The Craziest 48 Hours of Van Life Ever! [S7-E50]

Okay Colin is sunk in the mud! I'm back in 3D and the floor is absolutely soaked! Is it actually contains a human toe? Did you say a human toe? Welcome to Dawson City, yes we have made it back! After driving all the way up to the Arctic Ocean to Tuk Tuk Toyaktuk. On our way back we have many interesting adventures, including meeting a lovely Swiss guy whose clutch cable gave out on his bicycle. So there we go, life on the road, picking up hitchhikers and travellers. That's Andreas, we've stopped and we pulled over, he was on the side of the road. He's got a problem with the gears of his bicycle, so his bicycle is there, and he's going in there, and we've managed to wedge it in, we've taken the cushions off. It's all good, so we're going to take him to Inuvik and hopefully he can get a new cable for his gears. Yeah, he was worried about Trudy getting messy, but as you guys know we had a bit of a snowstorm of dust, so everything is so dirty, that a little bit more isn't really a problem, and it's all about helping each other on the road. So Andreas, you're welcome! I think that Trudy and Colin definitely saved him and his bicycle from hypothermia. There you go, we've made it back to Inuvik. I'm so happy about this! There you go, you made it! It's cold! Yeah it's 9, it's hot today! The vans are absolutely beyond hanging on! I know, my home is literally, look at it, it's trash! No, but it was like that! But it's not you! Yeah, yeah, yeah, no it's been like this! It's added to it! No, no it's fine, it's part of it! There you go, safely dropped off! We also had a very interesting ferry crossing. Okay, we're just coming off the ferry, and it looks like they might be stuck! Hang on, the man is coming with a digger! Hold on! Can you get back onto the boat? Try and get it back, and then maybe we can get it on this hard stuff! If not, I'll get the waffle boards out! Okay, Colin is sunk in the mud, coming off the ferry! She's got a tow rope, and then she'll be able to pull you out! It will be okay here at least! Yeah, well this is good! Yeah, this is deep, I think we've dug in here as well, it's very very soft! Yeah, I thought you were going to pick up the speed! I was worried about popping it! Yeah, it's the back! Yeah, front wheel drive! I've got a spade, but I think we'll be all right today! Oh there you go, he's got a spade behind you love! Marianne, that should be good here! It should grip it, it looks like it! He's got a towing point on the front as well! It's that one! Try and go back a little bit, okay! Have you got the tow rope? You got a towing point at the front? It can't all be good! Exactly! And all the problems make the best stories! Right, and it's better on the way back! Yeah this is all right, you've just loosened it for me now! So to keep the tow rope out, we might need it! We're going to have loosened it all for them! Huh that bit's good! Yeah that bit's good! Yeah we just never came far enough! We need to, where's the next crossing? We've got another crossing haven't we? Yeah If we come up a couple of foot it would be okay I think! Yeah I was thinking we didn't have any unique footage today! Well you know, we just created this mishap just so you had something to film sir! Right Andy's getting ready to drive! What do you say? Hopefully you've still got a bonnet! Might take you, no it'll be fine! We've got two spare seat belts! You've got the morning traffic jam now! Slow and steady! That's it! Are you, I think you're good now aren't you? Yeah you are, because it's front wheel drive! Nothing to it! Just a day on the ferry! I'm not sure how Trudy's going to get off, but we'll see! They should have done that! I wish they brought it forward like that for us! Now it'll be fine won't it? Okay, so on the way back the dust is just as bad! See the bed? Look at the bed people! Look at the bed! It's all coming in the back! We're day two of driving back from the arctic ocean! It has been a monster drive! This is one of those things that you know you're challenged, you know you're exhausted! Trudy our girl is literally hanging on in there! It has been so tough hasn't it? There's dust, Chris can't take his eyes off the road, we've had to take it in turns, because you have to concentrate so hard, there's these little sharp black rocks, they're just it! These roads are epic! And amazingly they've got road workers, and they've got a traffic light on this road! It's nuts! There's a traffic light! The other thing that I'm finding incredible, where for $8 for an individual, or $18 for us as a family, you can go swimming, hot pool, sauna, showers, and sounds amazing! We are on that, pin that now! I just think oh just a thought of a sauna and a jacuzzi, oh my god for $18 for the whole family, I think it's $8 for individuals. We are all so excited about getting into a shower! It's just been incredible! What I was going to say as well today, is this midnight sun has been a challenge as well! It has been so light! Anyway traffic lights changed, we're following the car, and we're off! These roads are tough, and they're constantly keeping them open! What a challenge with the permafrost, with the snow, with the weather, with the rain, landslides, we've seen it all haven't we? It's just been so so tough! So yeah thank you for your service! We drove a whopping 1146 miles, all the way to the Arctic Ocean and back, and I drove up and