Saturday 14th July - Last Day ='[

Liss: We were awake by 2am and off the boat by 3. Most people still half asleep as we'd had practically NO sleep!




Even though we'd had 10 days to get used to it, it was still wierd that it was light at that time in the morning. Thank god for eye masks! We said goodbye to the crew of the boat and Vanessa and went to Longyearbyen airport which had to be the whole of 5 rooms! I'm serious! Arrivals and Departures were the same room!

We flew straight to Oslo and had an 8 hour layover so we went to some Museums, The FramHeim and the Kon Tiki Museum. The FramHeim is a huge boat in which a man and his crew reached the North Pole first in and survived the winter in a hole in the pack ice before being rescued. We were aloud to look around the boat which still had most things in it.

As we checked into Oslo ready to fly back to Heathrow, people began to realise that it was the end of our days together and we wouldnt see each other for ages until we hopefully have a reunioun in December. Coming through arrivals at Heathrow was very emotional and most people were crying. We actually missed our train back to Doncaster on account of how long is took us to all claim our baggage and say goodbye to each other. Luckily, there was another train going through Doncaster and we were able to get on that. Lucy & I spent the whole train ride home playing Slam! the card game everyone played on the ship, our mums were getting abit annoyed as we were more interested in the game than telling them everything!




This was such an amazing experience and we really can't thank everyone who organised it enough! We've made some great friends that we are all staying in touch with via email! And every single one of us is hoping for a reunion in December...hopefully at 81 degrees North! I know I'll never ever forget it, I have hundreds of memories that will last me a lifetime!

PICTURES WILL FOLLOW SOON!

Friday 13th July

Liss: Today was Lucys much awaited day...dog sledding!!! We got on the Zodiacs to get to the port at Longyearbyen and then went on the coach to the kennels. There were about 80 dogs all together and the guide told me he could tell each of them apart and remembered all their names! There were two carts, one that held 6 and one that held 10 and the guides set them up. The dogs were really aggressive to each other and were fighting like crazy but loved people.


Claire stroking a husky =D

In the winter they use sleds to get through the snow but as it was summer and the roads were clear, we went on carts. It wasnt bumpy at all. At the other side we went into an octagonal hut which had no light apart from the candles and a fir in the middle. We were served soup, bear, coffee and special cookies from Svalbard!!!



We returned to the ship on zodiacs to sail to Pyramiden. The waters were very choppy and you had to hold on tight. Our group was the first group back but a bit later we heard someone had fallen out! Luckily, Kim was fine and found it all very funny! She just needed the sauna! She was the first and only person to fall out!

With everyone back on board we sailed to Pyramiden and got there in the evening, it was a deserted ghost town which still had everything left in it. The villagers had to leave in a rush so all their furniture was still in the houses, the hospital still had medication in! We were the only people there I think! We walked along the hill to see the house made out of glass bottles.



We got back on the boats at about half past 10 and all trudged to bed to wake up at about 2 o clock the next morning!

Thursday 12th July

Lucy: Today was the media's last day, so we sailed back to Longyearbyen and dropped them off at the airport.

We went back to UNIS, and went into a lecture room. One of the guides (and students at UNIS), Sebastian, showed us the difference between freshwater ice (pure water) and sea ice (contains salt). It was very interesting, especially when we went into the cold labs. There were two, -30 C and -4C. They let us lick some sea ice, and it was disgusting!!! EWWW! We also went into an marine biology lab to study cocopods and marine plankton. The professional microscopes let us see them very clearly.

In the afternoon, we were able to get permission to go to an untouched island to hunt for fossils. We were given special hammers for us to brake in between the layers of the sedimentary rock to find fossils. Liss and I both found ammonites!



That night was our last night as Ice Edge winners, so we had a HUGE disco!! It was great fun, and we even got the teachers dancing!

Liss: It wasn't our official last night but as we were off the boat early in the morning, the actual last night we went to bed early!!! The Disco rocked but was really sad at the same time as we didn't want to leave our friends!

Wednesday 11th July

Lucy: Today was a history day. We went to an old whaling station in groups, on the Zodiacs! You could see the piles of rock, where the whales were put on to cook there blubber for oil. Ahhhhhh, poor whales! There were LOADS of rocks and it was cool climbing on them, like an arctic obstacle course.

Liss: I was still recovering from the sea sickness the night before and spent the morning in bed!!!

Lucy: One of the highlighs of the day was our "audio" conference in the afternoon. Using the motorola brick satellite phones, we were able to speak to our Geography teacher Mr Minchin, the head of Humanities (Mr Taylor), Mr Honey, our Mums, my sister and all our friends! We told them all about the trip, but also desperately wanted to know what info they had received about Y9!

Liss: The journalists around us were well informed about who went out with who!!!

