No, Emma, you can’t have a puppy
Our time in Whitehorse proved to be quite busy, catching up on odds and ends, making good use of the wi-fi, doing oil changes, buying the ingredients for Ben’s shower project, that sort of thing.
But we also found time to take in a few of the local sights.
We eyeballed the world’s largest weather vane:
The world’s largest weather vane is actually a plane. On a stalk.
We considered an upgrade to a larger overlanding vehicle.
Well, it would be roomy… Might be hard to manoeuvre in narrow side streets. Not sure what the fuel mileage is like… bet these tyres are expensive to replace too. But it is orange!
We met some giant fake animals
Checked out the local canyon.
Yes, can confirm it is a canyon. Rather pretty too…
And the fish ladder.
Yes, fish can climb ladders, how else to they get past dams?
We met up with Dan and Heather for some beers. (Dan is the evil genius behind wiki overland which he started after undertaking his Pan-Am journey.)
Interestingly we also ran into a couple who actually live in Ashburton (60 minutes drive down the road from our home in Christchurch) who are chipping away at their own Pan-Am trip. Strange that we met them in a car park in Canada by a large model woolly mammoth and not back in New Zealand…
All this was well and good, and would have made for a pleasant few days in Whitehorse. We would have looked back and said “that’s a nice town”. We probably would have looked back and laughed about how hard it was to buy beer there and how it was actually impossible to get a cellphone plan with data.
But none of these are the things we think of first when we think about Whitehorse. Not because they weren’t each fun or interesting in their own right. But because something magical happened.
Something amazing.
Something that will probably always rank as one of the highlights of our trip.
We met and were boogered on, licked, trampled, snuggled and sniffed by over 100 sled dogs.
That’s right. Best. Day. Ever.
We visited Muktuk Adventures and even though we weren’t there at the right time for a tour, they charged us a small fee and we got to wander about saying ‘hello’ to some of the friendliest, furriest, cutest sled dogs you could possibly imagine. There was no time limit on the visit, but we felt that after 2 1/2 hours maybe we would be wearing out our welcome. We wanted to head back for a tour the next day, but ended up leaving town a bit too early, so had to make do with one amazing day of cute doggy magic.
Trip stats
Beers sampled: Not many, they were really difficult to buy.
Dogs patted: >100
Recommendations to other travellers
Pioneer RV Park: If you are looking for a base just out-of-town this is a good spot. Friendly staff and great facilities for travellers. We took full advantage of their oil change pad, internet room and showers.
Muktuk Adventures: What can we say, if you like dogs, this is a must visit. Here you will find some of the happiest, most well looked after sled dogs you can imagine. The owners clearly know what they are doing as the dogs are all happy, healthy and well socialised. We didn’t take one of their tours, but if you do you get to learn more about how the dog teams work. Based on how knowledgable the volunteers we met were, the tours are probably top-notch. We can’t wait to go back there one day! (Hopefully in winter.)