Chris drove back, and we finally made it to the end of the Dempster Highway! We've only got about half a mile until the bridge, which is like the junction, the beginning of the Dempster Highway. How are you feeling? Exhausting! It's been such a challenge, a tick box that we will never do again, probably hopefully! It's been an epic adventure, I'm so pleased we did it with Sam and Andy, Lucy and James. Rain or no rain, I think we're gonna have to get out and have a little dance! Colin's in front of us, covered covered in mud, and yeah the road is just ahead, we're gonna keep going, and we can't wait to make it and just get there! We got tarmac! Look we're nearly at the end, we got tarmac! After seven nights and eight days driving, we've made it! To the Arctic Circle, the Arctic Ocean, and all the way back! Yay the bridge! This is the bridge that we came over right at the beginning! How epic is that? Oh my god! If we see people, we should tell them not to do it! In fact if anyone's asking, why is Chris driving? Because it was hard, it was really hard, we've shared, I've had to share, so yeah! We made it! No flat tyre, no breakdowns, can you imagine if we'd broken down there? We would have been there for weeks! We would have been, but we did it! We did it! But you did it, and you will remember that forever! Would you do it again Sam? No! Would you do it again? Absolutely not! Are you pleased you did it? No! Are you pleased you did it? Very! Would you do it with the kids again? Would you do it again James? If I gave you a hundred pounds? No! It must be bad! Look how muddy Trudy is! Oh my god! I couldn't see the reversing camera, it's under that mud! Hello, we're good, how are you? No actually it was more recovery, we did the Dempster highway! We survived! We actually could not believe how incredibly well our vans stood up, and we arrived yesterday last night, we were so exhausted, we literally were just driving around and just went .... Are we not supposed to park here? Is that the .... We got a call from someone across the street, oh we absolutely understand! Oh no, last night, last night we arrived! Typically you're not in front of an issue with us, it's more of a by-law thing, but our by-law works Monday through Friday, so we came basically just to see what your plans were, make you guys a plan. We're probably going to drive to Whitehorse tomorrow, then we're probably going to park somewhere in that, if we can't park here we'll move, but yeah there's a campsite down, just down the street here, okay it's not full, otherwise across the river there's the provincial one, or just outside the town by the airport. And legally, do we have to be in a campsite? Is that the is that the way it works? Typically, like just not like in town, just like randomly, we're going to park outside the town somewhere, like no one will bother you. Oh okay, we did see that there were some RVs parked up by the visitor centre, that you probably just need permission from the visitor centre. Yeah they haven't been complaining to us, about people parking there, oh okay, and that's been all summer, so yeah we'll try it, yeah we parked that one night on the way through. We'll try it, and if you kick us out we'll move! So Dawson City was created from a gold rush back in the 1800s, with its traditional buildings and old vibe, it's a real destination for overlanding vehicles, on an adventure passing through the town. And Dawson City has become legendary, and it has nothing to do with the gold rush. This is the downtown hotel, home of the weirdest cocktail I've ever heard of! We've all heard of mojitos, we've heard of sex on the beach, but have you ever heard of a sourdough cocktail? It's said that drinking this cocktail, gives you right of passage to the city. So what makes this drink different, is it actually contains a human toe! Did you say a human toe? Yes! An actual human toe! You are having a f***ing laugh! So it all started back in prohibition, and a nasty case of frostbite. In the late 1920s, booze-running brothers Louis and Otto, they got caught in a snowstorm. By the time they got to their cabin, Louis's foot had frostbite. To prevent gangrene, Otto picked up an axe and chopped off Louis's toe, and they put it in a jar of alcohol, to commemorate this occasion. It's believed that back in 1973, Captain Dick Stevenson, found the jar with the toe in a remote cabin, and he came up with the idea of the sourdough cocktail club. Why? What's wrong with this man? What's wrong with him? So to join this exclusive club, you must drink the cocktail with the toe in, and as they say, you can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch that gnarly toe! Okay, so in true Tread the Globe fashion, I think we should give it a go, but travelling with our friends Sam and Andy, I don't reckon we should be doing this alone. But isn't she a vegetarian? Yes! And apparently back in 2013, a tourist came here and actually swallowed the toe, on purpose, and was quickly run out of town. Apparently they do have big fines, if you do swallow the toe, even accidentally! They also get quite a lot of toes donated, there's lawnmower accidents, frostbite, I think we should go and check out what Sam and Andy reckon. Okay, so we've come back to the car park, you may notice actually that my hair has been cut, we went for a haircut earlier, but we're going to go and discuss the cocktail evening, with our friends. We said we