Only 3 days left!! =[

Tuesday 10th July

Lucy: Monday night was a late night, because the leaders had been informed by the captain that we would be breaking through the pack ice at 2 in the morning. My trustworthy alarm woke me up bright and early, I put salopettes on over my pyjamas and was ready to break through the ice. I went upstairs a bit early to see the ice-breaking status, while Liss was still asleep (Liss: as usual!!!). But to our surprise, the Captain was wrong and we were actually going to be breaking through the ice 5 hours later! So we trudged back to bed (or as some did, fell asleep on the sofas in the common room!)

But we did get there at mid-day, and it was beautiful. We had to settle the boat for about 1-2 hours so the ice could freeze around us. The ice-sheet stretched for miles on end, but it's stability was so erratic. There were pools of water leading down to the ocean bed in some places, but then a metre away there was ice 60cm deep! It was quite smooth, unlike the iceberg the BBC went on. It was crammed with large boulders of snow!

The captain originally said the water was safe to go on, so people put on the orange, survival smurf (hehe) suits and were lifted down in a crane, 2 at a time. I went down with Becky (Team Effelence) and it was a thrilling feeling! Knowing there was 600m of water beneath our feet was amazing. It was very funny on the BBC footage of Verity singing "I'm on top of the world!"



Unfortunately, the ice was deemed unsafe before everyone (including Liss) could go on but it was a beautiful environment to be in.

Later on that night, we sailed to Moffen Island, home to a large walrus colony. The sailing conditions were too rough to go ashore, but the walruses sat in large groups so we could see them very clearly. They were very large, and obviously very powerful! The weather was so rough, that nearly everyone was either sick or in bed!
Liss: I was both =S

The pack ice was a highlight of the trip and everyone was honoured to be standing there. Liss and I reckon we were the youngest people from Yorkshire to go to 81 degrees North. And Liss is perhaps the first person ever to wear their Pajama's at Pack Ice!



Pajamas && Walking Boots - A Very Good Mix

Monday July 9th

Monday was a fun day for us! We saw our first.....actually, I'll let Lucy tell you, but I'm sure you might be able to guess anyway!

Monday July 9th

Liss: As soon as possible on Monday morning we were on the Zodiacs and heading to a little island called Texas Bar (it had its own little hut with a bar!!!! No bartender though!). Me and Lucy had pictures taken sliding down the snow, I did have jeans on but didnt care a bit at that time, but i did a bit later when we went on a hike! We found polar bear tracks in the middle but the best part was at the end of the hike when we found a big patch of snow and had a MASSIVE snowball fight! And I do mean massive, even the teachers and reporters were having ago, chucking snowballs and sliding down the hill on their bums, it was very funny! There was an awesome video of a newpaper reporter getting hit right in the face with a snowball, a particular "enemy" of ours! Only Joking Dan!


Polar Bear Tracks


Texas Bar =D



Lucy: Monday night was one of the best parts of the trip! Onboard the Polaris, we sailed through a narrow channel as par of a wildlife cruise. We didn't see tons of animals, but the one we did see will stick with us forever. The guide pointed out a white object in the distance. Cameras were out and we searched the surrounding mountains for it. Soon, we saw it- the polar bear!! It was gently crawling across the mountain slowly and innocently- you couldn't belive that it was actually very aggressive and would kill you. It was (quite alarmingly) carrying a piece of cloth in it's mouth- hopefully not from it's last hunt!

Liss: We were told at first that it was a bird or fish in its mouth and later told that it was a t-shirt of some description. I wouldnt like to be that poor guy!


He's staring at you!

July 7th && July 8th

Okay, so as we are actually back home now on account of having no internet connectivity because of how far north we were, we shall now update you!!!

July 7th

Liss: After having a panic in the morning about over-sleeping and packing before going on the boat, we finally dropped our bags by the boat and went off to the Svalbard Museum which was really cool. They had real stuffed polar bears, seals, arctic foxes and the like (walruses aswell, even though they were stuffed i wasnt all too keen on them!!!!).


Jade feeding Marvin to the Polar Bear

After going to the Museum we had a lecture on insects in Svalbard in the Lecture Room with the incredibly comfy chairs!!!! Luckily, we had a lie in that morning and didnt fall asleep! A short while later we boarded the Polaris and set sail to Barranstburg, a pretty much deserted Russian mining village! There were only 4 children that lived there and everything was a bit run down!
July 8th

Lucy: In the morning, we sailed to Ny-London and used the Zodiacs to go to the beach there. It was a deserted piece of land, rich with wildlife and plants. We saw an Arctic fox, reindeer and birds! There were sevral old huts, which hasd been abandoned and were considered cultural artefacts.


The view of Ny-London from the mountain

Afterwards, we sailed to Ny-Alesund- the scientific base, home to 90 scientists from 10 different countries. We met with several guides, who told us about the history of Svalbard, about several famous expeditions and about the animals there. There was alos an Arctic artist there! We bought a postcard fromt he most Northerly shop on Earth (and asked Mark Kelly, the NASA astronaut on the trip, for his autograph)and sent it to our geography teacher, Mr Minchin from the most Northerly post office on Earth!

Then once again, back to the Polaris and it was all aboard again!

