A few months on....

Well here we are 12 weeks and 1 day since our return from the trip of a lifetime - and what an amazing 12 weeks it has been! In the 12 days after our return Tom, Ellouise and Natalie returned to school for the last week of school whilst I joined 9 other pupils from Wildern to travel to Beijing, China for a 'Towards the Olympics' festival - that was a fantastic experience - especially two trips around the world in a month! lol. I don't know about the other three but my summer holidays continued to be the best in my life so far :D

But the time then came - September 5th for the return to school - but at least I am now only studying my GCSE subjects and not everything :P lol. Since our return to school we have received the photos and DVDs from Edge which are amazing and bring back so many memories every time i watch them. Natalie has been working very hard on a display board in school and many disks of photos and DVDs are still floating around within school. Sometime we are going to plan assemblies about our trip as well as continuing to participate in our schools environment group to make our school more envirnmentally friendly.

The next few weeks for Ellouise, Tom and I will be very busy as it is not very far off our school production of 'Grease' (Ellouise is in the cast and Tom and I are part of the backstage crew) which everyone has put many hours of very hard work into. On the day of the last night of the show it is my birthday and my fellow stage crew are intending on embarasing me at the after show party (again)!!!!!

I speak for all of us in saying that we cant wait for the reunion in January and to see everyone again will just bring back evenmore fantastic memories!!!!!

Cyas
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Down to earth, back to reality.....

And what a crash-landing it was.....

I cant say it was particularly nice being back home after 10 days spent in the arctic with some of the most fantabulous and inspiring people in the world but hey! There you go, cant have everything n not many people will ever get 2 do what we have just experienced. Although we did get 2 c all our m8s again which was a bonus.


Is ne1 else out there still a bit sniffly wen summat reminds you of the great time we had?? Especially songs - they seem 2 set us off. Even the happy ones.

We seem 2 b minor local celebrities @ the mo - a media frenzy all around, recognisations from the telly and countless autograph requests. I now know how it feels 2 b Victoria Beckham..... lol! Although I have noticed that some people still don't seem 2 b getting it right - a letter we got sed dat der wer only 3 of us going n da local paper used us as a space-filler claiming that we were still sailing north towards the pack ice. AND THAT WAS YESTADAY!!!!! Well i suppose it's only 9 days out.........

Nobody's perfect (although im so close it scares me!!!!!!!! lol! ) JOKES! lol!


Got r new timetables 2day - yay! Only half a day left @ skl - DUBBLE YAY!!! lol!

4 those of u hu, like me wish 2 reminisce of the trip, mary (from effelence, who is really nice n is my m8) as dun sum amazin pix. Ere is 1 of dem!

Whaddya fink? Pretty kool, huh? Mary Wright, u r a superstar!


The weather here sux - as soon as we got back, it started raining. After 10 days of experiencing no precipit8tion, it was an almost alien sensation. Well, i av now officially ad the first official downpour since arriving home back in England. Whilst walking 2 skl. Lets jst say i can imagin how skin-tight leather trousers feel. And it aint nice.
I didnt av an umbrolly either - Thank God 4 the Helly Hansen Ice Edge jackets - even chav brands cum in useful sumtimes!!!!! lol!

Oh, how it feels 2 b home....

Well, im not gonna lie, it doesnt feel that gr8. We all had such an amazing time out there that so many people will never get the chance to experience.

*A MASSIVE apology 2 those of you who actually took the time 2 look at our blog but found that it hadnt been updated. We had no connectivity nearly all the time on the ship so obviously, if we didnt have any internet, we couldnt go ON the internet, and we couldnt add any new posts. SORRY!!!!! So there u go, thats my grovelling over....

On a happier note, we had an amazing time so i will quickly giv u a brief overview of the trip (although i get monday n tuesday a bit mixed up....)Apologies if some of the dates and occasions dont match up - some days i forgot 2 do the diary thing.
*Wed 4th - set off for Svalbard, arriving around 1:30 next morning and staying in Spitsbergen Guest House.

*Thu 5th - we went 2 SvalSat - the world's biggest satellite station and ate at a posh restaurant called Kroa.

*Fri 6th - Safety training with UNIS. Learnt how 2 react 2 polar bears including guns, how 2 set up camp on Svalbard and water safety using those sexy orange survival suits......

*Sat 7th - Went 2 UNIS museum in morning - every animal in there except the whale is real, it was really good. We later boarded the Russian cruise ship Polaris.

