08.9.2006: Starting off fresh.

Based in Paulatuk, the Inuvialuktun word for "Place of Soot", or also known by the locals as "The Southwind Capital of the World", we convey our arctic experiences through this little site.

Paulatuk looking northwest. Photo by Markus Siivola.

Welcome to our first edition of life since we've moved to Paulatuk, Northwest Territories, Canada. We wanted to create this site in order to share our lives with our family and friends, as well as other people who have an interest in northern Canada or find themselves on their way up here. Let us begin at the beginning. In 2006 we decided to accept a job opportunity in a remote arctic community by the name of Paulatuk. This Inuvialuit village has no road and is only accessed by small bush plane three times a week, weather permitting. There are roughly 250-300 inhabitants, depending on the day. A grizzly bear is not an uncommon sight in town in the fall. At 69.5º north we enjoy midnight sun in the summer and dazzling northern lights in the winter. The annual average temperature is -11º C, which alludes to the cool winter atmosphere. However, one would be equally surprised at how relatively warm the summers can be - we were. Yesterday it was 19º C. To our delight, the life and color of the summer wonderfully contrasts the dark winter deep-freeze.

We will come from time to time when the inclination strikes us to write about our adventures and daily events, spiced with photos here and there. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we are living it.

Markus & Delia

Our home is the third house from the left in the center. Photo by Delia Berrouard.

Markus Siivola
Markus was born in Rovaniemi, Finland (which is, by-the-way, the greatest city in the world). Raised a lappilainen suomalainen (Lappish Finn), he is well-suited to the north. He is an Engineer and holds an M.Sc. in Computational Engineering with a specialisation in GIS. He enjoys photography and writing among many other passtimes. Mostly harmless.

Delia Berrouard
Delia was born in Lahr, Germany, and raised more or less in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She is a Biologist with a B.Sc. in Environmental Biology and M.Sc. in Geography. She is an avid outdoor enthusiast who often takes time to smell the flowers.