Cape Farewell Youth Expedition 2007

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hey guys, it’s just a quick hello today. yesterday we went around Trygghamna and spotted two reindeers and when back at the ship we saw a polar bear, he was amazing! don’t worry, i’m fine!

miss you guys all so much and i wish you were here with me to see the sun set, to feel the breeze to wake up in the morning to the sound of nothingness, the whole thing is just incredible! i was on night duty last night from 4:00 til 6:00 am, i was in charge of driving the ship, and luckily the ship didn’t sink.
am a great sailor now…haha!

hope you’re all well and if you have any questions please blog me, this place is awesome and i want to share it with you all as much as possible! i will blog more during the week so keep checking!
u8232 amy x

We’re Now In Ny Alesund. Saw Some Glaciers, Watched Them Fall, Was Awesome!.
I’m Good, I’m Ok, It’s Getting Colder. Didn’t See Any Other Animals.
Some Of The Others Are Already Doing Their Science Projects. I’m Still Waiting To Talk To A Scientist.
See You All Soon.

B?f0

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Finally On The Ship, After A Week Of Preparation. We left Longyearbyen At Around 6:30 Supper Time. Then Me, Hailey And Jozef Also Students, Had The First Shift Of Look-Outs. So As Usual, I Was First To Steer the Ship,, I’m So Proud Of Myself!, And I Was The First To Go up In Front of The Ship Where There is A Net We Can Stand On, But I Had To Use A Safety Rope, So I A Limited Area To Walk On.. I Couldn’t Go Right to The Tip That Was BORING!!!. Our Look-Out Shifts Are 2-3 Hours Long, And We’re In 4 Groups Of 3 People per Group. So Far We Haven’t Seen Anything, but Sure Enough We’ll See Something Tomorrow! I’m Finally Feeling Excited, Just Because I Know That I’ll Be Asking Some Scientist Questions About The Future And I’ll Be Doing My Research! Can’t Wait..
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Yesterday was a really awesome, cool, busy day. We met up with the kids in Longyearbyen, then we went souvenir shopping, and we started on our way to Ny Alesund, where we will be performing our scientific procedures. We stopped at Trygghamna. The sea was come and sweet until morning came. The waves shifted a bit. The following day we went for a long hike on an island next to Trygghamna. We walked for 2 hours and went back to shore. While on our walk we saw a few reindeer, some live, other dead. I was surprised to see that the whole shore was covered in rocks. A little further up the mountain we saw moss and plants growing. It takes approx. 20 years for a small cover of moss to appear. Finally when we went back to the boat and we saw 1 polar bear, from a reasonable distance. When we rang the bell everyone was rushing to the deck. Too funny. But when we finally got on deck we had to go back to our rooms to get our life jackets. I never imagined in my whole that I would be starring at a polar bear. Now I’ve seen everything, a black bear, a grizzly bear and last but not least a polar bear. Amazing.
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Akash takes tips from Gert, the Captain, on how to sail.

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Liam and Amelie haul the sails, as the Noorderlicht sails up to Ny-Alesund. 

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Was fuer eine Reise!!! Gestern ging es endlich mit der Noorderlicht los nach Ny-Alesund! Natuerlich waren wir alle vorher sehr aufgeregt, denn mit so einem Schiff faehrt man nicht alle Tage.Doch auch der Donnerstag und Freitag in Longyearbyen waren super schoen. Als wir nach einem anstrengendem Flug endlich im “Basecamp”, einem sehr netten und gemuetlichen Hotel, angekommen waren ging es am Abend auch gleich zu einem Jugendklub wo wir mit norwegischen Jugendlichen geredet haben. Wir haben Tischfussball gespielt, Musik gehoehrt, Pizza gegessen und Spass gehabt. Am Freitag haben wir die Schule hier in Longyearbyen besucht. Das war ein tolles Erlebniss, den deren Schule ist ganz anders als unsere!!! Schuhe zu tragen ist verboten, dem entsprechend ist es sehr sauber. Die Klassen sind gross, mordern eingerichtet und super schoen. Sie haben ausserdem einen Fitnessraum und ein Schwimmbad. Die Schueler waren total offen und sympathisch.Ina und ich haben Live Bloging gemacht und hatten ein sehr lustiges Interview mit dem “Tigerentenclub”.Und dann ging es auch schon los: Nach dem das ganze Gepaeck aufgeladen war, konnten wir zum ersten Mal auf das Schiff. Es ist gross, gemuetlich und komfortabel. Ein schnelles Einraeumen der Zimmer, dann gab es Essen von “Anna”, die Koechin. Das war soooo lecker!!!….mhhhh…Und dann wurde auch schon losgesgelt: Wir wurden in Gruppen aufegteielt, und muessen mehrere Schichten pro Tag uebernehmen. Es bringt wirklich sehr viel Spass und keiner wollte ins Bett gehen.
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Location: NOORDELICHT, COOOMIN ROOM/ WEST SVALBARD
My whole world has been turned upside down over the last two days. Things that seemed important or relevant before doesn’t seem to matter now. Being surrounded by this sheer beauty and vastness has made me think and about the importance of life and the place humans have in our planet. Being on this ship I feel incredibly close to nature and what our planet should be. Back home we have created a reality for ourselves that seems rather fake when you experience this. What I am seeing here is real and the land that Mother Nature has given us originally and we have altered it so much. And I don’t think that we should have the right to determine what happens to this land when it gave us the right to live here in the first place. Seeing where the sun meets the water and the land makes me feel like I am on the edge of the earth and we are sailing to a peaceful end. If heaven exists I think that it might look like this.

On a lighter note today we saw a polar bear on the shore! Yes I saw a polar bear! We were returning to the ship after our 2hr hike and the captain spotted the bear walking exactly where we had just been. It was crazy to think that we had just been there and if we waited onshore any longer we might have run into him. Then we raised the sails on the ship and have been sailing ever since. We are now in open water and I have slowly gotten used to the rocking and movement the waves create onboard. At first I felt a bit sick but now I can handle it when I am on the higher levels (forget it in the cabins). Tea is soon and then I have another watch to do. The first was eventful with the polar bear and the sails being raised. I hope the next one is just as lively. Blogging is difficult for me with the seasickness so bear with me. Today I have been feeling a little down (not my normal, loud self). I have been trying to take it all in and make sense of it all. It still all seems a little surreal.

Love and miss you all,
Shona x

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Hi Guys,
I’m finally here even though it is hard to believe. We flew from Heathrow to Stockholm after a hectic day of sightseeing. That evening we got around three hours sleep, because we had a flight at 6 am to Oslo. Then we had a connecting flight to Longyearbyen (capital of Svalbard) stopping shortly at Tromso (north Norway). However after a life long journey we have arrived and it is astonishing. You can’t visualise it at all the air, temperature and light is all completely different. This evening we had a tour of the town and visited museum learning about the history of Svalbard and its mining. We then met some of the children of Svalbard at a youth club. It was incredible how much we all have in common despite the place they live in.
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Heute Morgen, bevor wir uns auf den Weg nach Ny Alesund gemacht haben, sind wir mit einem kleinen Schlauchboot an Land gebracht worden und haben einen Spatziergang gemacht. Wir haben jede Menge Knochen gefunden, unter anderen auch einen Wirbelknochen eines Wals, und Fluegel von Voegeln, einen toten, angeknabberten Polar Fuchs und ein totes Renntier, von dem ausser dem Fell, ein paar Knochen und der Kopf nichts mehr uebrig war. Warscheinlich ist es gestuerzt, hat sich das Genick gebrochen und wurde dann von Fuechsen verspeist.
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