UP NORTH ACTIVITIES – a waste of a day

Saturday – and the day is clear and cold – it is minus 20!  We had planned to go either dog sledding or snowmobiling but both seemed to be extremely out of our comfort zone once we looked into it. Instead we opted for the Multi Activity half day tour.  This is four short activities – so that doesn’t sound too strenuous.  Kylie is still crook so she is just going to come for the trip and not do any of the activities.

After our lovely light breakfast which reminds me of the brekkys when we were in Berlin, light meats, cheeses, croissants and buns with juice and coffee – we prepare for our drive into Whitehorse where we will meet up with the ‘Up North Adventures‘ crew. We will then get into their bus and ascend the mountain.  The link contains their advertised promise – read on for what we actually got.

As you can tell from the post header – things were going to be all down hill from here.  We are crammed into the bus – there are 8 of us plus the driver guide and her assistant.  As we drive along. the two guides who are only young chat away to each other about their world travels, what they did last night, what hotels are good etc.  Not a word about what us paying customers should expect on the day or what the surroundings are like.  Yep – off to a good start.

We suddenly come to a stop where we are told that up there is a bald eagle in a tree.  Now, that is wonderfully exciting but as the little bus has a solid roof and they have stopped in a position where the only ones that can see anything are the two guides – we see nothing.  Great!  Continuing the journey we arrive at Up North Activity Centre.

The scenery is lovely and we hope that the day will get better.  Tyler and I kit up for our first activity – Snowmobiling.  These photos of us and the snowmobile are Kylie’s.

We have been given a balaclava and a safety helmet and a short chat on safety where we sign an injury waiver form and then it is off to our snowmobile.  Now we thought that we would sit behind one of the guides BUT this is snowmobile their style.

We are led out to a sleigh (yep, that’s right) which is hooked up to a snowmobile upon which sits our two guides.  I can tell that Tyler is not impressed and you can imagine how I feel.  I am wondering when the sacks of toys will arrive?

The seats are covered in ice and there is no movement by the guides to clean it off  so we have to clean them ourselves before sitting down or we will have a wet rump for the day.

They start up the engine and we are pulled along at such a pace that we cannot take photos or enjoy the journey. I am hanging on for all it’s worth.  We ‘sleigh it’ onto the frozen lake where we stop for about 10 minutes so that we can take photos – what a novel idea.

All that white is the lake and the ice is more than a metre thick.  The photo below is Tyler’s.  He is taking a photo of the lake but I have photo bombed taking my own photo.  You can tell by the amount of gear I have on it is cold –

Time to leave and it’s through the trees along the trail and soon we arrive back at the yurt – which is the large building with warming fires.  Kylie has been enjoying just lazing around – and I don’t blame her.  There hasn’t been much excitement here let me say.

When the other people get back from their activities it’s time to change around and now we are dog sledding.  Sitting back in a nice warm sled as the photo promised being pulled along seems like a great idea but unfortunately not for us today.  This is what we get to sit on – – 2 planks of wood that slide along the snow while we straddle another plank.  I have lost my sense of humour.  The dogs are eager to get away and we are soon hurtling down the trail.  I am hanging on for grim death – Tyler is behind me doing the same.  Sometimes I cannot see where I am going and I just hope I arrive back in one piece.

Going around one of the corners the sled tips over and I do a magnificent face plant in the snow while the sled lands on my legs – just great. I can’t tell you how much I am enjoying this little adventure.  The sledder rights everything and we continue.

FINALLY stopping for a photo opportunity – and to give the dogs a breather this is the only photo I took on this part of the ‘adventure’.

Just a word of warning – sitting in the front as we lurch along – the dogs usually have to relieve themselves and the stench is unbearable.  Luckily no little flying missiles hit me – but that would be more good luck than anything else.

By the time we arrive back my leg is sore and I am glad of a break.  As we stand in the sun, I can tell that the dogs have had a great time and we can go and pat them and say thank you.

I just cannot say how disappointed I have been so far.  From feeling all gung ho about the activites to being really deflated with what we got just doesn’t cut it and I can tell that letters or Tripadvisor posts will be done when I return home.

We are now at the half way point and it is time to go back to the yurt and enjoy some snacks and refreshments.  But before we do we can go and pat the little husky puppies that are in an enclosed area just a short walk from the Yurt.

Once again Kylie is camera shy and it’s just me and Tyler who love the cuddly puppies.  They are just adorable – and are so affectionate it’s hard to give them back and walk away.

Time for the snacks and refreshment part of the adventure – popcorn and a cookie with some hot coffee – the excitement continues.

Our next adventure is snow shoeing – the group are given shoes – some fit – some don’t – and we hot foot it down to the frozen lake and walk across it until we come to part of another group who are doing ice fishing.

That looks about as exciting as watching the grass grow.  The two guides take over and show us how to make a hole in the ice. OK – enough is enough.

We snowshoe it back uphill to headquarters and we are told that we can now go ‘tobogganing down gentle slopes which may remind you of fond childhood memories. It’s fun to be a kid again!’  I did not spy any gentle slopes so let’s just say I gave it a miss.

We go and sit back in the warmth of the yurt until everyone has finished.

Time to go back to Whitehorse.  We all pile into the bus – the guides, of course, pretend we are not there and talk between themselves – and soon we are back in our car heading home – it is rather a quiet trip except for the outbursts of disappointment.  We paid CAD 195.00 each for this experience – I would rather have kept the money and gone to the local hotel, they even had the hide to charge for Kylie (I think it was around CAD40.00) to ride in the bus. At least she didn’t have to pay the full amount.

Back at our nice cosy chalet we take some time out and then it’s time to get ready for dinner – the new people have arrived and seem quite nice and interesting. The couple have 1 son and he has brought along a friend.  Both boys are in the cabin next to me and the adults are up near the house.

Even though there doesn’t promise to be much of a light showing tonight – Wolfgang still takes the time to go through the photo rules – do not shine your torch around as the light will ruin everyones photos – do not make too much noise – just common sense things really.  Some of us take note – unfortunately we notice that some of us do not as the nights progress.

I must admit that unbeknownst to me – my red light did shine across the snow in some of K&T’s photos on the first night – memo to self – don’t be an ass! Turn off the light.

Tonight’s menu is as follows – Appetizer – Zucchini-Curry Cream Soup – Main of Hungarian Goulash, Mashed Potatoes and Apply flavoured Red Cabbage – Dessert Strawberry Coupe.  This was also delicious and put on a great end to an overall disappointing day.  Quote of the Day – No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted.

The Aurora Forecast is not promising with increasing cloudiness and only a slight chance of Dancing Ladies.  Seems to just about sum up the entire day.

A good night’s sleep – let’s hope that tomorrow is better.