28/5/2018-1/6/16

Introduction

Our last organised trip for the semester was with the Norwegian Friluftsliv class to the island of Østre Randøya approximately 11 kilometres from Kristiansand from Monday until Friday participating in various outdoor activities run by Kjetil, Svein and Svein Rune. The weather was expected to be a little bit rainy and stormy for the first 2 days but then fine up into sunny weather for the rest of the week.

Summary

On Monday morning, we met at Kongshavn to catch the ferry over to the island. Rob, Linda, Aaron, Tom, Jed and I had ridden our bikes from Roligheden to the harbour so by the time we got there we were fairly sweaty. We loaded up the kayaks and bags and then headed over to the island. It started raining as we arrived and as we unloaded the bags but it was no problem as it was quite humid and it washed the mosquitos away because there were so many and they were eating us alive. Once unloaded we met out the front all together and Svein, Svein Rune and Kjetil explained what the week would entail and then divided us up into our groups and showed us where each group would be sleeping. We were to meet back at 2pm to begin our first activity. My group’s first activity was basic Kayaking run by myself and Scott as we had done the Kayak trip just the week previously. Each activity went for 2.5 hours so we had plenty of time and most people in the group had Kayaked before so we were able tomove on from basic skills quickly. But to summarise we ran through skills such as straight line paddling, low brace, turning techniques as well as rescue techniques. Once we agreed everyone could complete these tasks we paddled further to more open water where it was a bit more challenging with currents and increased swell. Once we made it back many of us were completely soaked so we went for a swim anyway off the pontoon. Once back both groups 3 and 4 were all soaking wet so we hung everything up to dry and ate. A couple of us also went fishing Monday evening and myself and Rob caught good sized Pollack and Anders caught a little baby one.

Tuesday morning, we had Kayaking again but this time it was a trip and not just skills so we paddled through Skippergata and then west of the island and around back into the dock. This trip for me was definitely the breaking of the ice with the Norwegians in my group. I started chatting to Steffen and Kristian quite alot and we got on well. I already knew Matias so that was good to hang out with these boys and get to know them a bit more. In the afternoon activity, we met with Svein to do some shallow water biology. It was mainly looking for different types of shells and sea weed and crabs which I had done quite a lot as a kid but it was quite interesting because Svein was so knowledgeable in the marine life. That evening my group had the tour of the second world war and cold war tunnels with Kjetil which was really interesting. The history around the southern Norway area is full of old bunkers and pill boxes from the German occupation which is quite cool. It is just like an open museum all around the Kristiansand Kommune.

On Wednesday, the weather became beautiful and sunny and quite warm. This also meant an increase in Ticks and mosquitos which were constantly around. We had to check for Ticks constantly although they seemed to like some of us more than others. This was the day my group had the island trip which involved us rowing to an island and staying on it overnight with just a small bag of food and our day bags to simulate us getting lost or getting caught in bad weather. On the way, a couple of the row boats were much quicker than the last one so we lost one of the boats and so we waited in a small inlet for them but they did not come for about 45 minutes. We did not act on this very quickly however which was not the best move in hindsight as it could have been a lot worse if they had actually become lost. Once we found them 2 of the stronger rowers (Anders and Will) took their boat instead. The weather was perfect however so we went fishing and swimming and set fishing nets too. We caught a few fish so we added them to the cooked potatoes and onions and carrot. Even though it was not that much food it was enough to sleep comfortably. We all found nice rocks to sleep on and I put my towel over my face whilst sleeping to avoid the mosquitos and small flies constantly buzzing around. The sun came up early the next morning around 4am so I was up early along with everyone else.

Sunrise looking towards Kristiansand

Thursday began with us rowing back to Østre Randøya and we arrived around 6am. I had slept relatively well on the island that night as mentioned and there had been a beautiful sunrise which I felt incredibly lucky to witness. Once we all packed up we picked up the nets and found we had 8 fish in them with 1 being a plaice which was great including a crab.  Once we got back and had settled in again we met with Kjetil to run through gutting of fish. We had made the mistake of leaving our boxes of fish in next to the picnic table which, by the time we started gutting had been in the full sun for a couple hours. We should’ve known better. Thankfully Kjetil had noticed earlier and moved it inside the tunnel for us to keep cool. Steffen had quite a lot of experience in fishing previously so he showed a few of us how to gut and clean the fish ready for cooking. In the afternoon session, we had motor boat practise and navigation. Kjetil also ran this activity and explained all the important factors involved such as the engine and steering. The engines were only 6 horsepower however so it was not too much of an issue. We took a similar route to where we had gone kayaking. Through Skippergatta and out and around the island we had stayed the night on. Once we got back we were all really hot again so we borrowed some kayaks and paddled to a good cliff to jump off. We spent about 1 hour here then headed back to make our fish soup.

Friday began for group 3 with rowing with Sveine Rune. Many of us had not rowed before so this was a good experience and I rather enjoyed it even though we took the same route as kayaking and motor boating. By the end of the activity we could row in a straight line consistently for quite a long distance and adjust our direction easily if needed. Once we were back we got instructions from Kjetil on what groups would clean what area as it was stressed we leave the building in better condition than how we found them. My group (3) oversaw the hospital where we had been sleeping so we cleaned and vacuumed and mopped and once done took everything outside down to the dock for loading onto the boats. Once we loaded everything up we headed back to Kongshavn.

Learning outcomes

I was able to gain some new experiences this week including handling a light motor boat, rowing, fishing with nets and gutting fish. It is necessary for many outdoor jobs to have a vast variety of outdoor experience.

I would say my group’s only mistake for the week was on our island trip where we did not even out the strong rowers and weak rowers thus resulting in us losing one boat. On top of this we left the fish out the next morning but I would say that was from weariness from the night then being lazy. Overall it was a very beneficial week however I wish we had had the chance to do this with the Norwegian class at an earlier date as we really began to click with them and get along well.