Muktuk, mushing and moose burgers

The Brooks Range - Northern Alaska. The sunlit valley is where we began our 20 mile trek.

With the Hickers and Patrick at the Arctic Getaway. Sourdough pancakes and pick-up-sticks.

It's not often that I think back to my primary school days. But experiencing something of the way of life of the people who live within the Arctic circle reminded me of those lessons on 'Different houses around the world'. Igloos, reed huts and houses on stilts appeared exotic in the extreme when I was ten, and so too did the cabins in Wiseman, our first stop on our Arctic Adventure.

Our photographer friend, Patrick, who helped us plan our trip from Fairbanks up North to the Brooks Range, organised a bed for the night in Wiseman with his friends who run a B n B there. It's called 'Arctic Getaway Cabins and Breakfast'. This family of 4 comprises more than a quarter of the population of Wiseman. They receive a regular stream of guests in the summer (June, July, August), including a fair number of bikers doing the Prudhoe Bay to Florida Keys route, or a part thereof. In the winter they have school, taught by mum, and Dad goes mushing - running the dogs - and trapping. Dad shoots 2 moose a year for their food, and the wild Dall sheep are considered prize game for the freezer aswell. On Saturday evening we were treated to tales of survival and respect for the unforgiving world of the Brooks Range. The two children prefer moose to almost any meat and when faced with an enthusiastic young proponent of Macdonald's, apparently wrinkled their noses and said, 'Try home-cooked food!'.

Is that normal range of motion? At the crossing of the Arctic Circle.

Our diet looks somewhat different from our 'granola' days in Tamboerskloof. Patrick persuaded us to try 'muktuk' - dried whale blubber and whale skin. If it tastes bad, it must be good for you, right? This stuff is high in oil (no kidding) and sinuous and I found had a residual petroleum taste. Do you think there's something in that? It was procured from a whale in the Arctic Ocean where the Prudhoe Bay oilfield is. We much preferred moose burgers - gamey and good.

R