Welcome to the Arctic Tundra!

Aksutik everyone! Qanuippit? (Hello and how are you in the Inuit Inuktitut language)

Ever wonder what walking on the moon would be like? Okay, so maybe being on the Arctic Tundra isn't quite like the moon but it is so oddly different... I felt like I was on a different planet! It's for real: the tundra has no trees. It is covered by small shrubs and rocks. You can hardly distinguish the difference between lake and land in the winter time. There are no roads to this small camp, only an ice airstrip. Some of the people are very bizarre. Life is work for atleast 3-4 weeks straight. Sun rises and sun sets are equally as beautiful on the tundra as they are over the ocean. The stars are 10 times brighter. The northern lights are far easier to see. A chateau/hotel is a ply-wood box mounted together. All this simply for a mineral that is stored in excess. Yes, diamonds. If you don't already know... YOUR DIAMONDS ARENT WORTH WHAT YOU'RE PAYING FOR THEM!! Hate to break it to you sister but there are so many diamonds getting pumped and crushed out of these beautiful northern lands, that they are sitting in storage! Sitting in storage awaiting some form of 'Chinese revolution' where all of a sudden Chinese people are interested in buying real diamonds! As for now however, they sit in storage to maintain their value. It is all so ridiculous to me. And besides... wooden rings are much more unique and way cooler!

Working in the Tundra was fun. We woke up before the sun did, spent MANY minutes trying to get the snowmachines working, gathered our gear and set out for the day! Once we got to our location on the lake, we'd drill a hole, set up a tiny tent, then do a whack of dissolved oxygen testing and then collect water samples.

Tundra highlights include:

• getting air on the skidoos from flying fast off the snow drifts
• peeing in the wide open tundra
• seeing 4 willow ptarmigans
• watching the northern lights and seeing the little dipper (along with many other constellations)
• eating combinations of mystery meat
• flying over land with trees.... and then land without trees

Well friends, as I've mentioned before... life in the North is nothing but fun, cold, oddities, adventure, and lots of love!