Sure Travel Journey Vol 3.3 Winter 2017 | Page 35

•
E N
R O U T E
/ /
A D V E N T U R E
T R A V E L
© FROZENDEADGUY
the World Ice Art Championships in
Fairbanks, Alaska.
At any of these you’ll get to marvel
at the epic ice creations of the world’s
most accomplished ice sculptors while
soaking up a festive atmosphere and
a hot cuppa or a frothy beverage. At
night, the sculptures are lit in dramatic
colours to give each event a truly
magical feel. It’s an experience your
kids will never forget.
Closer to home: Durban’s annual sand
sculpture contest never fails to draw
the crowds.
GET WEIRD
In 1989 a Norwegian outdoors
enthusiast called Bredo Morstoel died.
In accordance with his will he was sent
to California to be cryogenically frozen,
in the hope of one day being revived.
His body was then moved to Colorado,
where his daughter Aud Morstoel and
grandson Trygve had set up a cryogenics
facility of their own – in a shed on the
outskirts of a town called Nederland.
Today, Bredo’s body is kept at a steady
-60˚F through monthly deliveries of dry
ice, and a town festival has sprung up
celebrating this oddity. It’s known as the
Frozen Dead Guy Days.
Every year three huge heated tents
are erected with live music, food and
enough libations to raise the dead –
but that’s where the resemblance to a
regular winter festival ends. Revellers
in Nederland don’t do the usual sled
races and ski stunts. Instead there is the
rather more colourful coffin racing,
costumed polar plunging, a parade of
hearses, the (wildly popular) frozen
W ild W
T-shirt contests, iced turkey bowling, a
human foosball tournament, the frozen
salmon toss and the Newly Dead Game
where couples need to guess each
other’s last wishes.
Book your tickets before it’s too late.
Celebrating winter, Frozen Dead Guys style.
Closer to home: Head to the Sulina
Faerie Sanctuary in Swellendam
for a much more family-friendly
psychedelic experience.
INSPIRING #suretravelmemories
FOLLOW US
@suretravelsa