Reunion

Well, it seems like years ago since we were out there, and it's so long since we've seen everyone. :( *sniff* But, good news, we are going to have a reunion! Yes suree! At Post Office Tower in London (the one with the revolving restaurant!) But it is a friday and we have exams *Boo* *hiss* so we don't know whether we will be able to go. Noooooooooooo

Days 8 and 9

Today we got to phone school. All of our mates and our parents and siblings had gathered together in our CLC to talk to us! Bless! We did miss the hike for it though, but you can't have everything. It was great to talk to everyone again!

On friday we went to a ghost town. It was totally deralict and quite weird. In the space of two weeks the whole town upped and left. They left eveything behind - instruments, games, books, crockery. There was also a bottle house which was very random, but a sign of good recycling I suppose...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone! You will never guess what we ahve just seen!!!!!!!!!!!!
A real live polar bear!!!!!!!!!!!
Just casually strolling along the mountainside, like it was on its way to Tesco's! And we all went mental!!!!
It had something in it's mouth (a fish or maybe a bird) and it was alone. I got some pics, but they aren't very clear. Some people got amazing pics though. Look out for me (Rach) on the TV!!!!!!

Days six and seven

Today we had a huge snowball fight at a place called Texas Bar (It is quite like Ny London)! It was absolutely mint. Everyone got involved, and poor Richard got pelted. We all slid down the slope holding hands, and nearly went off the end into the soil! I think the BBC got some of it on film. This may be the most northerly snowball fight in the world!!! Woo!!!

Then, we went to a tracker's station. Here we met a tracker who had been living there for a year! Brrrr. As we were walking back to the 'beach', we were also brutally attacked by Arctic terns! They were nesting, and were a tiny bit put out by our presence! We had to hold sticks up in the air, to stop them attacking us.
Never mind firearms training... At the beach we decided to go for a wee dip... in the ARCTIC SEA!!!!!!!!!!! ARE WE MENTAL??? Yes probably. I can tell you - it was more than a bit chilly. Apparently, stay in for longer than 2 minutes and you die. Needless to say, we did not test out this theory. And we did not tell our mums that when we phoned them!!!

Day five

We're still travelling back in time! Now...

Day 5 - Sunday 8th
Today we visited two 'towns' on our travels. Ny London was basically one house. This one, like many others we will see later had been abandoned. Inside all the food and bedding was still spread out, and nails still littered the ground. It was really weird. We also saw a reindeer with it's baby! Awwwwww.
Next stop was Ny Alesund, a scientist base. Ny Alesund houses the worlds most northerly pub, shop and post office. We worked with marine biologists, geese men, and artists to get a more indepth knowledge of the land around us. Mary drew a very moving picture of a chair and a table - Becky and Amanda had some stiff competition!

Day four

Now obviously it isn't really day four, so it's time for another trip back in time.....

Day 4 - Saturday 7th

Today we visited UNIS (University of Norway in Svalbard). Adjacent to this, there is Svalbard's National museum. Here there are lots of stuffed animals, including a polar bear - our first sighting!
This was actually really interesting, if just for the comedy value of seeing people squeezing through tiny coal mines if nothing else!
Later on, we boarded the Russian ship Polaris - this was to be our home for the next week. Becky and Mary and Me and Amanda are sharing. The cabins are teeny weeny, but very nice and...cosy! We stopped off at Barantsberg. We had a guided tour around the mining town. We were particularly amazed by the fridges that hung out of everyones windows!

Hi everyone!

Hiya everyone it's mary here, we had the most amazing time ever. We all made some amazing friends and we even saw a polar bear!!!
We had several lectures from various scientists(which someone managed to fall asleep in) and landed on many different islands. As you can imagine I had some blonde moments and embarrased myself quite a bit, however I still had fun. The highlights of the trip was when we got to walk on the arctic pack ice and also how we met so many great people. The worst part was leaving everyone at heathrow airport- where we all cried (me more than others) however i'm glad to be back in my own bed and not having to wake up really early.
We'll all fill you in later once we've all slept for a few days!!!!!

We're back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone, your intreped explorers have returned! It was absolutely amazing - the trip of a lifetime! We will tell you all about it soon, once we have caught up on our sleep! Keep watching the blog, more updates to follow soon

Mr Willis Update

Due to the nature of satellite communication the girls may not have "blogged" much in the last couple of days. There will be an opportunity to speak to the team face to face by video conference on Wed 11th at 1pm. If you wish to participate and you are not a college pupil please contact myself at LCC. We hope you have managed to watch the team on BBC and if you have missed any reports we have most recorded.
Becky I hope you had your camera ready for the polar bear if not make sure you have it tomorrow I hear you may get a sighting!!!!!!!

We are actually here!!!!

Hi Guys!!!!!!!!

Today is day three, but it is the first chance we have had to write here. So... let's step back in time.....

Day 1!
This was a very early start and a really boring day!!! We didn't actually do much, but were still shattered! We just flew all day, crossing about three countries and stopping 4 times! We got tot the guesthouse at 230 tThursday morning and fell into bed. The hostel is nice and basic! However we have to take our shoes off all the time and it's really annoying but never mind we're in the arctic!!!!