*Sun 8th - Saw an entymologist (insect guy) @ UNIS and later went to Ny-London and Ny-Alesund. In Ny-Alesund, we studied arctic anthropods and met the arctic artist called Antonia (note my use of alliteration)who was very kind n gave me a pack of oil pastels!
*Mon 9th n Tues 10th -
(Things i know were on Monday) Went to an island with Texas Bar and went hiking - really good and had a MASSIVE snowball fight with over 50 people - even the journalists joined in! Went 2 Barentsburg which is an abandoned ghost town.
(Things I think were on Monday but could've been Tuesday) WE SAW OUR FIRST (AND ONLY) POLAR BEAR!!!!!It was walking along the mountain with a fish dangling out its mouth....
(things i know were on tuesday) Went hiking again and later had the opportunity 2 swim in the arctic ocean. Me n Alex (my bf) dived headfirst down a mountainside of snow in only tsirts n trousers. (i lost all sensation in my arms from the elbows down....)lol! and me n mary (1 of my m8s from effelence)(in only her bikini) made (possibly) the most northerly snow angels in the world. lol! WE also crossed the 80 degrees north barrier and made it 81.9 deg north altogether in the pack ice

*Wed 11th - Went to an old whaling station in the morning and went for a long hike up the side (and down the other) of a mountain. Lets just say a FEW of us didnt manage 2 stay upright.....

*Thu 12th - Sebastien (one of our guides) gave a talk about ice cores at UNIS n let us stand in a human freezer that was -3 degrees. Surprisingly, it wasnt actually that chilly in there. Also had a treasure hunt n got 2 fling an ice cube @ the judges using a catapult made out of tweezers and a hairband... lol! Classic.

*Fri 13th - WE WENT HUSKY SLEDDING!!!!!! it was amazing! Stopped for lunch in a hut that was completely blacked out apart from a campfire n candles scattered about the room. The guy was even nice enough to make us a soup with meat n potatoes which was very yummy. Started r packing. And repacking. Thank God i was room-m8s wiv michelle who just happens 2 b extremely good @ packing..... Also went 2 a ghost town. Y WOULD SUM1 WANT 2 MAKE US GO 2 A GHOST TOWN ON FRIDAY THE 13TH????? Ive gotta admit though, it was pretty interesting. Oh yeah, we also saw a bottle house which was made completely from glass bottles. How amazing would it b 2 live in that!?!?!?!?!

*Sat 14th - Home again. They say there's no place like home but we all just wanted 2 stay. We caught r flight 2 Oslo n looked round the Kon-Tiki museum n then the Framheim musuem n then departed Norway for London Heathrow. (i must say that the norwegian lasagnes are the best i av ever tasted!) Needless 2 say, tears flowed all round. However, there is gonna b a reunion (probs with even more tears)n we r already counting the days!

Just wanna say hi 2 every1 - in particular: Alex, Kerry, Mary, Manda, Rachel, Becky, Lucy, Kim, Jess n Christine. LUV U ALL LOADS N CANT W8 2 C U ALL AGAIN!!!
Missing everyone already***********************oxo***********************

Thanks 2 every1 who made this experience possible for us - u really r one in a million.

As sum of u know, I had Race For Life 2day so even though i was extremely tired (as always) i somehow dragged (run) my way around the 5k course in pink fairy wings n a white micro-mini so as promised 2 many of u, heres a pic to PrOvE it! lol

An Apology and A Sad Goodbye

BREAKING NEWS!!!

The intrepid explorers have returned from their 10 days in the high Arctic. Although they have a massive apology in that once they boarded the 'Polaris' they were unable to get an internet connection (unless you were the BBC staying up all night and taking 6 hours to send 4 minutes of footage) so therefore (as you have probably gathered) we couldn't update the blog. :-(

Keep looking in the next few days for more updates on what we have been up to and also look at the Ice Edge website and BBC Breakfast for more pics etc. Also watch South Today on Monday evening for 3 of the explorers live re-living their experiences (one of the explorers are on their way to China. :-D)

Well cya all

Luv da Natures Angels
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Day 2!!!!

Hello!!



