Trip the lights fantastic

View the aurora borealis from Alaska, Lapland and Iceland.

Borealis Basecamp

Alaska is considered primarily a summer destination, yet there are about 250 nights a year in which the northern lights can be viewed from Borealis Basecamp, about 50 minutes’ drive north of Fairbanks, Alaska’s second-biggest city (population 33,000). In a new Adventure World itinerary, guests can view the night sky from bed in luxe fibreglass domes, and explore the backcountry on snowmobiles or dog sleds.

13 70 71, travel-associates.com.au

Lapland Circle Adventure

Stoke the fire, pull up the doona and view the lights overhead from a heated glass igloo on this three-day Bentours adventure in the Finnish wilderness of Lapland. The igloos, at Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort, sleep up to six and have a fireplace and private sauna, or settle into the resort’s smoke sauna, said to be the biggest in the world. Guests can join a husky safari with a campfire lunch in a wooden teepee, and a snowmobile adventure. travel-associates.com.au

Icelandic Northern Lights

This eight-day tour by Peregrine Adventures is full of natural phenomena: the dancing lights of the aurora borealis, of course, but also geothermal lagoons, glacial lakes, fields of lava, spectacular waterfalls, boiling solfataras, or mud pools, and sea stacks. The small-group journey, for a maximum of 12 people, starts with a walking tour of Reykjavik and includes a stay on a family farm, and a short flight to volcanic Lake Mývatn. travel-associates.com.au

Yuzu has had its moment as the “it” citrus; could iyokan be the next Japanese fruit to grab the limelight? In Japan it appears in Kit Kats and is given to students for luck. Its candied peel has a tangy, ultra-zesty flavour, and it’s now available in Australia. $8.95 for 50gm, essentialingredient. com.au