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  To the bone - by master Hector Craft













































 Day 1. Travelling , - 3°c - -5°c, 23/12/05

We left home at about 10:45 bound for London Heathrow Airport. After 2 hours of listening to Now That’s What I Call Xmas Hits we arrived. We checked in and went to have lunch at an Italian Café. Next we went to the gate and boarded our plane, our ticket to Sweden.
After we had landed (late), we got our bags and rushed through Terminal 5 to Terminal 4, where our flight to Ostersund took off. We were meant to have 1hr for transferring but we had less due to a late landing. We checked our baggage through Special Luggage and ran up the stairs to find that our flight was delayed, great! Eventually we arrived in Ostersund, where it was snowing. We walked through the snow and ice to the airport. While me and dad collected the luggage, Zach and Felix met Bergsvein. We drove to the House and met the gang, 2 Australians, 2 Dutch, Kim and Bergsvein. We got our bags sorted and came down to a typical Swedish Dinner. It was a sausage, a bit like a frankfurter but bigger, stuffed with apples and some bread. I liked the Swedish flatbread as it is sweeter then normal bread.

Day 2. First Mush -Christmas Eve, -3°c, 24/12/05

“It’s 8 o’clock it’s breakfast time!” said mum appearing at the door. Bergsvein had told us to meet for breakfast at 8, we had overslept! We pulled on our clothes and ran down the stairs in time for breakfast.
After getting changed Kim issued us with some boots and overalls. We met the dogs, Bergsvein. introduced me, and then we learnt the mushing tricks of the trade. Nick, the Australian man, had made me a ‘crib’ in his snow bag as I was too light to have my own sled. It consisted of a reindeer skin and a blanket making it too good to share. I couldn’t wait. I helped Nick hook all the lines up, the anchor line holds the anchor at the back of the sled, the tow line lies in between the team of dogs, the tug line connects the rear end of the dog to the tow line and the neck line connects the dogs to the tow line at the neck, so that the front 2 dogs don’t go either side of a tree! After that we went to go and get our team. At first we thought we were going to have Nick’s normal team, but Kim told us we were stuck with the bitches. To harness a dog first you need to select the right harness, they are all colour coded to size. Next you go up to the dog and trap him in-between your legs. You put the harness on the wrong way round, twist it and put the legs into the holes. To walk them, you lift there front legs by the collar and walk. Contrary to popular belief, this doesn’t hurt them.
After we had attached the dogs we were off. I climbed into my comfy seat and put my goggles on, soon we were picking up a lot of speed. I was sitting back letting the others do all the work, enjoying the view. When one is on a sled, all one can hear is the dogs panting and the runners gliding seamlessly smoothly other the snow. All one can see is the beautiful landscapes surrounding. Even though occasionally it does get bumpy, and that can hurt.
Up front Dad was having some problems controlling his dogs, that were causing hold – ups further back. me and Nick were taking up the rear and had to keep stopping to let the people in front get further ahead. Eventually we arrived home after having so much fun and seeing beautiful landscapes. We un-harnessed the dogs and took them back to there houses. There are over 50 dogs, and most of them had been out, so it was a bit confusing trying to put them back in the right house.
We had lunch in the tepee. Bergsvein likes you to eat a lot and I ended up having about 5 rashes of bacon, a roll, a baked potato, 2 meatballs and sauces, but you do need it after a workout such as dog sledding. He had cooked it on a built in pan and grill that could twist around the fire pit in the tepee. By now it was getting dark and I was amazed at how quickly it gets dark in Sweden, only about 8-9 hours of any light at all. Me, Felix, Ian and Bergsvein went on a training sled with 12 dogs,
very fast is the result! After getting changed we came down to an amazing Christmas Eve dinner. Bergsvein had got a local in to make the food well, more local. It was delicious. The Swedish celebrate their Christmas mainly on Christmas Eve so this is when we exchanged presents. Magic Sauce is a cross between Mayonnaise and Tomato Ketchup, and the Aussies loved it so Kim gave them a tube of Magic Sauce. Similarly the Dutch loved Blueberry soup so they got that. That night we went to bed extremely tired but excited for the next day.

