Something about being in Canada makes people think I'm way up north. It's true Canada has a lot of north, and that's been in the news recently with all Russia's North Pole knavery! But most people live in the south of Canada which turns out to be just as south as a lot of other places. Calgary's latitude, for instance, is 51 degrees and 1 minute North. Which puts us slightly to the south of, well, London (51deg 32mins N). So there.

This weekend though I am going really north, to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Whitehorse is 60 degrees N, a tad more northerly than Helsinki but not as far north as Reykjavik. Whatever - it's the most northerly I'll ever have been and although the nights will be drawing in I'll be fascinated to see just how dark it is or isn't at midnight when I arrive.