Island Trip to Østre Randøya
31.05. – 02.06.2021 Østre Randøya, Kristiansand
The last trip with the Outdoor Education group was on the agenda. We went to the island of Østre Randøya for two nights. However, this can only be reached by water, which is why we first went by bus to Kungshaven. From here, half of the group took a boat to the island, while the other half paddled there in kayaks. Once we arrived on Randøya, we first checked out our accommodation, right next to an abandoned coastal artillery fort, and explored the island.
With all that we found
In the afternoon, my first activity was already on the agenda. Together with my small group and Svein, we went on foot to a small bay on the island, because we had a biology lesson coming up. Armed with a landing net, we tried to fish everything we didn’t know out of the water and store it in small white plastic containers. After an extensive search, Svein finally explained to us what we had caught. Among our finds were oysters, cockles, shrimps, jellyfish, water snails, algae and crabs. Svein also brought a small gas cooker and cooked some of our finds so that we could try them. As these things are not exactly on my list of favourite foods, it was a big effort for me to try them. In the end, I can say that I will definitely not eat these sea creatures again! However, it was really interesting to talk to Svein about all the creatures and listen to him talk about his enthusiasm for marine biology. We then went for a little walk together towards the south end of the island to fish for seaweed, and on the way, we sampled different types of plants that you can eat.
In the command center
In the evening, Kjetil gave the whole group a guided tour of a small part of the island and told us about the history of the island. He also showed us the island’s bunker complex and let us explore the command centre inside. It is really impressive to see this and imagine how it was used about 85 years ago, but also terrifying.
What a sunset
Because of the nice weather and warm temperatures, we wanted to spend the night in the open air. We chose a small green area with a beautiful view behind the sea. The sunset was also really beautiful, which is why the sky shone in really stark colours. The only disadvantage of our sleeping place were the countless mosquitoes.
Fishing?
The next morning, after breakfast, we went into the rowing boats. At first, rowing was not as easy as I thought it would be, but with time it got better and better. It is important to try to row at the same pace as the second person and to keep the boat as straight as possible. This can be easily controlled by rowing only on one side, rowing with more power on one side or by dipping the oar a little deeper into the water to be able to push more water away. Since my group and I were very interested in fishing while rowing, Petter brought some fishing equipment. Petter didn’t explain much about rowing and fishing at first, as he believes that the best way to learn is by doing. So, he just let us try it out and gave only two small instructions. Pauline and Luca each managed to catch a cod using a simple fishing line. I, on the other hand, was not so lucky – no fish would bite. After we were back on land, we filleted the caught fish together. Since I am not really a fish eater and fish are not really my passion, it was really exciting and interesting to see how to fillet a fish properly.
Having fun in the Kajaks
After the lunch break, we went into the kayak. The weather got better and better during the day and we had blue skies and sunshine for kayaking. After a little technique review with Thomas, we decided to do a little tour. First, however, we practised the forward stroke again, where three things are important. First, it is important that one hand pulls while the other hand pushes the paddle forward, i.e. a push and pull movement. Also, it is very important to rotate your shoulders during the stroke so that the strength is developed from the core muscles, and it is important that at the end of the stroke both hands are on the same side of the kayak. The last important point Thomas explained to us was that you open the hand that pushes the paddle forward. We also practised the sweep stroke again, a paddling technique to steer the canoe. Here, the paddle is poked into the water far at the front of the kayak and brought to the end flat with a large arc next to the kayak. In order to be able to steer the kayak quickly, the so-called edging is also important. Here, the upper body remains upright while the hips are tilted and the kayak is thus shifted to one side. If you want to steer to the left, the left knee is lifted and you show the left side of your kayak, so to speak. For the right side it is just the other way around. After these little technique exercises, which we practised in calm waters, we set off on our little tour. We wanted to go around a small island in the sea and had to paddle across the open sea. As there was a light easterly wind, the sea looked completely flat to us as we were facing west, but the further away from land we went, the stronger the waves became. It was something completely new and exciting for me to paddle in the open sea with some waves. It requires increased concentration and balance, but it is incredibly fun! Back in calm waters, Thomas showed us how to do a partner rescue with the kayaks. He showed us two ways to do this. First, the capsized partner turns his own kayak around again. It is important to mention that when you capsize, you should never let go of your kayak and paddle! Once the kayak is positioned correctly again so that a T is formed. The kayak can now be completely pulled up onto the other kayak and emptied so that there is no more water in the kayak. From here on there are two possibilities. One is to put the kayak back into the water parallel to the other kayak and the partner climbs back in while holding the kayak. The other possibility is that the kayak remains on the spray blanket on the second kayak after the water has been emptied. The partner now climbs over the partner’s kayak back into his own kayak. As this creates an X, this option is called the T-X method, which is mainly suitable for bad weather and wavy conditions, as a stable position is achieved by crossing the two kayaks. To try out these two methods, everyone had to capsize once and be the rescuer once, a cool end to the kayak tour. Since the weather was still really good and the wind was dropping, Toni, Roman, Ida, Mira and I went on another small tour with the kayaks afterwards. When we came back, Ida explained to me how the Eskimo roll works and I tried my hand at it. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to learn it, but with little practice it’s probably really hard. It’s really hard under water and on your head, so to speak, not to lose your orientation and to move the paddle correctly. But it was very helpful to stay calm underwater and not panic.
At the end of the day, all the fish we caught were cooked or fried and we ate them all together. Afterwards we sat together for a long time, played spikeball and volleyball, sang and laughed a lot. We spent the night in the same place as the night before and had a really beautiful sunset again.
Cruising around
On the last morning, I and my group were introduced to motor boating by Kjetil. First, he taught us how to read a nautical chart correctly and what special features there are here. How to recognise a lighthouse correctly, what symbols mean and how to use the map to navigate. Afterwards, we were allowed to cruise around on the water in small motor boats. However, since almost all the motors had given up the ghost, only one small boat could be used, so in the end we didn’t get to do much motor boating at all.
Finally, we went back to the mainland by ferry, as the transport boat was also no longer functional. But in conclusion, it can definitely be said that it was an incredibly cool last trip with the whole group. We learned a lot, experienced a lot together, laughed together and grew together through this. It was definitely an incredible time that none of us will ever forget!