Norderoogsand

Astrid auf Norderoog Sand; Foto: Antje, 2016

I have a new favorite spot in the North Sea: Norderoogsand in the Wadden Sea. It is one of the shoals along the coast line of the Northfrisian Islands and belongs to the Wadden National Park.

»The peak heights of the shoals reach about one metre above the average high tide. In summer, the dry sand is sometimes piled to dunes of several meters height. Since 1999 though, an increasingly stable and diverse vegetation has been observed at the northern edge of Norderoogsand. The plant carpet helps to accumulate ever more sand, and so the peak dune of Norderoogsand was recorded with 3.50 metres in 2013. Because of this development, Norderoogsand has been called a new island.«

We were only allowed to go on land at the very end of this big sand, not anywhere near the dunes and »new island«. (It’s about 7km/ 4.3 miles away!)

Still, very impressive. So much light, so white, so much open space.

Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to paint there but I still had  time for some sketches. It just set free a lot of ideas for a pastel painting and right now I have the so far biggest pastel painting I have ever attempted  on my easel.

On our way back we saw some seals we came close by with the boat. (This photo was taken with a huge tele lens.) I just had the feeling she captured the same feeling I have about life.

GIF/ Marc Volquardsen, 2016