Monday, April 14 – Delfzijl – Upleward (D)
Floating above the edge of the Wadden Sea we slept wonderfully in the Eemshotel which stands on stilts outside the dike. With Luuk from Cargo Cycling at 8 o’clock already arranged two extra batteries to better cope with headwind, they will be taken by Vincent TG on Friday when he comes along. At half past nine we ride towards Ditzum, still 45 km to the ferry, Linda and Yka accompany me, or rather the tree. The landscape is contrasting and diverse with industry in the first kilometers. I feel even more of a “Don Quixote” with the tree as a result. Will our action change anything about this industrial enclave? I don’t expect so. How burdensome is this really to nature? And how do you get this to be enriching for the earth, besides making money for man.
Floris and Richard swarmed around us a bit to properly capture the tree adventure with the drone and camera. After about 10 km in the Johannes Kerkhoven Polder, things went a little differently than intended. There are only 4 trees in the entire polder according to me and Richard managed to land his drone exactly in one of those four trees, bad luck. What now, we have to catch the ferry! To the nearest farmer to get a long ladder and with that very carefully into the tall poplar tree. Once you get to the lower branches the climbing is reasonably doable. But going back down with the drone in your hand is a bit more difficult. It worked and luckily the drone still works. Everyone is very happy. We have a cup of coffee with the man who arrived with a second ladder. Give two little trees and cycle on. On to Ditzum. Another 35 km or so. We cycle through a super open agricultural area, fortunately little headwind today. Everywhere you see and feel the dike of the Dollard, as we cycle south of it. We pass several wild fences over which the Boomfiets slowly rattles. And then Sanne and Daan are around the corner with the cars. Just before them, some people are sitting next to a camper. I address them and give them a birthday tree. One of the men stands up and seems to be able to see “through me. Clairvoyant he is, he told me. “You have to watch your minerals, but more importantly, do less on reason and trust your feelings. Find the good people around you, make it a little easier on yourself. It could go down a notch”. He tested my hands and back and wished me luck. A very nice and special interlude! I talk about this with Sanne more often, finding the balance between head, heart and underbelly, very important and oh so difficult.
After a glass of apple juice and sandwich, we cycle on to the ferry, across the lock with fish passage, another 15 km. We are going to make it, we will make it to the 3 o’clock ferry. Just before we get there the supporting motor of the tree bike says it is too hot. We wait a while. Meanwhile, without really noticing, we have crossed the border into Germany and I tell the big dog who comes walking by in my best German that he should plant a tree on his birthday. He gets it.
The ferry is small and cute. With the Tree Bike, a car and 15 people, the ferry is just about full. Again, we hand out little trees. So we sail to the north side of the Dollard, and wait there for our cars (Sanne, Daan, Richard) who have to detour over the bridge. From here Floris takes my car back to Amsterdam. We empty my car and divide it between Daan’s car, the trailer and the E-camper. We take a group photo and say goodbye to Floris who will spend the next week selecting all the material. Some will go to Venice as soon as possible for the expo at Palazzo Mora. We leave for Emden, a far too busy route actually. Richard takes over from Linda and accompanies me together with Yka, he keeps an eye on the route. The weather is nice, the sun is shining and so we glide naturally as it were to our overnight location. With the4th battery we just don’t make it, another 4 km. We take a break lying on the road with some yoga exercises. When we arrive at location we have cycled a total of 68 km today. We can be satisfied. Daan waters the trees. The Stone Oak is also thirsty and we push the tree a little straighter. Cooking is done by Sanne and Linda. Everything goes on the charger. The cottage in Upleward is fine for a group of 6.