Day 2
Today was our first full day in the Arctic. We visited the largest satellite station in the world (it was actually really interesting!) There was supposed to be a great view, but theere was too much fog! It was very cold today!!!!(more than we expected- glad we've got our thermals...) We ate out and had pizza (yes it does exist in the Arctic!) We had to walk to the restaurant and yes Mary had shorts on!!!!!!! Brrrrrrrr

Day 3
Today we had our safety training. In the morning we started off with firearms training. fortunately for the polar bears, we don't get to shoot at all, which we were all gutted about!!! Then we went to the water for the next part of our training. We had to wear gorgeaous, bright orange suits which were miles too big for us (and leaked!) However, we did keep quite warm when we weere lowered into the water and swam back to shore! (well mary & rach swam becky & amanda hitched a ride!!!!)

Today the BBC have joined us- the presenter who was in london is here!! (Mary's very happy about this-NOT!) It is actually quite warm today which is very weird!

Look out for us ion the papers (The Telkegraph, Indepentdent, Metro and Journal etc. ) and on look North.

Today we spokje to lots of the other teams and their all really nice!!!

We'll write back soon luv ya allXXXXXX PS please comment lots!

Message from Mum

Hi Amanda

Great to hear you at all the airports on the way to Svalbard. Bet you are shattered!!!!! Hope you can get the techy stuff sorted so we can send e-mails you. We all love you loads and are missing you. Mum, Dad and Jenn. xxxxx

IT'S TOMORROW

HIYA EVERY1 IT'S ONLY 1 DAY TO GO AND WE'RE ALL VERY EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!
GOT ALL OF OUR CASES PACKED (WELL MOST OF US!)AND WE CANT WAIT TO GET THERE!!!!

Hi
Only two more long days at school left until we go. We have Look North coming in on Monday (tomorrow) so look out for us on the news ",. WE ARE GOING TO THE ARCTIC!!!! It hasn't actually sunk in yet. Nearly finished packing. I got some bathroom scales to see if my suitcase is within the regulations (don't know what I am going to do if it isn't).

We would love you to leave some comments while we are away because we won't be able to ring you or text as there is no signal )= and Svalbard is along way away.

Lots of Love

Amanda*

3 days to go!

It is all very exciting now! I have just packed and I can't believe it! I dont think it will actually sink in until we are on the plane that we are going to the Arctic! These next two days at school will be really bad! We have to keep concentrating on boring things, when we are so close to being off galavanting with polar bears! But seriously, this is a once in a lifetime oppertunity and we are sooo excited! The next ten days are going to be the best of our lives! We hope that you are all enjoying the blog so far and are spreading the love of it to your friends! We want comments from all of you, especially while we are away! Good luck everyone in their exams, and please wish us luck on our trip!

*Rach*

This time next week...

Today is a momentus occasion - this time next week, we will be in the ARCTIC!!! Also, we found out today that we will be live on BBC radio on Monday morning! Woo! Listen out people! Then, we have someone from the BBC website and Look North coming to see us - we have to look our best! Also, tomorrow we are having our infamous video camera training (we are not that technophobic, we just need a bit of help), so that should be fun!
All this environment stuff has really got to our heads. Everywhere we go in school we switch off lights and we get the teachers to recycle their paper! All of our teachers know our reasoning - who hasn't heard that we are going to the ARCTIC???
Also, our friends. We didn't give them a very big section down the side there ----->
so here is our chance. We love all of you a lotta lotta! What would we do without you? We would all be so bored!
Becca - you have been really supportive of us and always complemented our presentation (she was the neutral observer!)
Emily - you have been there for us and never put us down, even though we were the opposing team!
Amy - 100000% in support of us all the way. Woo!
Jen, Ash and Lisa - you have tolerated so much of our ARCTIC talk, wihout ever uttering a word in protest. You are probably as excited as us fro Wednesday!
Jess - words of encouragement are never far! (we'll get you a polar bear, no probs!)
We love you all (and our families of course!) and we will make you a mint video diary (even better than the London one!

ONlY 8 days to go!!!!

We have nearly all packed and are almost all organised. Mary informs us that she has nothing (lets hope that she can get everything together in time). We have dicided which cameras and technical equipment we are going to take with us and are having master classes on how to work them.

10 Days to go!!!!

Aaarrrrrrrgghhh! So little time, so much to do! Thanks to everyone for your kind comments! Watch this space for more info in ten days! I don't know how I'm gonna get through this next week and a bit at school! And we have exams :( Never mind, better get them over with before the big trip!!!

*Rach*

PS This is a pic of us four taken outside the Royal Albert Hall. Well, we had a bit of spare time in London, and Bex had never been before, so Sir took us on a whistle stop tour! Again, the photo taken by the able Mr Willis (so knowledgeable!)

17 days to go!!!!

Hi everyone. I would just like to thank everyone who has helped and supported us throughout this project. Thanks for you comments and messages.

We love you all.

