John and Petra's Alaskan Diary
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John and Petra at Rookery Lake, Vestfold Hills near Davis Station, Antarctica, 1999
After more than five years in Tasmania and a year at Davis Station, Antarctica, Petra accepted a position in May 2000 as research scientist at the International Arctic Research Center (IARC)/Frontier, which is a department at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF). Petra's job is within IARC's ocean-ice-atmosphere physics group. Her main objective is numerical modelling of the Arctic sea ice, and also requires her to do lots of data analysis and evaluation. The big drawback of the new job was that Petra moved from Tasmania to Fairbanks, while John stayed in Kingston, Tasmania, Australia to finish his work as Upper Atmosphere Physicist at the Australian Antarctic Division. In late February 2001 John made the move across the Pacific to join Petra in their tiny cabin just outside Fairbanks. In April 2001 John started working as a research associate at the Geophysical Institute, UAF.
Fairbanks is pretty much in the center of Alaska. It is nearly as far from the Arctic Ocean as it is from the Pacific. Founded in 1902, todays population of Fairbanks is about 32,000 with another 34,000 in the wider Fairbanks-Northstar Borough. The main employers in Fairbanks are the military and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. In winter surface air temperatures can be as low as -55° C, in summer it can easily be warmer than +30° C. The cold season of the year starts in September, and it does not get really warm until the following May. Usually the surrounds are covered by snow from late September or early October till late April. Spring lasts about 2 or 3 weeks and the nights are still frosty. Then summer and the mosquitos are around. It can get hot very quickly.
Living in what real Alaskans like to call "The last Frontier" made us revise our living arrangements. In Tasmania we were happy to live in a suburban neighbourhood in a small free standing house on a medium-sized block of land. Our home had running (cold and hot) water, plumbing, shower, toilet, good insulation, opening doors and windows, most of them with fly screens, a nice lawn, lots of native plants, and a veggie and herb patch out the back. In Fairbanks it is near impossible to find that sort of accommodation. And it is hard to separate from the large amounts of money that landlords ask for housing (mostly apartments in concrete blocks in ghastly looking streets) that have running water and bathroom facilities. So, inspired by the folk of Fairbanks, we moved into a cabin.
Since last June we have been renting a cabin from the Chena Ridge Friends. We live on a 5 acre property that contains a main cabin (with kitchen facilities and a refillable water tank), a meeting house, four small cabins and three outhouses. The property is about three miles from University, a short bike ride in summer, a long bike ride in winter. There are a total of 8 people living on the property, with two more people (plus baby) being part of the community, called "Hidden Hill''. Our cabin is about 3.2 metres by 5.0 metres. It also features a loft that is just big enough to fit a double matress and a chest of drawers. Although there is not much room in the cabin, we have a drip-oil heater, some kitchen cupboards, a fridge, an electric stove, and a kitchen sink that drains into a bucket. There is no water connected to the cabin. Our supply is based on whatever we carry in. Unfortunately our cabin does not have an Arctic entry or a cold porch, hence in winter we loose a lot of warmth when opening the door.
To follow John and Petra's adventures in Alaska, click on the links above.