Inuvik (NWT)
Woke up: 10:00 AM!!! Oof, that feels good!
The campground is simple but clean, quiet, and affordable ($14 for two nights!). I head over to the other (municipal) campground to do my laundry. The village is small and typical. Nothing extravagant here, but everything is adapted for tourism, starting with the tourist information center which is a gold mine. The people there are very friendly.
I then tour the town on foot. Surprisingly, the shops offer some nice things and the supermarket has a good selection, despite prices being inflated by 30 to 40%. I stop by Moe’s to buy a sticker, then to City Hall where they are giving out souvenir pins for Inuvik’s 50th anniversary.
The village has nothing special in itself, other than its location. However, it represents a fine example of courage and determination given its northern context. At the municipal library, I attend a book launch about the town’s history by Mr. Dick Hill. He is accompanied by a legendary Inuit man, an explorer with whom he discusses climate change, the evolution of the village, and the adaptation of First Nations. It is fascinating. I even allow myself an exchange with the author and his acolyte about the reasons for my journey. Naturally, I can’t resist the urge to buy the book.
Next, I go to visit the officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to see a bit how justice works here. I am very well received by an officer who gives me a tour of the premises. Strangely, she is here by choice and aspires to work in even more remote regions! She frequently has to travel by plane to the High Arctic for temporary assignments or criminal investigations.
Striking fact: by mid-July, the register already counts 1,200 detainees, while the population of Inuvik is about 4,000 people. Although this doesn’t mean that a quarter of the population has been arrested, this figure reveals an obvious problem with alcoholism within the community.
Afterward, I take the motorcycle to the end of the road, literally! The path stretches for 8 km north of the village. It is in very poor condition and there is nothing special to see, but I can say that I reached the northernmost point accessible by vehicle in the country!
What an emotional moment! That’s well worth a beer. I head to Shiver’s, a surprising bar located in a hotel on the main street. It’s a modern and clean lounge, perhaps a bit too much for my tourist budget ($10 a beer!). I decide to stop by the liquor store to pick up a bottle of wine and have dinner at the campground despite it being 10 degrees. Surprisingly, the wine selection is excellent and I find a good bottle from Argentina at a reasonable price.