09/06/2022, Thursday, 5th day of vacation

Beach and stork park

For breakfast today, I wanted to be particularly clever. I took the bag and wallet with me during the dog walk to get the rolls, but if you forget the car keys, you have to go back up and can't drive. So up, find the keys (as always), start the car, come home and have breakfast. The sky was cloudy and our plan to go to the beach today was abandoned. We looked through the travel guide, called about opening hours, and - there came the sun! So we changed our plans and decided to go to the beach. But it took a while until my two ladies were ready.....! Then we set off. Today, we wanted to walk a bit to the beach chairs. It's not easy for Gisela. On the one hand, she is not used to anything good anymore, and on the other hand, it is obviously difficult not to see anything and to trust the other person to point out uneven surfaces or obstacles. But we are a well-coordinated team now and she trusts us. When we arrived at the beach chairs, we found out that you can only rent a beach chair at the tourist information office and the only open beach chair was occupied according to the DLRG man. But since no one was sitting in it, Gisela sat down until Gabi, who went to the tourist information office, came back with a beach chair key. Meanwhile, I went to the water because we really just had high tide, and took some photos. There was a spot where a lot of small jellyfish had been washed ashore. Poor little creatures. But I also saw a dead goose and wondered what had happened. Poor goose! And there were actually people in the water. Uahhhh!

Then we went back to Gisela and when I said, 'Now a bad person is coming...' She sprung up like greased lightning before I could finish speaking: 'and that's me!' We laughed because Gisela felt really guilty about using this beach chair, although I think I could have explained the situation to the owner if he had come back.

I started to build a castle, but when Gabi came back, I finished my incomplete work and got the comment from Wolfgang that my castle rather resembled a burial mound. He was right! Gabi went into the water with her new beach shoes. Castle number 2 was created at the officially rented beach chair, but it also had to be finished before completion because dark clouds came over the sea in the distance. We made our way back quickly, which was not easy for Gisela, but when we reached the dune ramp, the clouds seemed to clear away. So a break on a bench, a cigarette, and then back to the car and back to our home territory.

At half past two, we finally went to the stork park in Wyk. A small area behind an old villa with many stork nests awaited us. The origin of the stork park was as an emergency reception center for water birds. At some point, Romeo was brought in, a first stork who was unable to fly. At a later date, Julia joined and the two became a couple, accepted a nest at a low height, and raised their first brood. During a tour with a young lady, which we attended, we heard that it could be assumed that all 10 pairs currently breeding there are descendants of Romeo and Julia. A stork always remains faithful to its nest, this form of loyalty is called seasonal loyalty because the stork arrives a few weeks before the female stork and builds a nest. The nests can grow up to 2 meters high if they are not removed repeatedly. When the female stork arrives, they are together again. If she doesn't come, he looks for another female stork. (So, they don't need a support group)

The storks are fed with what they catch themselves, such as amphibians and mice, as well as with chicks, cat food, and leftovers from the hotels. If nothing happens to them, they can live up to 30 years. They have a wingspan of up to 2.20 meters and a height of 1.20 meters.

The young storks that I saw in the nests were already very fluffy and cute. One of the parents always stays on the nest while the other one gets food. The nest is always warmed because cold often leads to the death of the young. But crows also attack and reduce the offspring. When there are four to six eggs in the nest, not all of them usually survive.

When storks return, they show this by clattering. But they also do this when there is danger, and we experienced several times that a stork returned and really clattered. It was great to see the big birds gliding in like that.

And there was another low nest because there was another flightless stork couple. I find the commitment of the association very impressive.

And then, finally, there were shrimp sandwiches. On the way home, my mouth was already watering when I thought about my sandwich, even if €7.80 is still a high price. And at home, I indulged in it, and my sounds prompted my friends to ask if I was having an orgasm. 'A taste orgasm, yes,' I mumbled with a full mouth. It was just too delicious.

But one final note: 'You're on the hitchhiking bench' has become a proverb and is often said.