‘This is what I call beastly cold,’ I was saying to myself, and I was not talking about a beer or any frozen drink. I had just walked out of the Fairbanks airport loaded with luggage and making my way towards the car park with the outside temperature -24C. I felt the icy breeze needling its freezing way through my tropical apparel.

I had just arrived at Fairbanks, Alaska, after a journey of two days and four planes. It was refreshing to be in the open, natural atmosphere once again after so many countless hours of enclosed life – from plane to airport to plane again, so many times over.

I soon learnt from the Alaskans that nobody, no tourist or anyone in their sane mind comes to Fairbanks in winter when the temperatures are stuck well below freezing point and well under what meats experience inside your home freezer.

Something had to be wrong with me. But curiosity or the bite from the travel bug, or perhaps adventure it is that causes you to attempt some strange feats. I had seen films and photos of people living in these humanly unfriendly climes and I wanted a firsthand experience of how homo sapiens could survive under these seemingly homicidal conditions… and what an experience it was!

To put it in a large nutshell, there was the journey to the Alaskan pipeline (where my toes were frozen numb), the snow dredge, the Chena hot springs where I had an open-air bath, the University of Alaska museum, the birthday and Thanksgiving parties, the ice hockey game, the basketball tournament, the steelband, and many more… wait… most of all the Aurora Borealis. I can highlight only a few, but just remember that the outdoor experiences were in temperatures below -20C.

The Alaskan pipeline

One day Ray Funk, my host, decided to drive me to see the famous Alaskan pipeline; a journey that takes you into the heart of one of the Alaskan “wildernesses”. As we were leaving Fairbanks heading out into a scarce-traffic road, I noticed the conspicuous road sign: NEXT GAS 117 MILES.

My eyesflashed across instantly to the fuel gauge but Ray assured me that we had enough gas for the journey. The pipeline reassuringly became visible long before that next gas station and I alighted not only to view but to touch it and take some pictures until my fingers became too numb to operate the camera.

After the pipeline we took a frigid walk over the snow and ice to the dredge, a monstrous dinosaur-looking machine that is used for digging gold. On my way back I realised that my toes were frozen numb and I welcomed the car for some warmth.

Outdoor bath

Another interesting experience? It was Ray’s wife, Kate, this time who invited me to take an outdoor bath…Yes, in these murderous temperatures! She convinced me that it would be okay as the water in the open-air tub would be hot.

Ice museum

The Alaskan pipeline

So playing brave and macho I put on my bathing trunks, looked outside at the frozen everything, saw the steam rising out of the tub and wondered if I would be courageously rash and foolish enough to walk that glacial gauntlet of thirty metres of icy pathway to experience this hot bath.

My addled brain pushed me out of the door and long after I could say a frosty “Jack Robinson” I was in the hot tub out in the snow-covered yard.

Once inside the bath I was relieved and actually surprised that it could be so comfortable. But wait…what’s this?

I touched my hair, only to feel globules of ice where before there were droplets of water. I smiled at the uncanny experience of warm body but cool (or cold) head.

How healthy can this be…but it was soothing and relaxing, so much so that I remained there for a good twenty minutes before braving it back into the sheltered confinement of the warm house.

I enjoyed it so much that when Ray, a few days later, offered to take me to the hot springs where there is a whole pool of open air hot water, there was no hesitation on my part. I was not sure if this latter day was colder or not because at these temperatures coldness is just coldness…there is no comparative.

Another chilling experience

Next chilling experience? A visit to the ice museum at the Chena hot springs where you find various ice sculptures including a large three metre plus bear all in translucent ice, an igloo, ice beds where you are invited to lie on the fur-covered ice mattress, an ice toilet with bowl of ice and eventually a martini in ice ‘glasses’.

Now can you imagine that there is a steelband in Fairbanks? I could not believe that our national instrument had reached this far but a reception was held in my honour, and the all-Alaskan steelband played. I suggested to them that they should name the band “Cold Steel”. In appreciation I gave them a Pierrot Grenade performance and they marvelled at the spelling.

I remember the night I went to the basketball match and when we were walking through the car park I noticed that several of the cars’ engines were running. I made the remark to Ray who informed me that the engines had to be left on lest they freeze and you would not be able to start them later.

Indeed I noticed that in the car parks in the city the cars had a cord protruding out of the engine and they were plugged in to electric outlets to warm the engine, battery and oil.

On Sunday I went to Mass where I was welcomed as I entered the church. This is a small town and so the ambiance was very homely and a stranger can be spotted from the first entrance step.

A friend of Ray’s “warned” me that it was a youth Mass but that was no problem for me as I tried to join in the upbeat hymns accompanied by a rock band. It was a pleasure to note that at the Our Father they held hands and the sign of peace was like a family gathering.

Aurora Borealis

Now I have left this experience for the last, mainly because it was the highlight of my trip of numerous highlights, and it was most of all what I wanted to experience.

I had been in Fairbanks for more than a week and every night I was up looking for that famed Aurora Borealis. I had read about this phenomenon since I was in primary school and had had visions and imaginings of what it could be. But night after night it lay shyly hidden. Several of my Fairbanks friends were on the lookout for me and they promised to call me should the lights appear.

It was the night of Thanksgiving. I had enjoyed a lovely dinner party at some of Ray’s friends where I did a Pierrot Grenade performance and was invited outside to pose for some pictures with a snowy background.

Now I was on my way home, past ten in the night, with driver Ray, when suddenly he shouted, “Look, it’s there!’ I looked up but could not see too well through the windshield so Ray parked the car on the roadside and we were out staring upward.

What I saw is difficult to describe but bear with me. It was like several curtains of light, in constant sinuous motion, suspended from the heavens and spanning the sky from north to south (or was it east to west).

It was a resplendent spirit constantly renewing itself with celestial light, a transcendental vision of nature that inspires poetry, appreciated only from within the heart. It was the ineffable face of The Almighty toned down for human appreciation. Am I making sense?

That’s what I said. You have to see it to believe. Yes, I saw the Aurora Borealis. Is heaven more awesome than this? Music fills the heart and you join the angels in chanting: My God How Great Thou Art.

Before I end I cannot forget to thank all those who helped in enriching my life with these unforgettable experiences. Thanks to Ray Funk, Kate and their children Owen and Emma for doing their best to make me feel comfortable and at home.

Thanks to Cindy for taking me to the university museum and allowing me to experience her culinary expertise. Thanks to all those wonderful people, Ray’s friends, who were so warm and friendly.

Fairbanks might be extremely cold but there I found hearts of gold warm enough to melt the thickest ice of the Mount Mc Kinley glacier.

Thanks to The Almighty Father for affording me the opportunity to experience a foretaste of heaven.