Subjects: Geography

Starting off in Yellowknife, young cross-country ski champ Sarah Stephen takes us for a discovery tour. We check out some landmarks like the Bush Pilots Monument and a small houseboat community on the Lake. At Sirius Diamonds, Jamie and Jennifer discover how chunks of rock are cut and polished into some of the world’s finest diamonds. A quick flight takes us to the town of Fort Resolution on the south side Great Slave Lake. Here biologists with the Hook Lake Bison Recovery Project are breeding a disease-free herd of bison in an attempt to strengthen the population of one of North America’s largest land mammals. In Jay’s Gee! Ology, he demonstrates how diamonds are formed and make it up to the earth’s surface.

Jamie and Jennifer explore a winter wonderland: Ontario’s Algonquin Park and surrounding area. The park is one of the largest in Ontario, covering 7725 square kilometres. It was established over a hundred years ago as a wildlife sanctuary. It sits on the Canadian Shield, a geological region that covers almost 5 million km2 and gives the park its distinctive vegetation and mineral make-up. 13-year-old Sarah Gunter is going to teach the pair how to get around the park in winter: by dogsled. First she shows them how to care for and transport the dogs. Heading out on the trails, they explore the area a little, looking for animal tracks, and enjoying the natural beauty of the park.

Jamie and Jennifer visit Dawson City to learn about the Klondike Gold Rush. 13-year-old Gemma Gould, whose family has been in the area for 101 years, will show the explorers some of Dawson’s historic buildings, many of which have been jointly declared a National Historic Site. Gemma often helps her dad at a placer mine claim in the summer, and will explain why mining is still important today. Her grandfather will teach the group more about the history of the Gold Rush.

Jamie and Jennifer pull into Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territory on snowmobiles. They are heading to the Kwanlin Dun First Nation reserve, where they will meet 12-year-old Doronn Fox. Doronn introduces Jamie and Jennifer to his grandmother, Effie Campbell, who makes traditional First Nations clothing to learn more about the Kwanlin Duns’ heritage. Doronn takes Jamie and Jennifer back to his school, where he is captain of the stick gambling team. Stick Gambling is a traditional sport played all across the Territories. It involves guesswork, dexterity and an accompaniment of drummers.

Jamie and Jennifer are visiting Vancouver Island, the largest island of the west coast of North America. They are interested in finding out more about the local Cowichan First Nation history. The Cowichan people have lived in the area for thousands of years and have long incorporated local resources into their lifestyle. 13-year-old Cowichan youth Josh Williams teaches Jamie and Jennifer how to spearfish, a traditional method that has been used for centuries. Next the trio heads to the Quw’utsun Cultural and Conference Centre, where they are meeting up with Master Carver Simon Charlie. Simon will show them how totem poles are carved and explain what the various designs signify.

Jamie and Jennifer are island hopping through the Gulf islands, a grouping of over 200 islands situated between the BC mainland and Vancouver Island. On Salt Spring Island, they meet up with local brother and sister Eryn and Kim Krieger, 12 and 14. The Kriegers will show off their unique home that they also share with two llamas, take us on a sea-kayaking adventure before visiting a local spinning mill where llama wool is spun into yarn.

Jamie and Jennifer meet up at Roger Pass, British Columbia, in Glacier National Park. They are exploring the Columbia Mountain Range that runs west and parallel to the Rockies. Rogers Pass, located about 140-km from the Alberta border. Both the railway and the Trans Canada highway pass through the area. It’s also located in one of the most active avalanche areas in the country. Meeting up with 17-year-old Jeremy Weddle, the explorers learn about ski touring in the backcountry. He shares some of the knowledge he’s learnt through several avalanche courses about what to do to make backcountry exploring safe and fun. They meet Bob Shafto, who with the help of avalanche rescue dog Big Eddy, teaches them about various rescue techniques used when someone is caught in an avalanche. The three come across Jeff Goodrich, a senior technician with the Canadian Avalanche Control Program. Jeff demonstrates a number of techniques used for determining when and when avalanches might happen.

We check out Newfoundland’s whaling and Viking history up in the northern part of Newfoundland and southern part of Labrador. We travel across the Strait of Belle Isle to visit Red Bay National Historic Site of Canada, where the archaeological remnants of twenty whaling stations have been unearthed over the last 15 years. We then explore another National Historic Site, L’Anse aux Meadows, where we learn of the early Viking history of this area, and also of the early Dorset Eskimos who made their camps along the southern shore of the bay. We visit with a young air cadet boy who is obsessed with building and flying planes. Jay tells us about the differences between the landscape and life in both Newfoundland and Labrador and why the largest percent of the population lives in Newfoundland. In Jay’s Gee! Ology he explains why icebergs, which can weigh several hundred tonnes, float.

Their exploration of the foothills of the Canadian Rockies brings Jennifer and Jamie to the community of Crowsnest Pass. Adventure ensues when they join up with 12-year-old Riley Cann and his classmates in a town effort to keep Grizzly Bears at bay. Jamie and Jennifer head to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump outside Fort MacLeod and learn about the importance of buffalo to early plains Indians. Blood Tribe member Lorraine Goodstriker tells the hosts how her fore-bearers made use of the land’s topography in their buffalo hunt, and used every part of the buffalo in their daily life.

We hike through Gros Morne National Park of Canada to check out the unusual geology and rich bio-diversity of this area – including many, many moose. The unique rocks have contributed to the world’s understanding of plate tectonics, and the park has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We explore the Bay of Islands with a young conservationist from the nearby town of Deer Lake. Jay explains why Newfoundland’s West Coast is a geologist’s dream due to the upheaval of the earth millions of years ago. He also explains why most of the Newfoundland’s population lives on the East Coast. In Jay’s Gee! Ology, Jay explains how organic matter is constantly recycled- through composting.