Day 3. Mushing and Sauna – Christmas Day, -15°c, 25/12/05

‘Merry Christmas’ said Zach early in the morning. It was Christmas day. As we went to Sweden, and that was our main Christmas present, we got small things. My main present was a Victornix penknife with a wood saw. We didn’t have to be down for breakfast till 8:30 so we had extra time in bed to relax. We came downstairs to have breakfast and decide what we were going to do for the day. Felix was going tobogganing and everyone else and I were going on a mush. It would be 35km(20miles). I had the luxury seat and Nick driving again. We got the bitches on the sled and off we set.
About halfway through the first leg, Nick got off to help Ian with his dogs and then our dogs got tangled. Nick spent a while untangling them and by the time he had finished Ian was far off into the distance. We took a wrong turning but the dogs had sniffed it out and wanted to turn around. We decided to turn around and go the other way. After about 20 minutes we were going to turn around at the next available place and we caught a glimpse of Ian’s head just round the corner. We were on their tail again in minutes.
We had blueberry soup and brioche. We set off again quite quickly but the bitches were tired and were struggling to pull me and Nick. Nick was always pushing and occasionally got off his sled to run and help out with the weight of the sled. After a long period we returned home to see smoke rising from the Sauna. Felix had lit the fire and the sauna was warming up. After 2 hours me, Zach and Dad ran through the snow to the sauna in our trunks. Felix and mum had arrived and we sat there until our paws had opened and the junk was removed.
Felix, then Zach, then me ran into the snow and rolled about and hopped back into the Sauna as quick as possible to heat up again. After about 3 times Felix and mum left to the house. Zach, Dad and I did it a few more times before following them.
Dinner was a fishy-potato mix, cod and sauce, amongst other stuff. After dinner we watched Cool Runnings then played Who Wants to Be a Millionair: Family Picture Edition. Team 1 was Flick, Bergsvein, Ester and Fiona. Team 2 was Dad, Zach and Kim and Team 1 was Nick, Mum, Ian and I. Team 1 was shortly knocked out followed closely by Team 2 each gaining 1000 pounds. Team 3 went on to win 32,000 pounds and won the game.

Day 4. Tobogganing-Massage-Boxing Day, -15°c, 26/12/05

First on the time table for the day was tobogganing but before that we had to say goodbye to Nick and Fiona as they were leaving today. Shortly after farewells we took our toboggans out for a trek to the hills. Once we were there Felix first, then Kim went down the first leg. I went down next followed by Zach but mum and dad took the slow route down. The first leg was easy it was the second leg that I found scary but I still did it. Whooooosh I went, shooting down the hill. At the bottom I hit Felix but he turned out to be O.K. Tobogganing was such good fun I want to go again, it’s just the climbing back up the hill that’s hard work.
Once we had got home and changed it was my turn to have my Typical Swedish Massage. Lena was massaging me and I instantly felt relaxed, it was amazing. I had a full back massage before going to cook some flat bread and bacon in the tepee. After lunch we watched The Emperors New Groove and Lilo And Stitch whilst the others were out training the dogs. For dinner we had Angels Tits (sausages wrapped in bacon) and then watched Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory.

