Then the dragging of boots through the water. Further on, the silence and emptiness increase. Water and sand join in ever changing patterns. Shellfish cling to each other. The birds of the lagoons distrustfully follow the hiker's movements.
Ducks carry out reconnaissance flights in long formations.
The gulls are more courageous and accompany them with screams. Almost unnoticed, sandpipers fly up from the sandbanks. Along the coast of Ameland, ice floats. The hikers set foot ashore. Now, they feel the cold really well.