Blog 8 – Coastal course

Where: Østre Randøya

When: 28th of May – 1st of June (5 days)

Introduction:

For this Coastal Trip we were compound together with the Norwegian «Friluftsliv» class of UiA again.

We were spitted into 4 groups out of 10 to 12 people of internationals and Norwegians. Shipped by a boat to the Randøya Island we were meant to stay in barracks, which were once used by the military and are now guest houses for youth groups, school classes and several associations for vacational purposes. In one week we had a schedule full with activities in the coastal area. Included was Sea Biology, fishing, survival on a lonely island and using different sea vessels like kayaking, rowboat and motorboat. Exploring especially this part of nature was for me something were new and I was looking forward to all the new knowledge about it!

The structure of the day included always two sessions of a specific field and was led by one of our lecturers Svein, Svein and Kjetel and supported by selected students who prepared knowledge about the specific topic.

 

I Sea Biology:

  • Shallow water

At our arrival in the morning it started to rain, the first time after a long period of sun and high temperatures around Kristiansand. So it was more a pleasure and our curiosity about sea biology made the session very enjoyable. In addition to this we could choose an overall to wear and stepped happily with hand nets in the shallow water of the sea. We collected all the different items we could find and got explanations about afterwards by a Norwegian student and Svein. We learned about:

  • Crabs (how to define their sex, that they need to get rid of their shall to grow further and about the tradition to catch them in the summer)
  • Oysters (different types and that the pacific type dominated the Norwegian one, which was a big issue here; and how to eat them)
  • Sea weed (different types, especially divided into red, green and brown sea weed, about their completion of survival and how to identify their age)
  • Shrimps
  • Mussels
  • Snails
  • And Ants (which we found on the way to the sea; about their acid pie which is actually a nice sweet to eat)

 II Sea Biology:

  • Deep water

On the second day, the weather was again sunny and warm, nevertheless we got a double neoprene suit, shoes a snorkel, flippers and a bag to collect items. After the dip in in the wavy sea I found myself in a different world. While the sea seemed to be rough and wild from above, down the surface it was calm and peaceful. My heart beat got slower and everything became more slow and beautiful. I was just floating, slightly pushed by the waves and observing the life around me: wonderful weaving sea weed, colourful fishes, shells, star fishes and many more I couldn´t define. We were snorkelling in pairs, and I shared this wonderful experience with Zoe, a good friend of mine. Always struggling a little bit up the surface with the waves, we felt more secure under the surface and communicated with different hand signs, finger tipped on new discoveries.

This experience was one of my most impressive one and made me much more curious about the live and different creatures in the sea. Before this snorkelling experience I was always a little bit sceptical about swimming in the open sea because of the fear of the unknown. Now I overcame this and was glad that I found this new open door to a different life.

Later in the group, we learned more about:

  • Common limpets (the shells helps against pain of the nipples while breastfeeding a baby and are collected by children for the hospitals)
  • Grease tang (which is often cooked and be giving as food for pigs)
  • Star fish (how they turn out their stomach to eat common mussels)
  • Toothed wrack
  • Red, green and brown algae
  • And many more

III Survival trip to an Island

The following setting was our outset for the following experience: We should imagine, that we as a group with 3 rowing boats are on a trip at the sea. Due to the change of the weather we have to land on an island, the weather won’t get better until the next morning. Thus we have to survive with just our daypack the night on the island. Happily we find a few carrots, potatoes and onions on the island to eat and have luckily a tarp with us (to protect us from the rain in the night) and a fishing rod.

Before our arrival on the island we had the task to throw out fishing nets for the following day.

And a great adventure began…

When we arrived on the island it was still sunny and it didn’t get dark at all. So we were enjoying the evening with exploring the island (I tried to find some wild plants), swimming in the sea, cooking our 5 star dinner out of the given ingredients and a few went fishing with the rods. As me, Laura and Zoe were used to sing Mantras together already, we invited the others to join a little session. For the Norwegians it was such a new thing and they were too shy to sing with us. They were quite touched by it as they told us afterwards and we ended up in a longer going evening of exchange and deeper getting to know each other. When I went to «bed“, a sheltered rock, the others started to play «wear wolf» and kept me next to the bright red shining full moon for a long time awake. I woke up several times in the night, because of coldness and finally woke up at 4:30 with the sunrise. I had again an amazing meditation and yoga session and enjoyed the peacefulness of the silent morning and the open ocean. Around 6am we left the island with the boats and collected the nets. One net was vanished traceless and even after several searching manoeuvre we couldn’t find it.

III Gilling the fishes

This is a very sensible topic for me as a vegetarian and I hesitated to join this session. But the others of my group as well as Kjetel faced this with tolerance and respect. I tried to see it more from the scientific view and was quite fascinated to see the different types of fishes (we caught a cod, two flatfishes and a mackerel) and the inner organs of a fish.

When it came to the fish soup I took over and used the given ingredients to make a traditional Norwegian fish soup. With the great tolerance of the others we separated the fish from the soup and had a very delicious meal.

 

V Motor Boat

In the afternoon, we got the chance to ride motor boats. With 3 people in a boat everyone got the chance to try out and improve our motor boat skills. After a short introduction we had to deal with all the items all by ourselves – engine, stopper, gear, gas, and fin. It was quite challenging to handle the direction and simultaneously the speed. When I tried to dock at the jetty I nearly crashed it with the bow, but I continued trying and got better and better after a while.

V Rowing

While taking a trip around Ostre Rondoya Svein taught us the techniques of rowing, the different phases (catching, pull, lift up & drop), how to use the paddles correctly, how to make turns and how to «go» with the wind in zig-zag-turns. On the end of the trip we stopped on an island and practiced some knots. All in all I appreciated this session very much, because of Svein, our lecturer, and also the movement by itself which is determined by calmness, efficiency and being in a nice flow with sea and its waves.

VI Kayaking

This session was organized by Zoe and Rob, who had already a good experience with kayaking and showed us the main techniques:

In this session I experienced also something negative. As we had no lecturer or professional teacher with us some important lessons where taught by mistakes. It wasn´t about the knowledge about kayaking but more the deficit in instructing kayaking to beginners. I never kayaked before but was quite excited and eager to learn about the different techniques. So one point I would critizise was that we directly went into the water without any instructions on the land. And we even didnt get to know what we should do if we dip in. So the case happend, that I was a little bit to much risk taking in trying out the low braces and fell over. The first reaction is to try to get ur head out of the water, but this is excactly the wrong thing you can do, because you cant roll over the kayak with this way, so I struggeled a bit with that and looked like a helpless fish on land until I found out that I should take my head out of the water, get out my kayak and released I am. In addition to that I got back to the beach with huirting stripes all around my body. I was tangeled in a red yelly fish. In the end both experiences made me stronger and I learned how to deal with a drop in from a kayak and even that this yelly fishes are not so worse as so many people are afraid of it. After a few hours the stripes and the hurt was vanished away.

 

 

 

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