Our last trip here in Norway in the outdoor education course. It was a strange feeling to be excited about something and also sad. This trip was different though now we were with the Norwegian students which was a lot of fun.
We were divided into groups of ten with five international students and five norwegian students. Then we were in pairs or group of three responsible with explaining some parts of the program. For example me, Max and Jill were supposed to explain what sailboats where how they had hulls, keels, sails and how that all works. Then Paige and Mike were supposed to explain about how to sail a sailboat.
Monday
We all met at Kongshavn and got into the boats to take us to Østre Randøya. They way over there was really nice and Ketil explained a little bit about the houses and history of Skippergada. Then we got ourselves comfortable in our cabins, the girls and boys separated and I think the girls got the better end of the deal. We were staying at the old hospital where we had our own kitchen, living room and shower so we were pretty happy.
Then it was on with the programme and my group was supposed to start sailing but because there were no sailboats we went kayaking instead. We paddled over to the island across from us, in between and around the islands close by. It was a lot of fun, I was a little nervous because the last time I was in a Kayak I managed to capsize so I was worried it would happen again. But after awhile I felt more comfortable and I enjoyed myself.
After dinner we had a small island tour where Ketil talked about the history of the island during world war 2 and then showed us an underground tunnels and control rooms. I thought it was really cool and was fascinated that people actually lived there a long time ago, I really couldn’t imagine it. When we got back we spent the rest of the night playing a card game that Paige taught us until late at night.

Tuesday
We started with kayaking again and this time we had a little challenge to kayak over to the lighthouse at Grønningen which was a little distance away and in a more open sea then before. I was a tiny bit nervous but I just kept telling myself that I was having fun because it is important to be relaxed while paddling otherwise you get too tense and then you can easily make mistakes. We got lucky at the lighthouse and were allowed to go inside the houses and look around and that was pretty cool, I couldn’t believe that two families lived on that tiny island. That was the last kayaking for the course I was extremely happy that I didn’t capsize again even though a little part of my wanted to try again and see if I could get up without having to leave the kayak, either do an eskimo roll or use another kayak for help.
Then after Kayaking and a good lunch break we went to the other side of the island for a shallow ocean biology. And I don’t know anything at all about that so I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into but I ended up having a lot of fun. We were looking through a cool class binocular and trying to catch different animals and algaes. I ended up learning which algae you can eat and they are used in lipstick and ice cream. He also boiled some shells and gave us a taste, I was expecting something horrible but it tasted alright. Then it was back to the house to play card games.

Wednesday
In the morning we had deep water biology. Now that I was excited for, I have been diving and snorkeling before and I really like it. It was a little hard to get the wet suites on but it was more funny than annoying. We went to another place at the island where we could get a little deeper in the ocean, there we tried to collect some algae and small animals. I caught some snails and crabs, I tried to catch a fish but I just barely missed him. This was a lot of fun and afterwards we went over what we found and I found out that the snail I caught was actually poisonous!

 
Survival Island
Then after the lunch it was our time to head over to the survival island. But before we were allowed on the island we had to look and the fishing nets and have a quick rowing exercice. When that was over we got ourselves ready and started rowing over we had to put the nets down and hope we caught some fish.
When we got there we all agreed that we needed to find a good place for a shelter and after walking around me and Paige managed to convince the others of a perfect spot just down some rocks with trees around and soft flat ground. Me and Paige set to get the place in order by cutting away dead branches and putting moss on the ground. After that it was just relaxing time where we fished, listened to music and relaxed. I tried to catch some fish but only managed to fish the branches behind me, the rock in front of me and lose two fishing hooks. But the other caught enough for us so we had plenty to grill on the fire. Then around two when we were getting tired we decided to go over and sleep. Maybe not such a good idea since it was really cold out even though I had a lot of layers on. One by one we went back to the fire during the night and stayed there instead, we watched the sunrise and when the time was finally late enough we started rowing to check our fishing nets. Unfortunately in the net that my boat checked there was only one  fish but the other nets did better thankfully. When we got back to land I went straight to bed and took a good nap since I don’t know how long I actually slept during the night.

Thursday
First activity of the day was to make sure the fishing net were clean and tidy, then we had to learn how to properly prepare the fish for cooking. I was not really excited for this part and had even a hard time watching since some of the fish were still alive! But I felt silly not even trying to I prepared one fish in the end and I don’t think I will do that again anytime soon. But it is good to have the knowledge. Then we took the fish to the kitchen and cooked delicious fish and chips and some fish soup. I will admit that I was helpful in not being in the way of the real cooks. I and not a great cook so I decided that my expertise and cleaning dishes was more important this time so I cleaned up after the meal instead.
After lunch we got to go on a motorboat ride, where we had to steer and navigate the boat ourselves. It was my first time steering this type of boat so I thought it went compared to that. When others were steering I was practising the different knots with Jill and Paige which was a lot of fun. I enjoy teaching different knots since I am always the one assigned to teach little kids knots that in my scout group at home.
After dinner me, Amy and Stella took a walk up to north end of the island to explore and the weather was really good so a nice walk was perfect for our last evening. But when I got back Paige asked be to go to the south end with her and some others so since it was the last night I thought i might as well try to see as much as I can. It was really beautiful and we watched the sunset at a little hill with a great view over the coast line.

Friday
Our last activity for the week was rowing boats. Definitely the perfect ending for a great trip! Almost no wind or waves we just took it easy rowing and enjoying the weather and view especially when we rowed past my dream cabin. We went to shore at one point where we got to practice the different knots and help each other out. I told some different stories about the clove hitch which we call the horse knot so I had some story about two horses. A big long story for a small simple knot. When we got back we had to clean out the house and pack, then straight to load up the boats and abandon the island. When we got to the land we said goodbye to the norwegians.

This trip was definitely one of my favourite. Because I was experiencing so many new things like spending so much time by the ocean and on an island. I don’t think I have ever spent so much energy thinking about the different things that exists in the ocean and I thought it was really cool to learn all this different stuff about fishing and especially about the war history in the island.
I might also have such a good time because our group is so much closer now in this trip than in the previous trips. We have been spending so much time together and experiencing and learning together and I could feel we were definitely a different group in our last trip than in our first.
It was also really nice to get to know the norwegians a little better and I thought maybe a similar trip with them could have been in the beginning so we could have gotten to know them better in the beginning. Even though we have had the monday trips with them, I got to know the norwegians in my group a lot better in this trip than at the monday trips.