Thursday, 1 August
Like everyone else in Holland we decided to stay in Terschelling to get over our journey and see what all the fuss is about!
There are lots of families enjoying their summer holidays by the sea side with all the usual fun pursuits of crabbing, boating and cycling.
We rented e-bikes (thanks to Monique’s recommendation) so that cycling into a strong wind was a piece of cake.
We saw godwits, turnstones, oystercatchers, brent geese, and others in their hundreds, and spoonbills, shell ducks and curlews too.
There was a pier art installation to admire
It’s very flat here
We rather adventurously decided to find a bird hide that looks over the breeding grounds in this UNESCO world heritage wildlife centre, but it was a very sandy path in places and try pushing an e-bike through sand! Not easy!
We did get to the hide but mostly we saw man-made dunes – made by the Dutch to protect all of the Netherlands to the South.
They lay down aggregate and let nature cover it with sand – building up more and more every year until it gets to the height to plant the special dune grass that roots into the sand and holds everything in place.
As they say, God made the world, the Dutch made Holland.
There was the biggest, sandiest beach you have ever seen, onto the sea that we sailed down to get here.
We struggled back (it was great for limerick inspiration) and then cycled through the island to Heartbreak Hotel where everyone was waiting to watch dray horses pull life boats along the beach. We didn’t hang around as there were no free tables and Angela is not a horse fan, particularly.
We also popped into the shipwreck pub/ museum to get out of the few spots of rain. It’s a much greyer and windier day today.
But we were quite tired (I still haven’t caught up on sleep from the crossing from Germany) so went back to the boat.
We ate in another good restaurant in West Terschelling which is a lovely little holiday town.