Well today was an even earlier start - 5:30 for breakfast at 7!!!!! So still very sleepy - had a fairly late night as well. Last night we went to 'Basecamp' for a meal and had very nice pizza with some very weird toppings!!! Also a yummy chocolate desert (which Mich didnt eat and gave to Ellouise as Mich doesnt like deserts!!!).
Today we went to UNIS (University Norway In Svalbard) for safety training!!! We started with a breifing about general safety and then got on a bus up to the firing range. Here we discussed what you would do if you encountered a polar bear. Then we were shown about the 30-60mm Rifle, Flare Pistol, Signal Pen and Thunder Crashes. These would all help you to scare off a polar bear or if worse comes to worse kill a polar bear!!!! :'( Unfortunatly we were not allowed a go with the guns ourselves (but count ourselves lucky when Nat is about!!! :-))
After that we went back to the University for lunch whilst the Adults stayed for more training with the guns - which some didnt enjoy. The last activity of the day was water training. We had to get into Survival Suits and went out in a Zodiak (inflatable boat) and then we jumped in and swam back to shore. 3 of us were connected with safety lines and kept getting tangled :-). Also whilst the second group did the water training we learnt about camping on Svalbard. It was really fun.

Tomorrow we are going to the Svalbard Museum in the morning, more shopping and then going onto the boat (finally). From there we are travelling North towards 81 degrees lattitude (more geography Mrs B) and going onto a glacier and some pack ice.

Well about where we are staying - at the moment we are staying in a guest house. Ellouise, Natalie and Michelle are all sharing a room and it is very messy!!!!! Tom is sharing with Alex - his friend from finals day - and also Hallum - a new friend. We have all made new friends - Lic, Lucy, Kerry, Alex and lots of the other teams. Our 'traveling group' leader Christine has been amazing and looking after us well.

All those people going to China - at this moment you will be rehearsing without me!!! :-(

The weather is umm a lil chilly but blue sky and a lil cloud - but it can change very quickly!!!! We got Ice Edge t-shirts yesterday with all the team names on the back!!! woo! Also we got hats - cool white ones with a lil ice edge badge on it!!! lol. Our jackets are well kl!! The girls are pale blue with logos on and the boys are dark blue/navy/black with 2 logos on - how cheaky!!!!!!!! :-)

Tonight we are off to a hotel for a 3 course meal but we have to walk down into the town - we are staying on the outskirts of the town and it is a big hill - so fun on the way down and not as much on the way back up!!!! :-D

We have just heard that we are goin on the boat tomorrow morning at 11am - so will be exciting because we can finally unpack n make ourselves at home!!!
We are going to go now ( so some1 else can use da laptop!) but will update soon.

C u all soon
luv ya!
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(oh yeh - This was the view from one of the many aeroplanes!!! Tis amazin!!!!)

Well cya l8rs
Bi xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

FINALLY here!!!

Well we are here atlast. We arrived at our bed at 1/2 3 in the morning and had to get up at 1/2 7!!!!!!!!!!! So for those of you who cant add up - thats 4 hours sleep!!!!!!!! The flights were long and late and tiring. The airport in Longyearbyen is tiny - its a runway with an aeroplane hanger as a terminal!!!!

So after our few hours sleep we were helpful by making sandwiches for our lunch - that was cheese, cheese and ham, ham, cheese and tomato, cheese ham and tomato and ham with tomato.
So after that this morning we went to the Worlds Biggest Satellite Station. We went in the dome with the antenna and it moved and freaked us all out!!!! It was very cold up there (caus it was very high up!!), also it was cloudy so we couldnt really see anything!!!!

After that and eating our sandwiches we went into the town and did some shopping. There were not many shops and also not a very large range!!!! (I did manage to get some smart trousers as mine are in the airing cupboard at home!!!!!

So after that we returned to our guest house where we are staying (for Mrs B - it is at 78 degrees lattitude!!!)

Many of you expect it to be covered in snow here but it is actually not!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is mainly rocky ground and a little snow on the top of these hills!!!!


Well need to go now because we are going for dinner!! Watch BBC Breakfast Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday caus they are doing something on the trip. Also look at the Ice Edge webby for pics until we can load some up on the boat!!!

We luv ya all lds!!
Michelle, Nat, Ellouise and Tom
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Another Oscars-style speech courtesy of yours truly

OMG! This is just so unreal it doesnt actually feel like we r goin!
*I would just like 2 mention da fact that only 1 PERSON commented on r last blog - we feel so unloved!!!!! (PE dept u should b ashamed of urself) Oh well, we know its cos u r saving all da comments 4 when we are acually out there.......Miss Ellard i hope you notice that this is nearly perfect english!

I am currently packing my suitcase frantically trying 2 keep within the baggage restrictions - but theres no way i am leaving my mock-croc dolly shoes @ home..... lol!