Day 3- Safety Training

Today was our safety training day, starting off with a presentation from UNIS (University of Norway In Svalbard) about the dangers of Svalbard and the necessary precautions! We were very tired though-it was hard not to fall asleep in the comfy lectur room chairs!

We then headed out to the Rifle range to be shown how to use the guns in case a polar bear turns nasty! (The BBC had also arrived so the cameras were rolling!) There were targets and a professional was there, but the chances are we won't need to use them! The leaders stayed on for further training while we headed out to the coast.

We started with a member of the UNIS staff showing us how to do the basics of professional camping, inclouding how to put up a tent, light a stove and carry an injured team member into the tent safely! We also tried some camping hot chocolate- very comforting with this cold weather.

The best part of the day was the water training. We were all given orange survival suits which covered all our skin head-to-toe. On a small Zodiac (Norwegian dinghy), we headed out 1/5 of a km out to sea and they dropped us in the water! But no worries, these suits wouldn't let us sink if we wanted to! Our challenge was to swin back to shore on our backs connected to one another, as in a real emergency. It was quite relaxing, being able to float withe waves, but we got a bit tangled up! The suits made us look like orange Smurfs!

We are about to head out to a Spitsbergen restaurant- yummy!

The weather is so refreshing and the surroundings are beautiful!

Bye for now,

Liss and Lucy
The Iced Gems
xx

Reporting From Svalbard!

We are here in the Arctic, reporting to you from the Spitsbergen Guest house! We may have arrived last night at 2 in the morning, but didn't get to sleep until 4!
The weather is very cold (not in a bad way), and thermals were out of the suitcase first!

Lucy: The scenery is breathtaking. The mountains interlock and are dotted with ice- it's beautiful! The Arctic air is so fresh, clean and so refreshing. I love it!

Liss: After waiting hours and hours of waiting at airports, lugging the baggage around, we finally got here! One thing is for sure, it's very different to Doncaster! No floods around here, just miles and miles of ice and mountains. It was so wierd when we actually went through a cloud today on the way to the Satelite Station!!! Mr Linsell's Science lessons came in handy when we were talking about satellites.

Lucy: At the Satellite Station, we met with a scientist who works closely at SvalSat. He showed us how the sateelites work and their purposes. It was very interesting to see how dependant we are on them! We both thoroughly enjoyed going inside the antenna. It was collosul! It followed the satellites through the sky, but we still ducked when it dived so close to the ground!

Liss: The satellite we went to (one of about 5) was close enough to walk to, but on account of all the fog that day we got in the mini-bus, who knows whats camoflauged out there! And I swear I saw a polar bear, but no-one believes me =[

Tomorrow we are off to do firearms and water safety and will be writing back soon!

Pictures will follow

Bye =]

6 days and we're off!

Okay, we may have been excited before, but now we're ecstatic!!!

This is Liss, just calling in to give an update on things happening round Doncaster....apart from the major flooding!!!

Last week we met Caroline Flint, MP for this area, when she came to school to personally congratulate us. We had more photo's taken for the newspapers - we almost know these photographers on first name terms now!

BBC Leeds delivered the video camera yesterday for us to take footage - something else to cram into our suitcases!

United Biscuits (the manufacturers of Iced Gems) sent approx. 400 packets of Iced Gems - No, they are not going in our suitcase but we intend sharing them with our school mates. We've got loads of best friends now!!!

So, off to get sea sick tablets at the weekend!

Despite the flooding the trains to London are still running so we will manage to get to Heathrow!

21 days to go!

Only 21 days to go until Svalbard! We are so excited. What are we most looking forward to about the trip? Simply being in such a beautiful environment, so different to our own. Liss especially can't wait to visit the pack ice and see global warming up close. Lucy is excited to see the polar bears and the glaciers. They both can't wait to simply see the snow, but especially to do the dog-sledding- huskies rock! :)
We had so much fun on Finals Day. Setting up our display was such a great build-up, and we enjoyed going to the Science Museum in the morning. But the best part certainly was presenting to the judges. We had practised so many times and even in front of our entire year group! Presenting the the judges felt like the moment of truth and we thoroughly enjoyed it! We collapsed in a heap of happiness and excitement afterwards! When they called out our names, we were thrilled! We both gave each other a hug, then leaped up to have our photo taken. It was fantastic!
21 days to go and we are buzzing with joy! We shall report back later!

Lots of love,

Liss and Lulu
The Iced Gems
xx

Since the finals!

Since winning Ice Edge everything has gone so quickly! Newspaper articles, photographers and even BBC Look North! It feels like we're celebrities! Of course we did find time to fit in shopping trips for all the essentials we need! Whilst everyone else is buying their summerwear, we're catching all the winterwear before it goes!

Only a month to go and it is all very exciting! BBC Look North have even asked us to film a video diary whilst we are there!

Watch this space as we will be reporting back soon....maybe even from Svalbard!

Liss & LuLu
The Iced Gems xxx