Mission Climate Change by Bindi Irwin

‘Oh my gosh, it’s going to be soooo awesome,’ said Bindi. She was jumping around her room, a phone attached to her ear. She listened to the response, and then giggled. ‘I know. It’s so far away, and it’s going to be so cold. I can hardly wait!’
    Bindi was talking to one of her best friends, an American girl called Kelly, whom she’d recently been on a surfing holiday with. But they weren’t planning a surf-ari this time.
    Bindi’s bedroom was surprisingly tidy, and a big suitcase on the floor next to her bookcase was jammed full of warm wintery clothes. Spike the echidna was snuffling around the suitcase, feeling a little left out of all the excitement.
    A ‘ping’ came from the laptop on Bindi’s desk.
    â€˜Hang on, Kelly, I’ve just got an email from DJ. I’ve told you about him, remember? He’s my Aboriginalfriend from Darwin? We got lost at Kakadu last time we saw each other. You’re gonna love him. He’s as crazy as you are!’ she giggled again. A series of beeps came through the earpiece and Bindi said, ‘Oh, just a tick, there’s a call on the other line. Okay, mate, really looking forward to seeing you soon. Have a great flight. See yaaaa …’
    Bindi switched to the other call. ‘Hello, Bindi speaking.’ After a moment, she squealed with excitement and started bouncing on her bed. ‘Hannah, how are you?’ Hannah was another of Bindi’s good friends. She lived in South Africa and her family ran a fantastic horse-trekking business. Last time Bindi had visited they’d gone for a horse trek, and ended up helping to shut down an illegal hunting reserve.
    Spike the echidna snuffled again and tried to look his cutest. Bindi didn’t notice. Normally he received a lot more affection when he came to visit, but today he could have been a ball of fluff for all the interest Bindi was taking in him. He was thinking it was time he sauntered back to his enclosure and found a few hundred ants to snack on, when he was surprised by yet another squeal from his human friend. Enough was enough! He scuttled towards the bedroom door,nudged it open and headed out to the garden.
    â€˜Bye, Spike,’ said Bindi as she saw him leave. ‘Sorry about the noise.’ But seconds later she was once again absorbed in her phone conversation.
    â€˜Yeah. We’re leaving later this afternoon and meeting DJ at the airport.’ She stopped bouncing for a moment and nodded as Hannah spoke. ‘I’ve done my research, and Madi – you know, he’s the friend I made when I visited Sumatra? The one whose dad now works as part of a tiger protection unit after we helped catch some tiger poachers? Well, he’s flying out with us and isdue to arrive here –’ she checked her watch – ‘any moment!’
    She heard a knock at the front door. ‘That’ll be him. Better get off the phone. We are going to rock this climate change conference, Hannah. Without a doubt!’ Bindi gave another squeal. She couldn’t wait!

‘Welcome to Helsinki!’
    A day later, Bindi, Robert, Terri, DJ and Madi stumbled out of the arrivals gate at Helsinki airport, carrying their luggage. They had left behind a balmy southern hemisphere summer and arrived in a very chilly,snowy, Nordic winter. Kelly had travelled by herself from Oregon in the US, and Hannah and her mum, Kirsten, had flown to Helsinki from Cape Town. Although Hannah’s flight was not as long as her friend’s, the change in temperature was just as extreme!
    Professor Fredrik Tikkanen gathered up the bleary-eyed travellers and their luggage, and led them out to the vehicles that would take them north to Kuhmo, a small town near the Russian border, which was hosting the conference.
    â€˜So how do you know the professor, Bindi?’ asked Madi as they walked towards the terminal exit.
    â€˜He toured around Australia earlier