Cross-country skiing in Sweden

by Jenna Walton, aged 15

Last year, Mum and I wanted to try a winter sport called cross-country skiing – travelling on skis across the countryside. And pictures of one area in Sweden, with people skiing along through forests on wonderful white snow, persuaded us that destination was a good choice. We hadn’t done much skiing, though, so weren’t sure how difficult cross-country skiing was, compared with skiing fast down steep mountains. But we signed up to join a group of people, of all ages, plus a guide.

We’d read about the place we went to before we left, so we knew it was close to where Sweden ends and Norway starts. And our family knew we couldn’t text home, as there was no internet connection and actually, it was relaxing to be far from anywhere, or anyone. What we hadn’t realised was that from there, we’d be able to see amazing coloured lights in the sky, which appeared at certain times of year, called the Northern Lights – what a sight!

On our first day there, I hated getting up in the dark, but it meant I saw the sun come up over the forest, so I was glad I did. And sunshine was forecast for the week, I was delighted to hear! But the real problem was my 15kg rucksack, full of food and clothes – I had no idea it would weigh that much. Anyway, we skied for hours across mainly flat snow. Having special light skis was supposed to help us climb the few hills there were – although I still couldn’t do it!

Finally we stopped for the night. It wasn’t until we’d reached our hut that our guide mentioned we’d just crossed a frozen lake to get there – but nothing surprised us by that point! Anyway, he gave us all jobs to do – cutting fire wood and cooking food and soon we were having dinner, made from whatever food we’d brought – a strange mix, but it tasted delicious. And everywhere was so peaceful outside that none of us stayed awake long.

Mum and I want to try another winter sports trip, maybe snowboarding. But we’ll probably end up just as exhausted as we were after this trip!

The giant piano

A young man in New Zealand recently became famous for making one of the largest pianos ever. Adrian Mann, who now works as a professional piano builder, started building the piano when he was just 16 years old, and made many of the parts for it himself.

The piano is 5.7 metres long and is very heavy. And the keyboard actually has keys that are a metre in length. (16) But despite this difference in size, the instrument can still be played perfectly, thanks to Adrian’s hard work.

(17) In fact, the whole thing started when Adrian became interested in the materials used for the wires inside the piano. These create the notes when they’re hit. And he found that if the wires were really long, he could get an amazing sound. From there, he went on to build the whole piano.

The instrument was kept inside a church in his town for some time, before Adrian decided it was time to transfer the huge piano from the church to his workshop. (18) So in the end, the fire service had to come and help take the instrument to its new home.

Since the move, a lot of piano players have visited Adrian to try out the piano. But Adrian says that when they arrive, some people aren’t very positive about the piano. (19) But actually, it always performs brilliantly. They soon discover that the piano can play a wide range of music, just like any normal piano.

There’s been so much interest in Adrian’s piano that he could probably start making and selling others just like it. (20) So, at the moment, he has no plans to make any more.

Clever birds

The wild birds known as ravens are thought to be very clever. In fact, they can solve some quite (21) problems, especially when they’re trying to get food. For example, one bird was filmed taking a box of nuts from a bird table and (22) it onto the ground, so that it would break and the bird could eat the nuts inside!

Scientists also (23) that the birds could actually use stones as tools to (24) out simple tasks. So in an experiment, they taught five birds to use a tool to open a box with food inside. The birds soon became very (25) at doing this. So for the next experiment, the birds were given a small (26) of tools to choose from. They always picked the tool that scientists had given them for the first task. And hours later, they could still remember which tool they’d used!

My thoughts on how to write

by Sarah Beecham

Welcome to my blog! That’s for anyone who’s new and has (27) visited this site before! But if you (28) seen some of my blogs, then you’ll know I like sharing ideas about creative writing and how to do it.

At the moment, I’m sitting at my desk in my room, (29) I do most of my writing. I love writing stories, but not every day. I’ll often update my diary or something, too – and this blog, (30) course! But I have a notebook of things I would like to include in my writing and new words I like the sound of.

But I recently discovered the most important thing is just to (31) going once you’ve started writing. And (32) doesn’t matter how bad your writing is at the beginning, because you can always go back and make improvements. In fact, that’s the part I enjoy most!