Right, before we 4get ahead of ourselves, it wouldn't have ever been possible without the help and support of so many people who have been behind us all the way.
Most importantly, *Miss Katie Broadribb* who has played an integral part in this right from day 1.
*The whole art department - for being so helpful in helping me make the model*
*Miss Rachel Collins - for believing in us and taking us 2 the finals*
*Holly Sandberg - cos we luv u*
*Our families - 4 constantly putting up with us n supportin us*
*And anyone elsse who i have forgotten 2 mention - i do sincerely apologise!!!*
Right, serious stuff over.

I had a very useful piece of advice from Mr Grant yesterday - never eat yellow snow. We shall b sure to ensure that this does not happen 2 us - we'll let tom try it first!

I fink we shall build a record-breaking snowman while we r out there! lol!
G2G c u all 2moz!
Tali..x.x
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U may hav my autograph - wiv only 1 n a half days 2 go, we r now da local celebrities

(still raining...)

Right, well. Hmmmm.
ok, sooooooo we av 2 days 2 go n i aint packed yet n 2moz i am bizzie bizzie bizzie!!!!! lol!

*FIrst of all, b4 we start properly, i would like 2 emphasise da fact that i did NOT make a complete idiot of myself on live TV. (!!!!!) i av ad many txts 2nite - all of them tellin me that thats the quietest they av ever seen me! (Simon Cowell spring 2 mind???)we would like 2 give our most sincerest apologies 2 r beloved Mrs B - we 4got 2 mention u on live national telly.
If u missed us, copy n paste this in2 the address bar 2 see us on tv!
http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?q=Arctic+teenagers+trip&scope=all&tab=av&recipe=all and we r the first one there.

*OMG i av ad SUCH a traumatic day 2day - I was happily goin along my daily business wen i thought we would need da Ice Edge Winners Certificate. SO i 4t, 'OK, ill go get it' Well, it woznt wer i 4t it woz so i went 2 reception. I found out dat i had 2 go 2 da general office (or summat like dat) n they showed me 2 sumwer else ni woz like OMG! The words 'pillar' and 'post' cum 2 mind........
Yeah, so i finally managed 2 get it n finished da day without breaking it (Quite prouda dat) n den i went 2 my tech room wiv Mr D 2 do my mirror. Finished dat(well almost) again quite prouda it n den i went home. Now, i kinda 4got dat i ad given it 2 sir 2 look after cos i didnt wanna break it......... so i walked home. Without da certific8. oops.
Got home afta a long 25min (fast) walk n started gettin ready. i couldn't find da certificate. so i rang my mum hu woz up @ wildern neway n told her 2 go 2 555 - da wrong room. Dubble oops. Unsurprisingly, she couldn't find it. But Mr Dymock had gone home so she didnt no hu 2 ask 2 help find it. Luckily she found my luvverly history teacher (hu hasnt had a mention on dis blog yet) Miss Rea - shes REALLi nice. They also came across Miss Bropadribb (also very nice) along their travels. Eventually, they found it in 556. God knows how it got there considerin i woz in 557. SO they found it. We took it 2 da BBC wiv us bt we then discovered that their valiant efforts had been in vain - the galss meant that we couldn't show it on the news cos of da glare. WHAT A PALAVER!!!! Or as WIlliam Shakespeare might say, Much Ado About Nothing.
I will take it back tomorrow - without forgetting it......

OMG we wer treated like royalty @ da BBC - we got r own dressing room and they did r make-up 4 us (i happened 2 b wearin so much already dat they didnt really need 2 do much....) WE EVEN HAD THOSE FUNKADELIK MIRRORS WIV ALL DA LIGHTBULBS ROUND THEM!!!!!
its amazing how u r just drawn in2 da light.........almost like moths on a lightbulb.............

Callum - ud better win dis challenge against miss weids - i wanna c u dressed as a woman! lol!

OMG - LESS THAN 2 DAYS TO GO!!!!!!!!! I need 2 start packing!!!!!

One final note, I would like 2 say a massiv thanku 2 every1 hu has been involved in this once-in-a-lifetime chance for us. I would also like 2 thank my AMAZING big step-sister Stace for doin my hair - I LUV U ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

(Mr Groom, i shall b taking dat nu art book wiv me - WIV PRIDE!)

Toodles!
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5 D2G!!!!!!!!!

OMG HOW XITIN IS DIS!!!!!!!!!
Only 4 n a half days until we board r first flite 2 oslo!!!!!

