The weather was warmer today and no rain! However we did have a bit of a headwind from time to time. Unfortunately we are heading onto the north sea cycle route against prevailing winds…

Bremershaven harbour looks a lot better in the sunshine.

          

We got our first look and feel for the north sea on our ferry trip between Bremershaven and Blexen.

From here we rode alongside the sea dike to Burhave, which was fairly monotonous. There are often sheep grazing on the dike. The photo below is taken from the top of the dike –  but most of the cycle path is on the landward side.

We stopped at the tourist info at Burhave for some maps. There were lots of tourists sitting on the beach or walking and cycling around.

We decided to head across land a bit, for a change from the dike and headed to Stollhamm. The land is very flat with lots of little water channels running through it and the horizons are far away. There are cows grazing and the fields are very green. Every now and then there is a little village or some wind turbines. The houses here have a different style as well, brick with A shaped roofs.

After Stollhamm we had another long ride, mostly alongside the dike to Dangast.

In a couple of places we could get onto the dike for a view on the other side.

The sea is very far away and shallow looking, with lots of marshy land in between. It seems impossible that the sea will get up as far as the dike, but these signs show that the water level has been that high in the past.

       

There were many people on the beach at Dangast  – they sit in special chairs that can be hired to shelter you from both the sun and the wind.

     

The town was very touristy and lively, with a caravan park and hotels, swimming pool, play parks and so on. We stopped at the tourist info and found out about a pension (Cao Lai) about 5km away in Varel. The pension is alongside a Thai restaurant and is memorable in that we had a shower and washbasin in our bedroom (thankfully the toilet was separate).