would go and suss it out! The cocktail evening! Are you decent? Hello! How are you doing? Yeah we're good, we're good. Okay so guys, the good news is we've been to town, and we've been, Marianne went into the hotel where they serve this cocktail, that's famous from here. Yeah, and it's basically like a shot of whiskey, but before you say any more, it's so popular that there's like a waiting list, that's how good this cocktail must be! It starts at 7 30, you go and you have to put your name on a list, a waiting list for that evening! There you go, but there's a little bit of a catch, that the drink has a toe in it! An actual human toe! It's dead! With a gnarly nail! Now, No but you're not going to eat it! Maybe it's got apple on it's foot! Apparently the toenail is very long, and it's slightly hairy! What do you think kids? Should we do it? Should we drink it? Should mum drink a drink with a with a real cut off human toe in it? Wait they cut it off? Yeah it's a real toe! It's got a bone in it, yes it's a toe! She doesn't have to eat it! It's got a toenail as well, and hairs and everything! We don't want to be a part of this! I personally think, that because we're in Dawson City, and we're travellers that embrace the local culture, I think we should do it! Is this Dawson City's equivalent of the Singapore Slip? Yes! Are you up for it? She hasn't made her mind up! Are you up for it? Well i thought i would ask the locals about this drink, and every single local i've spoken to, has never tried it! Said why would you do that? Why would you do it? It's a thing we do for tourists! Yeah but it's a thing, it's a thing! It is a thing! And they say, that's not actually true, because a bloke in the barbershop said he knew someone, a local that did it 56 times! There's always one local that would do that! I think it sounds like an excuse to get a drink! But they also say that it's an initiation, and a rite of passage, for anyone who considers themselves to have done Dawson City! And like I say, I know you're vegetarian Sam, but look on the bright side, you're not going to chew it or eat it! It's just there, it's like a flavouring, rather than a cheese flavouring! It's like, it's like, Chris you're really not selling, you're really really not selling this! Because I know, I'm just joking! It's just got, it's just essence of toe! You are the expert at playing things down, when they're pretty extreme! A bit like on Dawson Highway saying, oh Dempster, on Dempster Highway saying, oh it's only a five-hour drive, and then finding it's 12! It's motivational speech! Bollocks is what it is! Cut that one! Are we still good? We're here to support you! Definitely not thirsty! We're here to support you! No, the girls have to do it too! I'm going to do a mojito! I think a mojito! Very good Marianne! Mistletoe! Oh my god, in memory of the sour taste! Five swallowed, three stolen, one lost, six fused up, and two still served! Sounds great! You want to put your first name, last name, where you're from, and then you want to put your choice of drink. We don't have a new contract, you can't do spiced rum. So what'll happen is, I'll put it through, I'll bring you your shot, and you'll wait, I'll call your name, you'll bring your shot with you, and then you'll put the tone in your drink, you shoot it back, you touch it to your lips, and you get your certificate! Amazing! Not yet! Not yet, because it's crazy to do it, or not yet because you just haven't had the opportunity! I haven't had the opportunity just yet! I do maybe plan to! So we'll buy you a shot, you can do it with us! She's working! I know i'm only joking! It's black, completely black! Yeah but does it actually look like a cherry? Does it just look like a black thing? We just need to think of it like a glassy cherry in a cocktail! Oh god! I don't like, I'm going to think of an olive! We've got our shot glasses, I'm going to do it with whiskey, Marianne's got rum, Andy's got whiskey, and Sam's the sensible one! I am vegetarian, and I wouldn't eat or put to my lips meat, let alone a human! Why did you have to say it out loud? You're nuts! Mistletoe! Oh we're not first! So they're announcing the names with a microphone! Well done! You did it! Are you guys doing it? Yeah yeah! Only one of you! All of us! Three! We only had two toes there, I swallowed one! Come on in! Take your shot! Take your punishment! I'll do it! I'll go first! Okay! Thank you! Howdy doody! How are you? Okay! Read the rules! Membership will be voided if you chew, suck, bite, or put the toe in your mouth. If the toe is swallowed, it's two and a half thousand dollar fine! Not that anybody would want to do that! Do people do that? I love the fact he's writing a certificate before we've done it! He has faith! Okay! I'm ready! Okay! How are you feeling Andy? Grim! Just don't look at it! How are you feeling love? It was easier giving birth I think! Has the vegetarian changed her mind yet? But your lips must totally start to go! Way back! Here I go! Yay! You did it! We did it! Thank you! Thank you very much! Oh my goodness! Look at this rain! And the bad thing is, not only do I not have a coat, we left Trudy's roof open! I'm fairly certain that we did! We might have a swimming pool in our van! It's not light rain! That is crazy heavy! Look at that! I'm wet already! Oh oh my god! It's absolutely hammering it! I'm back in Trudy and the floor is absolutely soaked! Oh my god! Okay!