*This piece of news deserves a very special mention, hence da use of da star! lol!
Me, mich, ellouise n tom av been asked 2 go 2 BBC studios on Monday nite @ 6 o clock 2 do a lil piece bout r trip on da news wiv Sally Taylor!!!!! Wow! (dontcha just lurrrve dat red sofa! I do!) n its gonna b live so if i make a complete idiot outta myself (as i have a tendency 2 do) der will b no1 2 edit it out - I dunno whether 2 b exited or terrified!!!!! lol!

*Would like 2 say thanku 2 my tutor, mrs lea 4 sponsorin me 4 da race 4 life n also 2 holly sandberg hu is providin da pink fairy wings - LUV U HOLZ!!!!! u hav now had da privilege of appearin in r blog! lol! Oh n i wanna say hi 2 mr thurgood hu has only just discovered r blog n miss fearon hu also rox! WE LUV U ALL!!!!! lol!

*Hi effelence, iced gems n a new shade of green hu hav also been commentin on here! Ur blogs r lookin fantabulous 2 n we r ReaLLy lookin 4wd 2 meetin u all on WEDNESDAY (!!!!!) 2 those of u hu dont no, probably most of u, these r sum of da other teams dat won n r comin 2 da arctic wiv us - THEY ROK!!!!! lol!

*I really should b packin bt i really cant b bothad. I av realised dat altho my waterproof trousas r 2 short, i can unzip da sides n dey suddenly look 10x longer! lol! Am hopin (SERIOUSLY hopin) dat it doesnt rain in da arctic tho - like it did 2day. Grrrrr............ ( i fink google's runnin outta rain pix cos i bn stealin dem all 2 use on here!)It absolutely bucketed down earlier - i woz most definitely NOT a happy bunny.

*In other news..... 5 DAYS 2 GO!!!!!
Sum mor images of stuff dat we will hopefully c while we r there!

Ok, so maybe not!

An arctic fox - these r just GaWjUS!!! lol! Really wanna c one of these.

Huskies - we r goin dog-sleddin!

POLAR BEARS!!!!! its alwayas bn my dream 2 c one of these!!!!!

In all seriousness tho, we will c the full xtent 2 which we r killin r planet so it is gonna b a real eye-opener n hopefully we can help people 2 change 4 da better.

Must go - can sum1 plz record me da rok concert @ wildern on saturday plz cos i really wanna go bt i cant so, PLEASE?????!!!! LOL!
Mwah XxXXXXXxXXXxXxXXXxXXXXXxX Luv y'all!

6 DAYS LEFT!!!!!

Well, hello there my friends - note da use of correct english for JAS hu could only understand about a tenth of wot we ad written! We cant work out hu u r so please, REVEAL URSELF!!!!! lol! On ur behalf, we would offer 2 rite out da whole fing again bt dat wld b 1 VEEEEEERRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYY LONG BLOG!!!!! lol!

* I believe dat congratulations r in order 4 Mr rosenburg n mr dymock hu av both, 2day, managed 2 figure out how 2 leave a comment (with r help of course! lol!)
So, here u go. Congratulations. lol!

*I would personally like 2 say a MASSIV thanku 2 Mrs Anne Lockely and Mrs Ann Picton-Jones hu both, extremely generously might i add, sponsored me for da Race 4 Life which takes place da day afta we arrive home from the arctic! I am going as a fairy, or angel, 2 celebr8 r success as Natures Angels (and just 2 get in da papers, of course! lol - only jokin!) If anyone else would like 2 sponsor me, my tutor room is 103 n i can usually b found wanderin round da skl wiv michelle @ breaks! (unless its rainin n im cowerin inside!)

*Da weatha has brightened up - it musta got my (many) messages! Not 4 long tho - its supposed 2 b showers 2moz bt brightenin up l8r in da day. Yay! Well, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining!

*in reply 2 miss weids, we shall indeed b takin a stick wiv us 2 write in da snow dat "Miss Natalie Weids is leaving Wildern School 2 go 2 Fareham" - and yes, we will b takin a pic of it n postin it on here - Watch dis space! lol!

*OmG i av sooooooo much hw 2 do ova da weekend n i in Andover avec my Dad n stepmum Toni n step-brothers n -sisters - Stace, Dani, Aaron n Zak. I fink il b workin non-stop - there goes my chance of goin 2 da golf range! lol!

*2 all my luvlie swannie netballers current and ex, and my new frifends hu i met yestaday includin rosie n zoe, WE LUV U ALL!!!!! SWAN ROX!!!!!!
(i do also happen 2 luv my lil y6 berrywood netballers hu hav really progressed l8ly n im soooooo proud of dem n hope dey luv me 2!!!)

Mwah! Luv y'all!!!!!
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