From Monday 28^th of May till Friday 1^st of June we had the Costal Course at Randoya together with the Norwegian class. Therefore we were divided into four groups. I was in a group together with Linda, Zoe, Brad and Rob from my class and Astrid, Hege, Vettle, Peter and Kent from the Norwegian class. The days were all structured the same: We had one lecture/activity in the morning from 10.00-12.30 and one in the afternoon from 14.00-16.30 within our small groups. One or two students were responsible for running the sessions together with one of the three lecturers Svein, Svein and Kjetil. In the evening we had free time to cook, do some extra activities, such as kayaking or fishing and to play games. I really liked the structure of the days, as it provided an efficient way of learning in those small groups of ten to twelve people. By rotating through the sessions every group could take part in each lecture/activity. In addition to the lectures we had an island survival exercise. Therefore one group was abandoned to an isolated island each night.

We stayed at an old military base called Randoya fort on the island Ostre Randoya. It’s a 20 minutes’ drive just outside of Kristiansand. Nowadays the base is mainly used for school classes or other groups, such as us, to stay at and do Outdoor Learning Activities. To get to Randoya we had to use a small ferry boat from Kongshavn brygge on Monday morning. Our luggage and the kayaks were taken over by another boat. Unfortunately the weather didn’t mean it too good with us on the first day. It was a bit windy with some rain every now and the. But the following days were supposed to be better with sun and temperatures around 25°C. There were four buildings belonging to the base: Three sleeping houses, one for the teachers and two for us students, and a kitchen and dining building. There also was a peer, a small beach and a big outdoor area with tables we could use to prepare the fishing nets, play games and set up a slack line. A cave, one of the remains from the military base, was used to store equipment, such as kayaks, canoes and fishing utensils.  I stayed in a room together with Linda and Zoe.

After unloading the boat, unpacking and settling in it was already time for the first afternoon lecture. My group had shallow water biology with Svein, which was very interesting. We got dip nets and went into the shallow water to collect sea plants and animals. Everything we found we put in boxes, so we could identify things later and talk about what we found. We got a lot of different algae, starfish, crabs, shrimps and mussels. It was a very educational biology session. I learned that you can identify the gender of crabs by lifting up their tales. Males have two penises there while females have two holes. The penises of the males are following the leg-line, as they have been evolutionally transformed from legs into penises. If crabs grow and get too big for their shell they throw them off and have a new and bigger one underneath. We found two different types of Oysters, the Common/Norwegian one and the Pacific Oyster. Compared to the Common Oyster, the Pacific Oyster has very sharp edges. Svein told us that Norwegians don’t like this type of Oyster for several reasons. First because of the sharp edges, where you can easily cut yourself and second because it’s very dominant and chases the Common Oyster away. In the end we talked about the algae we found. Algae generally connect to the ground by sticking or gluing themselves to rocks and stones. They don’t need roots, like trees have them, as they are surrounded by water. So they don’t have to get it from the ground. A quite interesting and funny looking alga was the so called “Knoted Wrack”. It’s a sea weed with bubbles and its age can be told by the amount of bubbles. There is one bubble on the leave after three years and then one more bubble for each year. The one we found had three bubbles, which means it was five years old. In the end Svein cooked some snails for us to try. They tasted a bit salty and surprisingly good. As it was raining heavily we were soaking wet after the session, so after bringing back the equipment we went back to our dorm and changed for some dry clothes before cooking dinner. Zoe, Linda and I had rice with a vegetable sauce and a coconut-ladyfinger sauce, which was very delicious. At 19.00 my group and one more group met with Kjetil who gave us a tour around the fortress on the island. The most interesting and impressive part was the bunker, where they made their strategical plans during the Cold War. They had big maps on the walls and a telegraph systems. Randoya was seen as a defensive island with canons pointing in all directions, trying to defend Norway from offenders that were coming over the sea. After this three hours tour we spent the rest of the evening playing Werwolf.

