Come to Canada, where things are weird—just the way Mother Nature intended.
ICE TO SEE YOU
Cold weather is certainly no big deal in Canada, and even horrible ice storms are fairly common. Until 1998 that is. An ice storm in January of that year was so severe that it caused widespread power outages in Ontario and Quebec. Ultimately, a state of emergency was declared, and the Canadian armed forces had to be deployed to distribute supplies.
SINGING SANDS
The sands at Basin Head on Prince Edward Island don’t exactly belt out “Tom Sawyer,” but they do “sing.” When you walk on the golden beaches there, the sand gives off a distinctive “squeak.” The sound is similar to that of rubbing a balloon. Scientists attribute the mysterious noise to quartz grains in the sand that are abnormally extremely spherical.
A DELUGE OF DIAMONDS
There’s precious “ice” beneath the ice at the Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories. Just a few degrees south of the Arctic Circle in an area that’s considered barely inhabitable, shimmering diamonds sparkle beneath the surface of the earth. Workers at the Diavik Diamond Mine extract about 1,600 kilograms (3,500 pounds) of diamonds annually—that’s eight million carats valued at about $100 million. One of the complicated aspects of the operation is accessing the huge hole during the frigid winter months, when high temperatures stay below zero. For about ten weeks, from late January through early April, a road made of ice connects the mine to Yellowknife. At that time of year, the weather is cold enough to maintain a frozen road. The icy highway can withstand the weight of trucks transporting materials, machinery, and fuel. For truckers, it’s a long haul requiring 19 hours of travel time between Yellowknife and Diavik. Vehicles with heavy loads travel at carefully controlled speeds to protect the ice. If a truck travels too fast, it creates waves underneath that have the potential to break the ice at the shoreline.
Largest lake on an island: Manitou Lake on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron (103 sq km).