The Exchange

We'll start with the good news...
B was offered a Canadian exchange!

The bad news....

It was the exchange in, you guessed it!, Fort Smith, NWT.  After a night to think about it, B decided not to accept.  Parks was disappointed with his answer, so he blamed me, but some of the major factors were:

1. Mosquitos
2. Fort Smith is a four day drive from Vancouver
3. Fort Smith is a seven hour drive from the closest town, Yellowknife
4. It costs $1200 to fly to Vancouver
5. Wood Buffalo National Park is on a salt plain and access by vehicle is limited.  Parks Canada employees are able to fly into the park on occasion but funding is low and getting an aerial view goes to whomever gets priority.  The park is full of mosquitos.
6. The hassle of trying to get 6-month rentals in Fort Smith and Melbourne, not to mention moving house every 6 months.
7. It has one pizza restaurant and a KFC
8. It has one cafe (apparently the coffee is 'okay')
9. Mosquitos

I'm sure living in the NWT would have been quite the experience, seeing the Northern Lights and the native wildlife, but we figure that is something we can check out if we ever visit.