The next morning we had another biology lesson with Svein. This time it was deep water biology. Therefore we went snorkelling in pairs of two. I saw a lot of different fish, all kinds of algae and I collected some starfish. There also have been a lot of jelly fish. But as we wore wetsuits they couldn’t sting us. I didn’t collect that much this time, but rather enjoyed watching and observing the marine live. After about an hour of snorkelling and collecting plants and animals we went back to the shed, got changed and had a look at what we found. We got Common Limpid, starfish, different kinds of sea weed and snails. I learned that all algae is divided into three kinds: red, brown and green algae. Sea lettuce for example belongs to the green algae and is eatable. We tried it and it really tastes like lettuce. Another type of algae we found was sugar sea weed. It’s called like this, because apparently it tastes like sugar if you dry it. A couple of years ago there was almost no sugar sea weed left in Norway as the water was too warm and sugar sea weed prefers colder water. I didn’t know that starfish eat the blue Common Mussels. Therefore they turn their stomach inside out and into the mussel. I also learned that Hermit Crabs don’t make the shells they live in but the snails make them. The Hermit Crabs just move in once the snails die and if they get too big for a shell they look for a bigger one. An interesting thing I learned about Common Limpid is that you can use them if you have sour nipples after a birth. They are even used in hospitals. Another thing I learned was how pearls are produced: If a sand corn comes into a shell, it hurts the organism. Therefore the mussle covers the sand corn with nacre. Svein was a really good teacher, who is super enthusiastic about marine biology. Therefore it was very enjoyable listening to him. It would have been interesting to have a marine biology lecture during the semester with him.

After lunch we had to get ready for our afternoon lecture- net setting and our survival night on the island. So we packed a daypack with some snacks, drinks, swim suit a towel and a jumper. As a group we were allowed to take two tarps, a storm kitchen and some fishing roots. In the beginning of the lecture we were going through some theory about net setting. I learned that all nets have to be marked with name and phone number and they have to be minimum 50m apart from each other. There are different types of nets. The ones we used are called troll nets. Troll nets have three layers: Wider holes on the outside layers and more narrow ones on the inside layer. The nets are about three metres under the water and marked with a buoy. In Norway only Norwegians are allowed to go net fishing, which means that we internationals officially weren’t allowed to do it. Before setting up the nets we first had to prepare them on land. Therefore spread them out on the grass and made sure that there were no twists or nots. Then we carefully put them into boxes, beginning with the part that has to go out last. Once everything was prepared we took a 45 minutes break before setting up the nets and rowing to the lonely island for the survival night, as it started to rain. As soon as the rain stopped we headed off with three rowing boats. We set up the nets perpendicular to the shore and current by putting the end of the net into the water and then rowing away from shore until the whole net was in the water. Once all three nets were set up we continued rowing to the island. As it was very windy it was quite hard to land on the rocky coast of the island. Working all together we managed it, though. On the island we found a cement pitch, probably some remain from the fortress where we put our bags. Then we had a look all over the island to find a spot to sleep. Finding a good sleeping spot turned out to be quite hard, as the island was very rocky and with barely any bigger even underground. So we finally decided to sleep next to a bigger rock that provided some slipstream. The underground there was a little rocky with some grass/bush parts. Before cooking a vegetable soup with the few potatoes, carrots and onions we got, Kent, Peter, Linda and I went for a swim in the ocean, which was very refreshing. I also tried to do some fishing, but I lost the lure after 10 minutes. As the spare lures from Uni were missing we only had the private ones from Rob. But they were pretty good ones, so he didn’t want to share them with us. Therefore we only had the vegetable soup for dinner, but no fish, as we hoped. After eating I was talking a lot with Kent, Vettle, Peter, Astrid, Hege, Zoe and Linda. Rob and Brad tried to catch some fish all evening long until it got dark. So far we only met some of the Norwegians on the shared Monday field trips. Therefore it was really interesting to have a longer and deeper conversation with them. We watched the sun set and were singing some mantras. Luckily it was quite windy, so there haven’t been that many mosquitos. Around 12 o’clock we decided to try to sleep. Zoe, Kent and I put a tarp on the grass/bush part and over us, while some others lay on the bare rocks. I used my life vest as a pillow. Although the underground was very comfortable to sleep on, I still didn’t sleep a lot, as I was a bit chilli during the whole night. My upper body was good, but my legs got cold after a while, as I was only wearing some leggings. I think if I had proper trousers on top of my leggings I would have slept surprisingly well.

