Randøya Sea and Coastline- 23th-27th of May 

Our next and last university trip led us to Randøya, an island just south-east of Kristiansand. The trip was called: “Coastal course Randøya: Fishing and nets, rowing boats, kayak, deep and shallow water biology.”

This trip was a trip together with the Norwegian friluftsliv class; therefore we were more than 40 students. Randøya is an island, which was used by the Norwegian military until the late 1990’s and there are many buildings and bunkers on the island. Our accommodation was also an old military house, where the soldiers used to sleep in.

The classes were split up into groups with 50/50 Internationals and Norwegians. The activities were  deep and shallow water biology, rowing, kayaking, lots of fishing, but also one night on another island, without sleeping gear, only a day pack and a stove. A survival night.

Day 1 (Monday, 23th of May):

On the first day we went out with the big boats. First we talked about the sea map and pointed out all the important thinks we can see on the map. Afterwards we split up into groups of three and had the lead of the boat. Everyone in the group had the chance to be the skipper, navigator and captain. We drove on the open sea and did some fishing. We caught one fish and after we returned to Randøya, Kjetil showed us how to cut filets from the fish.

Day 2 (Tuesday, 24th of May):

In the morning we started with rowing. First we learned the stroke. When we had our first brake, we learned the best ways to tie the boat and practiced the knots (clovhitch and bowline)

In the Afternoon we went kayaking with Len. On this day we stayed in quite water and practiced our map reading and leader skills.

In the evening we had a tour through some old military buildings inside the mountain on Randøya. The Norwegians built a bunker, which would have given them protection in case of a nuclear war. We walked into the mountain and got into the main command rooms. It was really impressive to take a look at all the equipment they used.

Day 3 (Wednesday, 25th of May):

In the morning we went out Kayaking again. This time our plan was to go out on the open sea and paddle to a light house, but it was very windy, so that we decided to stay closer to the island. After we left the Skippergada, we paddled on the open sea. We stopped in every little bay and after the third on Len gave us the choice to turn around or paddle further on, and ask us how we would decide, if we were the leader. After a short discussion we decided to go back. But in the end of the trip we went out on the open the again. Right in the moment when we reached the open sea the wind picked up and the waves were very big. The hardest part was to turn around, because therefore you are parallel to the waves, which was really scary. But luckily no one of our feeling capsized and reached Randøya undamaged.

In the afternoon, we inspected the shallow water with Svein. We got suits that were supposed to be waterproof or walked barefoot in the water. We walked around in a bay to look for sea weeds, shells, mussels, fish, crabs and other animals. We gathered everything we found in boxes to determine the different weeds and shells and so on.

Day 4 (Thursday, 26th of May):

In the morning we had the second part of water biology, which was a more exciting. We went snorkeling in the deep water (max. 2m). We did the same as the day before. Gathering everything we found and determined it.

In the afternoon we went on the Island were we supposed to spend one night, but first …showed us how to set out a net in the sea and showed us on the map were we should do it later. When we arrived the Island, the half of used stayed to search a good place for our camp, the other half went on another Island to collect firewood. Back on the Island we went out with the rowing boats, set out the nets and fished with our hand-fishing equipment. We caught 4 mackerels and cod. Back on the Island we made a fire and some of us went fishing with the fishing rots we brought. Christian showed me how to use it right and after some minutes I caught my first fish. Heidi showed how to gut the fish, and we grilled them over the fire. The rest of the evening we spent around the fire, talked and played some card games.

Day 5 (Friday, 27th of May):

After we rowed back to Randøya and cleaned the nets, Kjetil showed us how to gut a fish and cut down filets. Our last task on this trip was to cook a dinner with our catch. We cooked a fish soup and had fish and chips as main dish. After lunch we started to pack our stuff.

The week on Randøya was a lot of fun. We experienced many interesting thing, got to see a lot and had a really good time. We had the chance to spend more time with the Norwegian students, which we should have done much earlier this semester.