Day 4: Lauwersoog-Delfzijl

Yesterday was my fourth day of skating and the last one in the Netherlands. Due to the weather forecast which predicted rain for today (rightly so), I had decided to combine the last two planned stages into one, skip the night in Uithuizen and go directly to Delfzijl, located at the Ems delta which marks the Dutch-German border.

The distance was roughly 60 km in total. I took 30 in the morning, had a lunch break at an Albert Heijn supermarket, another 15 before the next supermarket break, and the final 15 towards my destination.

The landscape was different as I was not skating close to the coast anymore. instead I was mostly between potato fields and small canals. The asphalt was mostly fine, except for the last kilometres in Delfzijl which had pavement which was difficult to skate on. It felt like I spent half an hour on the last two kilometres.

The hotel in Delfzijl was in urgent need of a renovation. The temperature and humidity in my room were way too high, and there was only a tiny window that hardly let in any fresh air. In addition, I spent quite some time in the bathroom yesterday – already during my supermarket breaks and later at my hotel. I have decided now to skip the tab water and buy bottled water instead. I figured that tab water which I carry around in thirty degrees for hours might not be the best option.

Today is a much needed rest day. There are rain showers anyway, so I hope that I can continue tomorrow. My original plan was to take the ferry from Delfzijl to Emden, but the ferry is currently being repaired. So there is a bus replacement instead. I’ll spend the night in Emden, Otto’s hometown, and tomorrow, I hope to skate to Norden.