Merijn Tinga (51) from Leiden Netherlands, is again a guest on Surfers Paradise, and not without reason.

In 2014, he set sail there with a windsurfboard made from nothing but plastic waste. His trip across the sea then took him as far as Ameland, one of the Wadden Islands that our northern neighbours have.

Now he is pulling out all the stops, so to speak, as he set sail in Oslo, Norway, on 17 June, to arrive in London on 19 July to be received by the UK's North Sea and Environment Ministers, in order to highlight the imposition of a deposit on plastic packaging in the UK. His surfboard slightly more seaworthy this time, but still with some plastic bottles built into the nose at the front.

Merijn: "I remember that 9 years ago I was very well received at Surfers Paradise and that Frank Vanleenhove, also a well-known windsurfer from the early days, supported me with advice and assistance to make my trip successful. Much needed because anything can happen on the way: first and foremost you have the weather conditions as I am completely dependent on the wind, but you also have the shipping lanes, harbours, crossings... and you don't want things to go wrong because I do everything without any guidance. On my board, I have a waterproof bag attached with all the necessary provisions, and on the way, I put myself to sleep under my sail next to my board on the beach at night, to continue sailing early in the morning. This is now my 26th day at sea and I was only too happy when I was sailing around the island of Walcheren from Westkapelle and Belgium with Surfers Paradise came into view. And yes: the first person I met on the water was Frank himself! And notwithstanding the fact that I try to progress 100 km a day, I was happy to be warmly welcomed back to Surfers Paradise today after 75km. It was hard to sail against the tight westerly wind, from tomorrow they predict less wind, and so every day is different. From here, I will sail further along the coast towards France before crossing to England. From there up the Thames towards London, my destination after perhaps 33 days of sailing. I especially remember the long days at the beginning of my trip along the coasts of Norway, Denmark...with sunrise at 4am and sunset at midnight, which allowed me to make very long days on the water. What I will now enjoy here is a Belgian 0% Stella, and a nice hot shower in the facilities of Surfers Paradise. And tomorrow perhaps another day along the Belgian coast"

Those wishing to follow Merijn Tinga's adventures and sign his petition online surf to plasticsoupsurfer.org