Day 5. Ice Fishing, -22°c, 27/12/05

We woke up at 8:15 and had overslept again! Today we were going Ice Fishing. Zach, Mum, Dad and Kim Nordic Skied to the Lake whilst me, Bergsvein and Felix took the snowmobile there. I was on a sled at the back whilst Felix and Bergsvein were on the snowmobile pulling me. It was my first time on a moving sled whilst in total control so I was a bit freaked out. On the way to the Lake I was fine and I didn’t fall off or bump the people carrier in front. Once at the Lake we met Stan the Man, the coolest guy in the North, or so Bergsvein thought. He was quite cool though. We walked into the lake a bit and dug a hole in the Ice. Stan had a petrol powered drill and it took him less time to dig 10 holes then it took us to dig 1 with a traditional drill. Stan quickly caught 2 fish and Felix caught 1, they were the only fish caught. We all sat there for a while but still nothing came out of it. We then walked towards the Cabin where Kim had lit a fire and fish fingers were cooking. We cooked the fish we had caught and ate it for lunch, which was the best bit. We all went on the snowmobiles on the way back as it was faster and we wanted to be back in time for the Cheese Factory. As Bergsvein was turning round I managed to fall off and I shouted stop to Bergsvein and then ran off towards the now stationary sled.
Eventually we got home and had a rest before going to the Cheese Factory. At the Cheese Factory they had different levels for the goats because goats have a strong hierarchy. They had quite a few goats too. They produced goats cheese and sold it directly to the customers We tasted some Cheese and I thought that it was quite nice.
On the way back to the house Zach said ‘What are those strange lights?’ At first Bergsvein thought it was just a reflection and then he changed his mind and said that they were the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights have many names but the scientific name is Aurora Borealis, Galileo first used this Latin name to describe them. It translates to red dawn of the North because on the latitude where he was the lights mainly consisted of different shades of red. They were amazing. I never thought we would see them as we weren’t in the Artic Circle, but sure enough there they were.
We got home to Elk Stew. Before we went to Sweden we had heard that they eat Elk and wanted to eat some during our visit. It was delicious.
Day 6. My First Mush, -20°c, 28/12/05

After breakfast me and Felix hooked our dogs up to our sleds. He had Lobo and I had Jess and Pluto. We were both really scared as it was our first time on the dogs. Bergsvein had 4 dogs and set off first, followed by me and then Felix.
It was great just gliding along in the snow. I loved it. Me and Felix kept waving at each other. At one point Felix overtook me as my dogs went to one side to have a sniff and Felix didn’t brake so he shot straight past me.
After Lunch I had a go at cross country ski-ing. It is really hard and I fell over lots of times. After that me and Ian made the A.S.C (Anti - Ski-ing – Committee). After ski-ing we went for the second mush of the day. This one was slightly longer, the first was 10.7km and this one was 17.3km. I had the same dogs as before so they did 28km in one day, although Bergsvein said that they can do up to 50km in one day! Felix had Max instead of Lobo and went a lot faster. The mush was really fun and we went through some beautiful landscapes. At one point I had to get off my sled and run to help the dogs out a bit by easing the weight. They were exhausted.
Later that night we watched the 2005 Iditarod Race. This is a long race in Alaska and some competitors have 16 dogs in their team. It is a hard challenge for even the most keenest musher.
Day 7. Travelling back home, 29/12/05

We started the day with a bit of ‘the kicking’. Me, Bergsvein and Christophe each had a small metal framework thing, like a sled. We went on the road on them and began kicking. You stand as you do when you mush but your leg provides the power by ‘kicking’ the road. It isn’t called the kicking but that is as it translates to English. It is how they used to travel a few years ago.
After that I went horse riding with Felix and Kim. I went on Bruno after Felix. I learnt how to trot but occasionally whilst trotting Bruno went into a gallop and scared me.
We had lunch and then said goodbye to the dogs. Ingul was my favourite throughout the week and I really miss him now. Before we left we watched a Walt Disney movie, one of Kim’s favourites. Bergsvein drove us to the airport, where there was no check in queues, and we said goodbye to him.
The flight was delayed by 20mins so we had 2 mins to get from Terminal 4 to Terminal 5 in Stockholm. Luckily the London passengers were escorted to the plane.
We got home at 10:30 and it was snowing!!!

Now I really miss the dogs, especially Ingul.
He always jumped up on me whenever we saw each other.
I want to thank Kim and Bergsvein so much, so thank you.

By Hector Craft – 16/11/93