Norderney

I had been looking forward to our visit to Norderney from the beginning of this trip, and the mudhike and island did not disappoint.




First, we visited a seal rehabilitation center, which rescues hundreds of stranded baby seals from the coast every year. Because the babies get separated from their mothers in the tide, they would die without the help of the seal center. The center feeds and houses the seals until they are big enough to survive in the sea on their own, then the seals are released. The only permanent residents of the seal center are those with birth defects or other conditions that would prevent them from being able to survive in the wild.


After the seal center and a bite to eat, we headed out for our hike across the mudflats to the island of Norderney. At first the wind made the hike uncomfortably cold, but once we were out on the open sea, so to speak, I forgot the weather completely. Our guide took us through the shallowest areas, but even still, the mud often came up to my knees. We stopped to dig up a variety of sea creatures including worms, jellyfish, and crabs. Each time we stopped, our feet would sink in the mud, and moving again always proved difficult. After several hours of sloshing through mud, we made it safely to the island.

After washing up, I tagged along with Dr. Wasser and Olaf to indulge in a hard earned drink.


The next morning, the group headed out for a bike tour of the island. I, however, am not so good on a bike, and after a couple of failed attempts to even remain upright, I opted to explore the island on my own. Ultimately, I think I enjoyed the time to myself, and moving at my own pace, far more than I would have enjoyed the group tour. My walk through the city and across the beach felt peaceful, and in a way, liberating. I walked through parks, stopped for an apfelshorle, booked my train tickets, discovered historical monuments, and even asked for directions a few times in my horrible broken German. In the end, I made it to the restaurant just in time to meet up with the rest of the group, order my food, and enjoy a fantastic lunch.

While the group rode back to the harbor to return their bikes, I hopped on a bus to meet them. Unfortunately, the bus wasn’t actually supposed to go to the harbor, but I was clearly a lost confused American girl, and the driver took pity on me. I tried to tip him in thanks, but he refused.

At the harbor, I met up with the rest of the group again, we took a ferry back to the mainland, and I headed out to Amsterdam for the weekend.