Around 6 o’clock we got up and went back to the boats. On the way back to Randoya we collected the nets. Somehow we lost one net and although we were looking for it quite a while we couldn’t find it anymore. So we came back with only two nets. Kjetil welcomed us back and asked us how our night was and how we feel. I felt a little tired, but despite from that all right. Then we put the boxes with the nets in the cave, so the fish stays cold and went for a nap into our beds. After breakfast we met again at 10 o’clock to get the fish out of net and prepare them to cook. It was a bit of struggle to untie all the knots in the net, but we finally managed it. We caught 6 fish in total: two Rock Fish (but one was too small to prepare), two Flat Fish and two Pollock. An interesting fact about Flat Fish is, that there are left and right ones. Flat Fish have been “normal fish” in the beginning that slowly fall over to one side, either the right or the left. You can see it at their eyes and fins. The bottom eye is wandering over to the top, but stays a bit behind the top one and the fin points either to the left or right side. Then Kjetil and Rob explained how to prepare the fish and cut fillets. Therefore you stick the knife shortly in in front of the ass and carefully cut all the way to the front. Then you take out all the organs. Once this is done you cut down all the way to the back and around the head. Now you put the knife halfway in on one side of the neck and cut all the way back to the back fin. By doing so you hold the knife in an angle and push it down, so you cut right above the bones. This makes sure you don’t waste too much meat. Finally you put the knife all the way through the middle and cut down to both sides (front and back) again pushing the blade slightly down in a little angle, so you feel the bones under the blade. If you want you can take off the skin, but most fish you can cook with the skin. After this demonstration I tried to do it by myself with the big Rock Fish, which was a bit of a struggle, as this kind of fish has a lot of bones. But I finally managed to cut out the fillets. Kjetil recommended to rather cut out more than too little, because you can always cut bones or skin off later on. After we had all fish prepared we made lunch. Therefore we got some ingredients to cook a fish soup, such as potatoes, carrots, onions milk and spices. As Linda was vegetarian we decided to make a vegetable soup and cook the fish separately. Cooking was a bit exhausting. Linda made the soup, but everyone else didn’t really do a lot. So I finally prepared the fish ready to cook, although I haven’t really done it before and I also had a little head ache. I cut out the rest of the bones that were still on some of the fillets and put spices on the fish with the hard skin, that can’t be eaten to make in the oven. The other fish we put in a mix of flour, salt and pepper to bake in a pan. Kent and Astrid helped me after a bit. It was a very delicious lunch, but we had to rush a bit to be ready in time for the afternoon lecture at 14.00, which was learning to drive motor boats. We had three boats, so we divided into three groups. Vettle, Astrid and Peter had a licence, so they each went in one boat and the rest of us joint one on of them. Hege and I joint with Vettle. In the beginning Kjetil explained step by step how to start the engine, drive and steer. Then we got some time to practice in our small groups. As Hege didn’t want to try it I had a lot of time to practice. In the beginning it was a bit too much for me to give the right amount of speed and steer at the same time. But I improved a lot. I practiced a couple of times landing on the jetty. After this practice phase, we had a look on the local map and learned how to read sea maps, before heading off for a short trip around Vestre Randoya. After a few minutes though, we had to change plans. One row boat of the group that was supposed to stay on the remoted island that night was struggling. So we had to go and help them instead of doing our planned tour. After this lecture Zoe, Sarah, Astrid and I went kayaking down the channel between Ostre and Vestre Randoya for about an hour, which was really beautiful and peaceful. With Astrid I also tried to do the Eskimo-roll. I haven’t been sea kayaking before and I’ve never tried the Eskimo-roll before, so I was a bit scared in the beginning. The first time I tried it I was too frightened and got out of the kayak instead of using Astrid’s tip to lift me up again. But then I noticed that it’s not a problem to be upside down and hold the breath for a while. You even see most of the things around you, also the tip of the other boat when it comes to T-rescue you. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to do the roll, but I kept on practicing the next days. After dinner half of our group went out with the canoes, hoping to find the net we lost, but we couldn’t, so we had to come back when it got dark. That night I slept really well as I didn’t get a lot of sleep on the island the night before.

