Yukon Territory

Departed Whitehorse Sunday morning, bound for Dawson which was a 500 odd mile coach trip. This was a long day, broken up by frequent stops to take photos, morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. We arrived in Dawson about 7:30pm, ckecked into our accomodation for the next 2 nights - The Westmark Inn, did a load of laundry and wrecked their machine in the process. After dinner walked around town, more photos, then a visit to a downtown pub to watch the most bizarre local ceremony - "the sourtoe cocktail". Ask to see the photo and explanation when we get home. We then went to the 12 midnight vaudeville show in another pub. The show finished at 1am and we walked back to our hotel - in broad daylight, really weird.
Dawson is an unusual town, looks somewhat like a movie set - except it's real. We had a free day Monday in Dawson, so did a guided "ghosts & city" tour which was fantastic. Dawson is the place where the 1896 goldrush started and there are still miners here looking for gold.
During the afternoon Gail & I did our own walking tour, firstly along the banks of the Yukon River, then around the local houses. Met and talked to quite a few locals who were just as interested in where we came from as we were interested in them and their lifestyle. Summer, ie no snow, only lasts 4 months max a year, April thru Sept. minus 40-50 degrees C during winter. As the Yukon Territory is actually in Canada, they work on the metric system the same as us.
After 2 nights in Dawson, which we enjoyed immensely we departed this morning (Tue) down the Yukon River in a high speed cat (built in Fremantle) for 102 nautical miles to a very very remote settlement just across the border into the USA called "Eagle". The boat trip was unbelievable, we saw a moose & her calf and a black grizzly bear swimming and frolicking at the waters edge. I got some great video of both of these events.
At Eagle our passports were checked by a US border patrol guy, then we boarded a new coach and continued on for about another 100 miles to another very small settlement called "Chicken". Then on to Tok, where we stay overnight before we move on to Fairbanks tomorrow.
Kevin & Gail

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