Stellendam to Battenord: E2 Day 103

Although today's walk lacked variety I did see an eagle.

Sunday today, so the shops were closed in Stellendam where I thought they might have a coffee machine or some bakery goods. Not that I am suffering, I stocked up on breakfast food yesterday,  I just miss a coffee, must be caffeine dependency. As I walked along the village streets I thought they would look a lot better without the many parked cars (or was I just grumpy)!

I returned to the LAW 5-1 through a square of woodland and continued along the top or beside the dyke protecting the area from high water levels. On my left there was farmland, including some tulip fields (although with few flowers) and long lines of poplar trees. A few tulips had escaped and we growing on the dyke. On my right there was a wide strip of nature reserve, and the waters of the delta were somewhere beyond. Technically the LAW 5-1 followed the top of the dyke, where there was long grass, buttercups and other wildflowers. Unfortunately, rain earlier this morning made the grass wet, which meant my trousers and boots also became wet, as well as picking up clumps of dandelion seeds. As compensation there were concrete posts every 200 metres with the distance from a fixed point marked on them. This allowed me to count down the distance to the village of Herkingen, the only one I would be visiting today. As water was beginning to penetrate my boots and wet my socks, for a large part of my walk today I used the tarmac cycle path that ran parallel to the dyke.

Looking down from the dyke on passing cyclists.

Walking on top of a dyke, the line of trees is in front of farmland. 

The nature reserve on my right was a jumble of bushes and small trees growing in waterlogged ground, or else areas of straw coloured reeds and rough grass. Paths had been cut through it in places, with their surfaces built up to allow easy walking. I followed one to investigate. On each side of the path the densely packed shrubs looked impenetrable. I stopped where the path reached a flat area of marshland with the sea beyond (or at least a large area of water, it was probably behind one of the Delta Works barriers).

Continuing along the cycle path (which here also acted as a quiet road to a car park), I passed a group of bird watchers. On asking what they were looking at, a man let me look through his powerful, tripod mounted telescope. There were two eagles, one in a large nest in a tree, the other perched on a branch nearby. From the sounds there were many birds enjoying the nature reserve from honking geese to the distinctive call of a cuckoo. I saw lapwings, muttering mallards, moorhens and coots. A single deer stood out among a flock of geese on a wet field. There was a smell of the sea in the air.

Plenty of people were out enjoying a dry Sunday, the usual variety of cyclists but also rarer types such as a tandem and two people on bicycles operated in a recumbent position. One large group with matching lycra shirts had stopped while one of them repaired a puncture. It reminded me of one reason why I do not cycle.

At Herkingen I was initially disappointed as the bar where I thought they might serve food for lunch was "Gesloten", closed. I walked down to the marina where hundreds of recreational boats, mainly sailing boats, were moored. There I was glad to find an open restaurant and finally enjoy my first coffee if the day (two actually) and a sort of raw beef open sandwich with salad, although the truffle mayonnaise rather dominated the taste. 

Looking at a sign about the disastrous 1953 flood as I left the harbour a man struck up a conversation with me  From him I learnt that many of the houses in the village were second homes used for holidays, often by Germans, and that most of the residents commuted to work elsewhere. He said it was a good place to bring up children, with no busy roads nearby. His comment on German visitors aligned with my observation that the only other nationality in the campsites seemed to be Germans, and as I travelled east there were more signs in German as well as Dutch. I should have asked him why a Canadian flag was the only one flying at the harbour. 

Walking on top of a dyke coated in tarmac for a few kilometres I reached the small harbour of Battenord and Camping de Grevelingen. A neat and tidy campsite, I am looking forward to visiting the snack bar this evening. The receptionist said I was the third backpacker this week. I am not alone!

Sunset at Battenord.