On day four we had row-boats and kayak techniques on our schedule. After a short introduction from Svein we went into the row boats and started our rowing trip. As we’ve been four in a boat two were rowing at the same time and after a while we swapped over. When it comes to rowing it’s most efficient if both row at the same time. In the beginning you should start with a lower frequency until you get a feeling for it, then you can speed up if wanted. There are three different phases: the catch, the pull and the pause phase.  Especially if rowing for a while it’s important to not miss out the pause phase to save some energy. According to saving energy it’s also very important to not just use the arm but the whole body especially the upper body and the legs. The easiest way of turning is to just row a bit stronger on the opposite side of where you want to turn to. While rowing Svein constantly fed us with some more information and technique advises. He told us that the front person usually makes the rhythm and the back person follows. He also explained to us that if there is strong head wind it’s recommended to not go straight but to tack. After we went all the way around Indre Kalvoya, Ytre Kalvoy and the smaller island in front we had still some time left. So we landed on a small bay and learned some knots, such as bowline and clove hitch. When we came back we had lunch and got ready for the kayaking in the afternoon. The topic was kayak techniques. So first of all we learned how to paddle forwards and backwards in a straight line. This worked quite well for me. After that we learned the sideward paddling. Therefore you put the paddle blade parallel to the boat into the water and pull it towards you. In the end we did some rescue exercise, such as the T-rescue and X-rescue. The T-rescue is used if a person flips over and stays in the kayak. He/She uses the tip of another kayak to pull him/herself up again. The X-rescue is used to turn the boat over after a person capsized. Therefore the rescuer pulls the boat onto his own like an X to get the water out and then turns it over and back in the water again. After those basic techniques we went for trip around Vestre Randoya. Therefore we followed the channel between Vestre and Ostre Randoya and then turned west towards the open sea and went all the way south along the coastline of Vestre Randoya and back to the beach. Back there Astrid and I practiced on our Eskimo roll for a little while. I always got confused doing everything at the same time, so I tried to practice just the hip turn that day by holding onto Astrid’s tip and turning around a couple of times. As we couldn’t get enough from paddling we then went to some cliffs in the channel of Vestre Randoya with some people from the other groups and did a bit of cliff jumping. By the time we got back it was already 7pm, so we changed for some dry clothes and had dinner. With Zoe and Linda I then went down to the Jetty to write down some notes and watch the sunset. Before going to bed we played some exciting rounds of Werwolf.

On the last day the kayak tour was on our schedule which I, Rob and Brad were in charge of organising. So I got a couple of maps from Svein. As some members of our group were pretty fit in paddling and some others not that much, we decided to paddle north through the channel between Ostre and Vestre Randoya, follow Stokken island and then turn west towards the island Heroya and back south through a pretty narrow channel. On Stokken was a beach where people could have stopped if they didn’t feel like going all the way. But that day everyone was doing very well, so as we didn’t have to collect anyone at Stokken beach we paddled from Heroya southeast and along the shoreline of Vestre Ranoya and back through the channel towards our base. On the way we had a quick stop at the cliffs for some more cliff jumping. During the paddling I made sure that we stayed close together as a group. As there was some boat traffic I always told the group to either stay on the left or right shore side. I stayed either in the front or in the middle of the group, depending on if I wanted to lead them towards a special direction or if I had to make sure that the group stays together and everyone catches up. When we came back Astrid, Zoe and I tried a few more minutes to do the Eskimo rolls. Then it was time to pack and clean. My group was responsible for the common area. After everything was done we loaded the boats and took the ferry back to Kongshaven brygge.

I really enjoyed this Costal Course and I learned a lot. It was one of the most educational trips in the semester with so many different topics. I improved my marine biology knowledge, learned how to row row-boats, how to drive motor boats, how to set nets and prepare fish and how to survive a night on an island. Although I didn’t manage to do the Eskimo roll I think I really improved my kayak skills and hopefully I manage to do the roll at the kayak course the next week. It was also really nice to spend the week together with the Norwegian class. We got to know each other a lot more. It actually would have been nice to have a similar course at the beginning of the semester. I think our two classes would have made more together then. During the week I made a lot of notes, as I think that it would be a great thing to do a similar trip with school classes. I think situational and practical learning arrangements are very educational and students keep things better in mind than just learning things in theory and the classroom.