It is impossible to describe how cold it feels when you walk off a plane on to the runway at Kittila Airport in northern Finland.

There is a wondrous sense of adventure as you realise you are surrounded by PROPER snow, but as that first blast of -12C air hits your lungs, the temptation to turn and flee back to the warm aircraft is pretty compelling.

This was my first trip to the Arctic Circle and I was expecting a lot - mainly a lot of snow following years of slightly disappointing pistes in central Europe. Also high on my holiday tick-list was the Northern Lights, but I knew I would have to be lucky to experience the wonder of dancing green lights in the sky.

So I was thrilled when I arrived at a traditional Lappish (for I am in Lapland this far north) restaurant and our host pointed up and said: "You are lucky to see this on the first night."

With vertebrae-crunching speed we cast our eyes to the skies and saw a dull greenish mist floating above us. It was vaguely impressive, but not the stunning sight National Geographic had been promising me for decades.

We ambled inside the restaurant to be faced with a selection of meats, with reindeer heart and tongue the most memorable. Not being the squeamish sort (and forcing all thoughts of Rudolph out of my mind) I tucked in and found it both tender and strong in a way beef only is in the most haute cuisine restaurants.

So having seen the Northern Lights (at least, that's what I thought...) and tucked into Santa's sleigh-pullers on the first night, I headed back to our cottage reasonably satisfied.

A good night, you would think - but it was not over there. At midnight I ventured outside to see that the Lights had perked up. They were now much darker and covering about 20 per cent of the sky with dark hazy green tendrils. I watched in awe for about five minutes - scampering back into the cottage only when the -23C temperature became unbearable.

A quick defrost inside and I nipped out again to see a truly awe-inspiring sight. If this wasn't the Northern Lights in full flow then my heart couldn't take the full display.

Nearly the whole sky had been transformed into a pale green dome and dazzling emerald waves worked their way through the tree tops above me. I found it a staggering sight and it made me want to turn my back on the Rat Race and write poetry for a living instead...

Anyway, back to more pragmatic matters as I turned to one of my favourite pastimes - skiing.

The snow was lush as we arrived at Yllas ski resort, powdery and fresh. It was colder than I had anticipated and any part of exposed flesh instantly started to tingle as we got on the T-bar lift to the top of a red slope.

By the time we reached the top of the 1100-metre run we were into full blizzard conditions with visibility down to about 15 metres.

Now I am not a good skier, I am at best a brave skier. But this baffled me.

I was fighting poor visibility and the snow went from a packed icy surface to powder at regular intervals and I couldn't see the contrast between the two.

Bravery went out the window and I slowed to nursery slope snowplough without feeling any shame at all.

Many of the lifts were closed because of the wind but I got the impression I was at a decent skiing area which by the end of February would represent a good family skiing destination.

Levi is a bigger resort with more hotels, bars and restaurants.

It has an impressive array of runs including a beauty of a red (that's technical jargon) straight down to the ski centre. The best thing about the run is the width of it - it is steep but because it is so wide, you can choose your speed of descent.

Now on some of my travels I have taken part in animal treks - pony riding in New Zealand, camel tours in Tunisia etc, and have always come away with the feeling that the animals were not enjoying themselves in the slightest.

So it was with some trepidation I went to try my hand at husky sledding. But from within 100 metres of the kennels it is obvious that these beautiful, athletic creatures love their life.

They barked and whined with excitement until we set off and then kept up a ferocious pace for the 40km trek across the Arctic Circle, dipping their snouts in the snow every now and again to quench their thirst.

They were amazing to watch and I had to tear my eyes away from them to look around and appreciate the pristine scenery surrounding me.

Animal driven commuting aside, snowmobiles always look fun - they have this effortless Bond-like coolness about them and, because they are generally ridden in the Arctic, the chances of crashing seem (much) less likely.

At first, however, it is quite alarming.

They are powerful and the front skis don't need much encouragement to veer off down a drift, snatching the handlebars from your grip as they do so.

But once you are settled in they are fantastic. Tazzing about on the snow at speeds of up to 60kmph is a wonderful feeling.

But back to transport that breathes: reindeer - everyone loves them and to the Lappish people they represent a family's wealth. Up here, it's not about your BMW, it comes down to how many reindeer you own.

I took a reindeer trek on my final day and it was a completely different experience being so close to an animal I have only ever before seen adorning the front of Christmas cards.

They are all semi-wild and cannot be truly trained to pull a sleigh or cart in the same way as say a horse can, which makes for a bumpy ride as they stop and start when they want to and spook at the slightest thing - like someone taking a photograph for example.

Our first night was spent in AkasKristo cottages, 10 minutes from Yllas.

The self catering log cabins nestle in a snow pine forest and sum up everything about the Lapland life - simple, beautiful and practical.

Saunas are vital to the Finnish - our guide, Henry, even went so far as to say that without Saunas there would be no culture in Finland.

What it means is that there are saunas everywhere. In Levi, my chalet was tiny, with just enough room for a bed, kitchenette and a ladder up to a tiny room with two single beds. But they had found room for a sauna.

Lainio Snow Village suffers by comparison to the success of its Swedish cousin, the Ice Hotel, which was featured in the Bond film Die Another Day.

In short it is a hotel made of ice.

Temperatures get down to -4C but you are well supplied with super-warm sleeping bags to keep the cold at bay.

However, the lights have to be left on for health and safety reasons and after a while you start to question why anyone would bother sleeping like this.

Although Lainio has a decent restaurant and they have thoughtfully provided a "safe room" not made of ice for anyone unable to sleep, with just one shower for each of the sexes it was quite congested in the morning and, at about £105 per night, it is rather steep.

INFO PANEL CRYSTAL Ski (tel: 0871 231 2256, www.crystalski.co.uk) offers trips to Yllas and Levi and prices are from £269 per person in Yllas in the four-star Yllas Log cabins with private sauna in each cabin and from £279 in Levi in the Levi Chalet Apartments.

Price includes return flights from Gatwick to Kittila in the Arctic Circle, transfers and seven nights self-catering accommodation. Flights from Manchester are also available at a supplement of £19.

Arctic Activities including snowmobiling, ice fishing, husky speed safari, reindeer safari, snowshoe walk tour, skiing, snowboarding and a trip to visit Santa can be pre-booked with Crystal or booked in resort with Arctic Safaris www.arcticsafaris.fi