I would especially like to thank my family and the others families,
our friends at school (you are mint we could not have got this far without you) our teachers especially Mr Willis and everyone from hbc I love you guys

Amanda x

Everyone has been so kind and encouraging to us.
Thanks

BT Raffle

On friday, we held a raffle at the North-East's BT call centre, to raise some money for our equipment. We got there at 11 o'clock and left at 3! 4 hours of hard sell! During the day, we met loads of really helpful people. Some got all their friends to come and support us. The day before, Mary also went there to do a live radio interview to promote us! She must have done a good job as we raised about £240! Woo! We also found out that Amanda seems to draw people into buying tickets, without them even knowing it - it must be those big blue eyes! Overall, a really fun day - we are especially grateful to June, Maria, Dean and Ricky! Thanks guys!

Stephen Byers

Well, now I have a bit more time, I'll tell you all a bit more about Stephen Byers' visit. Stephen Byers is an MP for our area, and also part of an environmental team that work at parliament. We met him in the CLC. We had our display boards and our prototype with us. There was also a photographer and our science teacher, Mr Willis. We explained about our idea and the competition to Mr Byers and he seemed very interested. He asked us lots of questions about our and other's ideas. He was also keen to help us with taking our idea forward to the next stage of development. As he said "It's so simple, I'm surprised no one has come up with it before!" This was the general view of a lot of people. We showed him our programme of activities and explained about the firearms training. Before Mr Byers left, we had to have our photos taken. We gathered round our prototype and got some 'natural' shots (ha!) He then wished us good luck with the trip and went on his way. It was a really good experience to meet someone who actually influences the government on topics like the environment. He was really pleased that we had the chance to get involved with our project. We were also really grateful that he could/wanted to come!

3 weeks to go!

This is a really big milestone for all of us! Three small weeks to go! We have quite a bit of our stuff together now - gloves, hats, socks (mucho excitamondo)Just think. This time in 3 weeks we will be in the Arctic!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow we are going to BT to have a raffle! Should be fun!

22 days to go!!!!

This is Amanda and Becky doing that infamous jump that people who have just won always do at the end of movies! They insisted on it! The pic was very skillfully taken by Mr Willis (woo!). Me and Mary decieded to just watch this one... walk away from the mad people...

23 days to go!!!!

Hi everyone,
As you can see we have made some changes to our blog. It would be lovely to hear your opinions on it and maybe suggest some improvements, we might not make them but would love to know what you think. (Maybe you don't think amanda entertains?, I might change that bit). Leave us a comment.

Lots of love
Amanda x

Hello Amanda here.

It is so hard to think about anything other than the trip at the moment!!!! I managed to get my walking boots, they are really nice (for walking boots).I also managed to get some of the other things on my list. The man in the shop knew loads about Svalbard and told me about this website that I should go on. You can get DVDs from this website that show Svalbard in the different seasons. I will see if i can get it because i think it would look quite good on this blog. Then we can give you a little insight into what Svalbard is going to be like.

We hope you will benefit from our blog. Are main aim is to keep you updated with our progress. We promise to post any pictures we take asap. Please leave any comments as we will all miss you so much and it would be great to hear from you. Its a long way away (well not to bad).

24 days!!!! And previously...

Right, I know this is another thing for you to read, but we do like to keep you all up to date! Since we actually won, things have been... slightly chaotic!

On the actual finals day, we did a bit of light shopping, just to take our minds off the stress! Harrods, here we come! Then, it was back to the lecture theatre - we were the first ones there which made us even more nervous! Then, we had a video diary moment! Our reigon was the fifth (I think)to be announced. Mary can squeeze a hand very tightly! Then, they read our name out. We were in shock, it was actually our teacher who reacted first - Yesssssss! Then, we came out of our stupor and ran down the steps!

Before we even got out of the lecture theatre to go home, we had all rung our mams! Then the news person came to film us, so Amanda had to ring again (and fake being excited!) Then we rang Jess and Amy, they were in town, but they screamed anyway! Bless. Then at the train station we rang the rest of our friends and Mr Haines (Head of Science). He was dead chuffed! The first week back, every single teacher came up to us and congratulated us (oh to be famous!) and all our friends mobbed us! They were more excited than us! Our headteacher saw us and was sooo proud! Then, Amanda had an interview with the Journal (our local newspaper). This was then circulated to the Chronicle and the Herald and Post! We had our photos taken. Urgh! Loads of people have seen our articles. Former teachers, music teachers, everyone seems to know!

Oh to be famous...

26 days to go!!!!

Well, we have just had a visit from Stephen Byars! It was really interesting to see what he thought about the idea. We are all soooo excited. We got our kit lists yesterday - it makes it all a lot more real!

hiya every1! This is Becky, hellooooo!!! Can't believe we're actually going to the arctic! This is the first time I've been on the blog - I'm very impressed! Keep cool every1!

27 days to go!!!!

yay

28 days to go!!!

Hello this is a new update. Well actually I just wanted to try this out. Its so cool. We are all really excited.

29 days to go!!!

Well, here we are for the first time! We are all really excited for the Arctic - as you can see we are counting down the days! We are gradually getting our equipment together - coats, bags, shoes (!) and of course thermal underwear. Great. Well at least we will be warm. There's no denying that. Knowing us we'll probably think it's warm. The North East of England has some extreme weather you know...