HAPPY CAMPERS
RV show is place to get started
The recent improved weather has got many of us thinking about road trips, making the timing of the 2018 Earlybird RV Show & Sale ideal.
The annual showcase of all things recreational vehicles opened Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Tradex exhibition centre in Abbotsford, offering something for RV veterans and newcomers alike.
The four-day event holds the reputation of being the premier event of its kind, showcasing informative travel seminars, and the latest in RV trends and products, including the newest and best RV models.
For the first time, Northwest Territories recreation vehicle adventurers and tourists with bucket lists in mind can reach the Arctic Ocean via a new driveable route.
Built after four years of development, the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway, which stretches from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk along a 137-kilometre two-lane stretch of road, became a reality in November 2017 when an official ribboncutting ceremony was held.
The highway extends the worldfamous Dempster Highway, the first all-season road to cross the Arctic circle.
The Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway itself is regarded as a testament to civil engineering and construction as it is built over kilometres of delicate tundra and permafrost.
The road opens up another tourism attraction — the community of Tuktoyaktuk, which can now be accessed by road year-round instead of just in the winter months.
Judith Venaas, a former N.W.T. regional tourism development officer, is hosting seminars on such adventures during the Earlybird RV Show & Sale.
The N.W.T. seminar will take listeners through a voyage that begins at the 60th parallel and continues on to the region’s capital
Yellowknife, a city famous for its diamond mines. She will take listeners along the Liard Highway and 700 kilometres of Dempster Highway — what she describes as “untouched wilderness.
“Tuktoyaktuk is a beautiful hamlet on the shores of the Arctic Ocean,” says Venaas. “For those visiting, there are many ways to explore the area as highly experienced tour guides are ready to direct visitors who want to see and learn more.”
Known as the land of the midnight sun and the place with the best aurora borealis in-winter
viewing spot in the world, the N.W.T. has traditionally attracted travellers with a more rugged mindset. That demographic expects to encounter weathered terrain that can offer them everything from rewarding fishing expeditions and the best in flora and fauna hikes to free-roaming bison and caribou.
Venaas emphasizes, however, that the region offers so much more for tourists, and in particular RV enthusiasts, who are known to linger longer in locations that feature not only scenic outdoor spaces but also cultural attractions such as arts festivals.
“There’s fantastic music festivals to see like Yellowknife’s
Folk on the Rocks that happens in July and is ranked as one of Canada’s top 10 music festivals. The Great Northern Arts Festival that happens mid-July in Inuvik is another extraordinary event,” she says.
“It’s very different scenery for first-time visitors and it’s all within reach but most definitely beyond belief.”
To hear all of Venaas’ N.W.T. trip recommendations and tips for comfortable and memorable RV travel, make sure to catch her seminars.
For a full show seminar schedule, visit: rvshowsbc.com/earlybird/seminar-schedule