12 September 2011
Flight from Amsterdam to Vancouver
Nunavut and Northwest Territories

After another hour the treeless landscape of Nunavut became visable between the clouds. Thick layers of snow covered the hill tops. The polished brown rocks were covered with deep scratches. Thousands of lakes coloured turquoise by the water of glaciers or deeply blue filled the dents. No houses, no growth, no life visible from above. I wondered if Europe had look like that after the ice ages. How many thousands of years would it take till this vast region would become habitable?

The brilliantly blue waters of Huson Bay appeared below us. A few islands dotted the water. They shores were sandy coloured while further inland the surface changed from redgrey to redbrown. Around their coast line I could espy the shallows in a lighter blue. Little white spots were randomly floating on this immens body of water. Icebergs on their way south.

Than again land with countless numbers of small, large and vast lakes. A rainbow hovered above a bank of clouds. Only it was no bow but two complete circles in rainbow colour. The landscape surpassed all my imaginations about North Canada. I could not turn my eyes away. I basked in this wild rough beauty.

I listened to some music from the board multi media set, but I felt no desire to switch on a film or a computer game. The world below let me forget the discomfort of the tight seats.

It was the middle of September but some fresh snow seemed to have fallen already at this lattitude.

The clouds looked like perfect pillows to lie on belly down, the head spying over the edge to relish in landscape below.

It took at least two or three ours before I discovered the first shades of green again. First came tundra, later dark green forest on hills and then we were above the Great Planes.