Hallig Hooge

A song beginning with H to keep you company .... Hold My Heart is about long distance romance and a solution to it.  

**  all photos are mine, unless otherwise stated.   

We've travelled around Germany and Holland for many years - and a few years ago we played on Hallig Hooge .... a tiny island out in the middle of the North Sea .... In fact a hallig is smaller than an island - really more like a silt deposit - Wikepedia defines it as "a small island without a protective dyke ... off the North West Coast of Germany".  There are 10 of them attached to Germany and a few more both to the North part of Denmark, and to the south, part of Holland.  The word comes from Hal which means salt....

That's the Hallig in the distance - barely visible above the horizon

They've had the most interesting past .... all the houses are built on Wafts, small hills and the island is covered with dykes ....

So that when a storm comes, the houses stay above water and the animals can quickly be brought into shelter....   We've never been there during a storm, but it's so much a part of the island's story that travellers come to see the storms as a tourist attraction almost. 

A Waft in the distance on a very grey day last May

The weather had cleared up later in the day

our residence for the night

photo from the Internet

 

Photo from the Internet

Stock picture from the internet

At one time, the church was flooded so badly that they now have no fixed tiles on the floor there, just sand, so that if there's a big storm it's not going to destroy everything before it and when the waters subside the building will still be intact.

Among the many tourists who visit Hallig Hooge,
are the Canada Geese ...   Every year they arrive in their thousands. 

I love these seaside seats -
so you can be outside to have a coffee or a beer
and still be sheltered with a blanket over your knees .... very civilised.  

There's an obvious Dutch influence here .... this cafe bar where we played has 150 year old tiles all around the walls - they have a big problem replacing them if any get broken.  

and I loved our hotel room - this is typical of German hotels - king size beds with single duvets .... nobody's going to steal your blankets in the night :)

The view from our room - right out to sea.