On Monday 23^rd we started our last outdoor trip and this time we spent the week together with the Norwegian class. At 10 o’clock our transfer boat left Kongshaven which is 10min outside by car. At Østre Randøya we moved in the old army buildings and after a short briefing we had two hours of free time to unpack our stuff and/or to get to know the island. We were divided in four groups, each one to one of the teachers who teach us different things during the week. There is always a 2ish hour morning session, a lunch break and an evening session which ends at about 16-16:30. The rest of the day we were allowed to use all the boats and fishing equipment to get some food or have some fun.

My group was the first one who started the emergency overnight stay at an island but before we rowed there Svein introduced us in the use of fishing nets. He showed us theoretically how we put them out in the water and taught us that there must be at least 3m space between the top of the net and the water surface. We also had a short introduction in rowing and took a small tour around to get used to it because no one of us was experienced in rowing. Following to that we loaded the boats with our daypack gear, the nets and we were given some carrots stock a pot and fishing equipment. If we were able to catch some fish we could cook for e.g. a fish soup but if we would have been unlucky we had to eat just the carrots and the biscuits because we were not allowed to take additional food with us. On our way to our island we set out the nets in the hope to catch something for tomorrow’s lunch. It turned out that our island was very sparsely and my plan to build a hammock or a shelter died quick. While some us were discovering the island in order to find a better place for the boats I started to collect stranded wood. Unluckily there was no better place for our boats wherefore we had to pull them out of the water and on top of rocks. Nearby we chose a stone field as fire spot and started to collect more wood. During my search I recognized that there is just rocks and some bushes in this island, nothing else… To our surprise it started to rain a little bit and we built in a really quick manner an improvised shelter with the two tarps we were allowed to take with us. Moreover, our first try to catch some fish failed wherefore we decided to wait a couple of hours until the sea-level rises and it turned out that we chose the right option. I was rowing meanwhile two Norwegians fished and after approximately an hour we caught 4 fish. As soon as we returned at the island we stared to make a fish soup with seaweed and carrots. I was not hungry as all and a little bit tired wherefore I decided to go to sleep at around 12ish. I slept until 3 am and woke up freezing. I got up did some physical activity to get me warm again and went afterwards to bed again. Unluckily I woke up with the same symptoms at 5:30 and I was not able to fall asleep again. Therefore, I was sitting with some at the campfire until we broke down our camp 7ish in order to row back and get the nets in. We caught a crab and about 10 fish.

Back at Randøya we were welcomed back by Kjetil who told us where to put the nets, what we are doing from 9:30 on and that we should do whatever we want until then. I had a nice big breakfast, a warm drink and changed my clothes. Unfortunately, there was no time left for a nap that was worth it. So, I stayed awake and packed my Dryback for the afternoon session and after that I had to walk down to the docks where we were again welcomed by Kjetil. He told us to get the nets, spread them at the jetty and to put all the fish in buckets. Afterwards we had to clean the nets and untie all the knots so they are perfectly prepared for the next use by the next overnight-group. During this time Kjetil organized cutting boards and knifes for step to – preparing the fish. First, he showed us how to open it and following to that he demonstrated how to get the filet. After that it was our turn and for me it was the first time wherefore I made sure from time to time if I am cutting in the right way. After preparing a Cod I tried to fillet a flounder which worked quiet good for the first time but there is room for improvement because I missed some meat near the spine. Cooking was next and we were given leek, carrots, potatoes, garlic, an onion, flour and cream by Kjetil. Out of the fish and all these ingredients we should prepare lunch for all of us. We made a fish soup like he suggested and some kind of fish and chips and all of that was very tasty. In addition to that we boiled the crab we caught and ate, too. After this perfect lunch a made a short power nap before the evening session which was about large boats. To the beginning Kjetil checked what we know about and we were talking about the regulations and how to manoeuvre a big boats. In Norway you have to wear life vests permanently in boats bigger than 8 meter, in shorter boats only when you are moving. Following, he gave us maps and one by one we had to highlight an important detail for sea navigation and discussed it. These were for example lighthouses with their lighting frequency, water and electricity lines which are marked with red (wavy) lines or obstacles (rocks) which are marked with crosses in 3 different styles depending if they are above or under sea level. For I guess most of us it was really difficult to stay awake due to the lack of sleep last night and some of us who drift to sleep for a short time. For the practical term we were divided in three groups which had to ship the big boat. One was steering, one navigating and one the captain who had an eye on both. On half of the way we made a break and tried to catch some fish but we were not lucky and went home without.

In the evening we had an additional lecture with Kjetil who wanted to show us the island. First he showed us a bunker with a gun position and briefed us about the (military) history of Norway and the way Randøya was used after the military left their base in the island. The local authority bought the barracks and nowadays it is used by schools and the UiA for friluftsliv activities. Next, we went inside the mountain where the military had a commando centrum 40m deep into the rocks. It was really interesting to see how it looked like because someone rebuild it. After this I cooked dinner but after a few bites I was not able to continue because otherwise I had to spit up. I still felt like on a boat, I was terribly tired and had headache like hell. For this reason I went to bed at 10ish.

