A short trip to Helgoland
Helogland is the German deep sea island in the North Sea. The island is a solid rock formation that stands out with its red cliffs against wind, weather and the ocean. Next to the rock is a small island called Helgoland Dune which is mostly a sandpit in the middle of the ocean but hosting the Helgoland airstrip and providing the ample opportunities to bathe and sunbathe in the middle of the North Sea.
How to get there
There are several ways open to the island. Either by sailing on a sailing boat or simply by using one of the ferries that daily approach the island or simply by flying in. The most common way to arrive at Helgoland, though, is by ferry.
What is in for the Traveller?
Actually a lot. Helgoland is a major tourist resort and mostly fully booked. In order to secure accommodation it is highly recommended to book as early as possible. Short trips for last-minute travellers are more or less impossible because of the tight availabilty of rooms at Helgoland. If you want to go to Helgoland in August, you should book no later than May, if not earlier.
The round trip along the cliffs is only a short walk of max 2 hours, however the benefit is the view of the ocean and the neighbouring Dune island. Furthermore, Helgoland is home to the Common Murre, the Razorbill, a substantial colony of the Northern Gannet, huge amounts of gulls and an Eldorado for birdwatchers and wildlife photographers, travelling to Helgoland because of the unique bird colonies sitting in the red cliffs of the island.
As for entertainment, the island offers everything one could find in any other seaside resort.
Leaving Cuxhaven
En route to Helgoland
Arriving at Helgoland
The Isle of Helgoland
Helgoland - the first and only German deep-sea island. The island can look back on a long history. It even used to be a British crown colony and came only back to Germany in 1892. In two WWW it was use as a navy base. In April 1945 the islanders were evacuated to the mainland. After the war the island was under British command until 1952 when the island was given back to Germany. Then the islanders returned to a heavily damaged island. Since then the place seen a tremendous development. Tourism is what keeps the place going. There are two parts of the island: The lower land and the upper land.
Basically you do not need much time to go round the place. The island isn't that big, but there are so many little details that makes you stop and watch. There are sea birds aplenty. Most prominent is the gannet The birds let you come very close and are used to man walking around and taking shots of them.
Then there is plenty of nature to look at. People even go out in the evening to look at the sunset waiting to see the sun go down and taking images of the fast changing sky.
The lighthouse at Helgoland is the biggest beacon in the North Sea. The beam of the beacon reaches for 52 kilometers into the darkness and can also be seen at the Danish coast. For shipping the lighthouse is the most important beacon in the entire area.
Helgoland is part of the district of Pinneberg and belongs to the German state of Schlesweg-Holstein.
Helgoland does have it's own website which gives you also some info on the place.
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Besides the lighthouse there is a huge transmitter mast which you can see below.
While being on Helgoland it is a good opportunity to do some long-exposure shots on the rock. I do use filter material from Haida. They deliver good quality and the filter do not create a blueish cast. A few more images follow below.
The Gannet
The gannet, these little buggers are so cute. They make noise all day long and are very agile and fast up in the air. In August they are still busy with breeding and you can watch the offspring being nurtured by their parents.
The images were taken using EOS 7D mark II with EF 70-200 mm f2.8 L II
Gulls
Traditional Houses
Another attraction of Helgoland are the old fisherman houses. These are simply wooden structures which are so impressive mainly because of their simplicity and a coating made of friendly colours. During daytime most of the below houses are shops selling nick-nacks or any sort of souvenir the tourist would like to take home; others are selling fish and chips and the like.
The Post Office
Fishing boats and yachts
There are yachts around on Helgoland which are stationed there for good. But there are also people sailing in from the European mainland to stop at the island for a day or two.
Fishing boats are also still around on the island.
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