yellowknife, NT. Whether you are moving to the city or just visiting, we can offer information about all the best things. The show will contain information about what to do while visiting, things to know about moving to the City and everything else interesting about Yellowknife.
For the third episode of Yk Quick Tips we explorer where you can camp when visiting Yellowknife.
Yellowknife is the end of the road for many traveling by vehicle in the summer. Many of whom are camping or RVing as they go. As tourism is a big part of the north’s economy, it only seems fitting that they are proper accommodations available.
Yellowknife has three campgrounds in the surrounding area, Fred Henne, Prelude Lake and Reid Lake Territorial Parks are all available for use for local residents and those visiting.
Fred Henne Territorial Campground:
2 km from downtown
On highway into town
100+ campsites
All the normal amenities with more details in the show.
Prelude Lake Territorial Campground:
30 km from Yellowknife
Along the Ingraham Trail
63 campsites (Non-power)
All the normal amenities with more details in the show
Reid Lake Territorial Campground:
60 km from Yellowknife
Along the Ingraham Trail
70(+/-) campsites (Non-power)
All the normal amenities with more details in the show
Camping NWT is an online reservation system for territorial campgrounds in the Northwest Territories. This site gives you information about the campgrounds available, allows you to check availability of sites, and then reserve online. The website also offers much information about the actual campground and what they have to offer, as well as external links with more information. Towards the end of the show I share more about how the site works.
If you have any question, please comment below or email them to info@ykonline.ca.
Music NWT, formally Recording Arts Association Northwest Territories, is holding their 2010 annual general meeting this Thursday. They are welcoming current members and the general public to come by and hear what is going on in the music scene of the NWT. As well as the election of the new Board of Directors. There will be Special Guest Speakers and a open mic social to follow the meeting.
Date: April 29th, 2010
Where: Top Knight Pub
When: 7:00 – 9:00 pm
For more information call (867) 445-9326. Music NWT will also be streaming the meeting live, you can tune-in by going to http://www.musicnwt.ca.
This is just a quick note informing everyone that the Skills NWT Competition will be happening today, April 20, 2010, at Sir John High School, KCTC, and St. Pats High School.
Only having just got back to town and having to attend Skills are more or less the reasons for the lack up updates going on over here. That being said, I will be at Skills tomorrow filming the event and will later post a recap of the event.
If you find yourself looking for something to do today, I urge you to head to one of the sites and watch the competitions. Trades is a large part of our economy here in Yellowknife and the NWT, so show your support. The competitions will be taking place between 9am – 4pm and the awards ceremonies will be at 6pm at the Tree of Peace.
Over the weekend Yellowknife experienced some of the best displays of aurora many photographers have seen in a while. Apparently this year hasn’t been a very good one but nonetheless they were out and many photogs took advantage of that fact. Even those of us who are not photographers appreciate the beauty of the Aurora. For some reason it is something special about that aurora. It is one of those attractions that so many in the south talk about but hardly ever see, so whenever we have the opportunity we’re going to tell you about them.
Anyways back to why I started writing about the aurora in the first place. After last weekend’s light show many photos popped up online. For example both Lee Sacrey and Dave Brosha were out on Vee Lake and managed to capture some unbelievable photos. Jason Simpson was also out on the Ingraham Trail, except was out at Prelude Lake. He managed to capture an awesome video of the aurora dancing in the night sky.
Do you get any good shots of the aurora? Share the link in the comments, we’d love to see them.
That’s right I am calling all bloggers, all NWT Bloggers. It is time again for the NWT Blog Awards. Blog awards are put on at the end of every year and just like Canadian Blog Awards (Vote for YkOnline) are judged by readers. The NWT Blog Awards is spearheaded by one of are very one bloggers, who is probably a blog celebrity.
Voting has not started yet, I will let you know when it does. Right now it is in nomination round. Bloggers must nominate themselves. This way if you don’t get nominated it is your own fault. So all NWT bloggers bet get on and nominate. Nominations are own open until Tuesday, December 15, 2009. To nominate yourself go to the nominate page and leave a comment with all the categories you wish to be in. Please make sure to link to the appropriate posts and such.
Categories Include:
Best Blog: This is an award for the best blog overall. It includes Flickr streams, podcasting and vodcasting.
Best New Blog: Best blog that started in 2009. The blogger does not have to be new to the NWT, and it does not have to be the writer’s first blog.
Best Post: The single best post of 2009.
Best Series: This can be a number of posts over a long period of time or a time-limited series.
Best Blog From A New NWT Resident: Best blog from someone who moved here in 2009. The blog must be mainly about moving to the NWT or about what it is like to be a new resident of the NWT. The blog itself can be more than a year old if the author moved here during 2009 and started to publish material that is mainly about life as a new resident.
Best Youth Blog: Best blog written by an NWT resident who is younger than 20.
Best Audio/Video Blog Post: Best individual podcast or video.
Best Northern Story: Best story about the NWT. It can be a single post or a series of posts that tell a single story.
Best Professional Photography: This category includes all professional photographers. In this category, the only content to be considered is the blog’s original photography. It can be a Flickr stream.
Best Personal Photography: See above, but for amateur photographers.
Best Theme Blog: Best blog in which all or almost all posts are about a single topic or use a set format. This includes corporate blogs and blogs about specific places. The theme does not have to have anything to do with the NWT.
I found this short but informative video about the NWT’s Legislative Assembly building. It seems the video was made by the Canadian Government and intended for tourists. If you haven’t had a chance to take a tour of The Leg it is definitely something to be do when visiting Yellowknife or just when you have time.
I’m sure most of us, at one point or another, get tired of our jobs. We don’t enjoy it anymore, it makes us miserable, it is too easy or we just get too comfortable. Well that is exactly what happened to 32-year-old Dave Conroy when he turned 30.
This is just a quick note informing everyone that the Skills NWT Competition will be happening today, April 20, 2010, at Sir John High School, KCTC, and St. Pats High School.
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