The next morning I felt better and had a big breakfast. First lecture of the day was rowing with Svein. The weather was good but it was very windy. Unfortunately, I was in the boat with the broken ore so only one of us was able to paddle. I was the first one and it was really hard work to paddle against the wind and keep the boat in track, most of the time we were going in a zig zag. At the end of skippergata it was a pad situation between the wind and me for a short time and I was really happy when we stopped at an island. There we had a short break and Svein showed us tree knots for tying boats to the jetty. We continued and now it was Adam’s turn. It turned out that my part was the most exhausting one, on the way back there it was wind covered most of the time. The most difficult part was the needle we had to go through to get back to the bay of Randøya and from there on it was again a fight against the wind. The wind was so strong that one alone was not able to manage it wherefore to of us paddled with one paddle. Finally, we reached the jetty and tied on the rowing boat.

Following to lunch we had kayaking with Len. He informed us that we will do a different tour compared to the one in the morning because the wind is to strong and the risk to capsize is high in these conditions. We took basically the same route we did with the rowing boats in the morning but we stopped at several bays where we had to lead the group to. There Len showed us different technics for example how to do a quick 90 degree turn or how to paddle sideways. In the last bay we played a chasing game for two rounds which was a lot of fun and an opportunity on the same time to use the learned technics.

In the evening I was geocaching with Adam and Adrian on the south side of the island and we found four of four boxes. Nevertheless, there are some boxes left which we are planning to search tomorrow evening. Hopefully we are as successful as today.

Thursday morning started again with kayaking because the sailboat were not available. Today we were paddling through skippergata and on contrast to the day before we turned right to head for an island which is on the east side of Randøya. Of course, we had to do the simulated leading again which is improving in my case more and more because we are training it so often. The wind blew from south east and it was a little bit weaker compared to yesterday. On the first have of the trip we were sheltered most of the time by little islands wherefore the waves were small. The way from the island to the south end of Randøya was more difficult because the wind was pushing us against the island which was also a reason to choose this route. In case of capsizing the wind would have pushed us onshore which is to prefer in contrast to offshore wind which is blowing you away from land. Due to the wind the waves where about 0.5 to 1 meter maximum high and two or three times I struggled but luckily I did not turn upside down. In the bay that is located in the south of Randøya we met the group of deep sea water biology which was snorkelling. I am really looking forward to do this tomorrow. We continued our way to Krakerøya, the island our group knows well of the overnight trip and there Len found Adrian’s paddle again which he lost on the Wednesday morning session. From there we paddled in another bay of southern Randøya when Len realized that we were really fast and there is some time left. As consequence we took a “detour” around western Randøya and came in through the first needle, passed the Red Cross houses and paddled the last couple of hundred meters back to the jetty. After lunch and a power nap in the sun we continued with shallow water biology. We headed towards a small beach at Buholmen. Due to the tide there was very shallow water and Svein asked us to pick up everything with the landing net that looks interesting to us. We all collected shells, seaweed, jelly fish, crabs and a lot more for almost two hours and afterwards we tried to categorize them on a plastic tarp. Svein told us about the things we found and showed us which mussels are eatable. He collected some snails while we were collecting and passed them to us for tasting. They stated okay but there is definitely better sea food in my opinion. For the remaining 30 minutes we took a walk to the south end of Randøya and we were showen different eatable plants like for example chives. Last but not least we were fishing for two different types of seaweed which is growing on the ground and also eatable.

In the evening Adam and I did some geocaching again and today we were heading for the middle part of eastern Randøya where three boxes are hidden. We found all of them but the last and remaining box was on Ytre. We were not able to go there without boat and we did not find a third person for a small kayaking tour there. Luckily Martynas spoke about a kayaking tour while dinner and Adam and I joined him. We have had a really nice tour to Ytre were I found the last box of my list. From there we continued to Krakerøya where we visited the overnight group of this day and watched the sunset. The scenery was awesome, the sea was really calm and the picture of this sunset will be the first picture that pops up when someone will ask me about my exchange year in Norway.

On Friday morning we had the last session of the week which passed really quick – deep water biology. We met at 9:30 in front of the mess hall and walked to the biology hangar in the south end of Randøya where we were equipped with wet suits, shoes and gloves for snorkelling. Moreover, we put on iron belts for increasing weight and we got a sack to put all the interesting things in we will find in the bay. I was really excited to start because I never snorkelled before and the stories of groups who already did it sounded well. The first moments in the water were really cold but after a short time my body had heated up the water inside the wet suit and I was warm. No surprise with about 10mm of wet suit but the part of my face that was not covered by the wet suit hood felt like it frozen. I forgot about that soon because I was caught by the thing I saw under water. It was so beautiful to watch in the underwater perspective to watch the jelly fishes moving. It was scary on the same side when it was a stinging jellyfish which appeared suddenly right in front of your face after changing the direction. Luckily I was able to avoid a collision. Next to jelly fish I saw a lot of sea stars which I did not expect in Norway, I thought they only exist in warmer regions of the world. As soon as I left the areas with a lot of seaweed and entered the areas which were sandier I saw some big fishes hiding under rocks or in the few areas with seaweed there. The time run wherefore the 2 hours passed really quickly. In the end, we walked back to the hangar changed the wet suits to normal clothing and had similar to yesterday a short debriefing about the things we found. Last but not least we had to carry all the equipment back to the jetty to load it in the big boat. Following, we packed our backpack, cleaned our sleeping room and the mess hall. During the cleaning the highest rate of social loafing throughout the whole semester could be observed.

At around 14ish the big boat was loaded and we were ready to ship back to Kongshaven. According to the whole week the weather was nice and sunny wherefore we were able to enjoy the last ride if the semester. After this week there is only the practical exam missing.

It is unbelievable how fast this semester is over! It was definitely the most adventures half year of my live and I learned a lot about outdoor skills, Norway and of course something new about me.