Our last day

Saturday 19th July

Packing to go home never takes as long as before the holiday!  After breakfast by the pool (was that some clouds obscuring the blue we were used to?), we were all ready to leave at 10 o'clock - but we had another 6 hours before we needed to be at the airport.  We had already decided to go and visit the Occupation Museum, therefore escaping the grey skies.  One man, called Richard, had put this collection together - an amazing display of life of the occupied people, including a diary of a young boy that I found interesting - and of the occupiers, from their uniforms to their motorbikes.  Richard is quite a character - he was on the desk taking the entry monies, then when people made their way along the corridor to the little tea room, he hurried down there to make and serve the drinks, then the phone rang, so he was back to his reception desk in a flash before returning to collect cups etc. and do the washing up!  Then upstairs there was more to see, with a street scene, a fire engine of the time and a fishing boat.  While we were having our cups of tea the heavens opened and at long last we got one of those elusive storms they'd been talking about on the news for the last few nights.  Until now they had skirted the channel islands each time.  The rain rattled on the roof for a while but by the time we were ready to leave, it had all gone away and we had our blue sky back again!

We'd been told that one of the best eating places on the island was the Bruce Russell & Son Gold & Silversmiths (Guernsey Mint Bullion Company).  Wow, it's well worth a visit for the beautiful gardens, but the very tasty lunch and the chance to marvel at the stunning jewellery sparkling in their cabinets, makes this a must-do for visitors to the island. 

Queueing for our rations!

Bruce Russell & Son Gold & Silversmiths

 We needed to walk off that lunch, so headed a little way north to St. Saviour's Reservoir, a man-made lake which supplies the needs of all the inhabitants.  A foot path goes all the way round, but we enjoyed just a bit of it, under lovely pine trees, before the short drive back to the airport.

St. Saviour's Reservoir

 Because of storms back at Gatwick earlier in the day, flights were delayed, but we took off at 7pm, just an hour late and 35 minutes later, were back in West Sussex.

Goodbye Guernsey - we'll be back!

Military Hospital and Vazon

Friday 18th July

The weather has been so good that we haven't given any time to the island's history, so we decided to remedy that and visit the German Military Underground Hospital this morning.  We donned our jumpers and ventured into the dank dark murky tunnels.  We were disappointed that there weren't many exibits or artefacts to see but we certainly got to feel how awful it must have been to be an injured soldier in a very narrow iron bed cheek by jowel with 800 others. Newspapers from the time of the occupation were very interesting but we were very pleased to get out of there and into the present day - and the warmth of the sunshine.
 Vazon Beach was looking perfect for having our picnic - the tide just on the turn, so the sea was near enough for a refreshing dip - but only for one of us!  Fancy being on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world on the hottest day of the year in mid-summer and only one other person within 100 yards!  OK, NZ can do that too, but remember it only took us half and hour to get here!!

Next, we parked up near Fort Saumarez to look out to tiny Lihou Island.  There's a causeway to walk out to Lihou, but it wasn't quite visible for us.  But we found 2 geos nearby and stayed a while before the burning sun got the better of us.

Dinner tonight needed to be one that used up as much of the food we still had as possible.  We bought fish and chips to cook in the oven and added some real haut cuisine - fried onions, cauliflower, baked beans, mushy peas and tomatoes.  It actually tasted great! 

Fermain Bay and Cliff Path

Thursday 17th July




Another scorcher today.  Val & Bernard wanted to go into St. Peter Port on the bus, so when we were all ready, John wheeled Val up to the main road and brought the wheelchair back home.  It's a very short way, but the road from here goes steeply down to a stream and up again, so a bit dodgy for Val.  We then set off in the other direction to the cliff-top and the path down to Fermain Bay.  With the tide up, the sand was all covered, but it was just right for the few people in swimming.  We stopped at the cafe to share an ice cream before the climb up again onto the path.  With views of the sparkly sea around every corner, we negotiated countless steps both up and down till we reached a set of more steps going down to the sea - the Ozanne Steps.  We just had to go down there as there was a geocache called Happy Landings.  So an extra 87 steps later, we were out on the rocks!  See above.    Above us for a lot of the walk, we could look up to some amazing houses up above the trees.  It also took us through a wooded hillside, so we took advantage of the shade to eat our picnic.  While there, some people came by who stopped to chat about how lovely the area is and the lady told us she lived in one of the more modest houses up there (we didn't spot anything that could be termed modest!).  The couple with her were visiting from Phoenix Arizona so were enjoying the cool here!
 Eventually we reached the harbour and decided to catch the bus back.  V & B returned on the next bus and John went to meet them again with the chair.  That chair has been a blessing.

The afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool and the photo shows that the water really is warm - I didn't even have to coax John in!!








 Anther cruise ship was out there again today - seems a different one comes each day. 

Easy day

It seemed a very good idea to take it easy this morning after our busy day yesterday.  John and I walked up to the village bakery in St. Martin for rolls freshly out of the oven and then we all sat out on our patio over a leisurely breakfast in the sun/shade, enjoying the entertainment of various people leaving at the end of their holidays, Sandra and Janet (our friendly housekeepers) buzzing around with baskets laden with fresh towels, loo rolls etc., each topped with a gache - a Guernsey fruit bread (that's the baskets not our housekeepers!).

Later we set off out in the car to explore some more of the island, following the coast road north of St. Peter Port, stopping at some of the occasional car parks to admire the view.  At Fort Doyle at the NE corner, we parked up and had a stroll around the point and in the fort which has been here since Napoleonic times.  Then we continued on to the beautiful Pembroke Bay.  The low tide (at the moment because of the moon's orbit, is a10m change from high tide) in the afternoons is proving a bit of a handicap for having a dip in the sea, but paddling is very therapeutic.  The photo shows that even here, Val and Bernard can't get away from the Scarborough sea frets - one was approaching very fast, but fortunately the sun beat it off again before it reached the beach.  Our relaxing on the sand also included some people watching, especially the family trying to collapse one of those new-fangled sunscreen hoop tents for babies.  After some time we offered the advice of holding the hoops together and twisting them, but the chap was still having no success.  Soon they started up some banter about this man who was going to be the last off the beach with his toddler and pregnant wife, while he was still battling with the dratted tent .... but eventually the wife said that she could see B & J were itching to get up and have a go .... John worked out where you clasp the hoops and did the twist and hey presto it was the size of the small bag it was meant to fit into!  She said, oh, you must be an engineer .....!!  She also hoped that we'd be there again tomorrow ...... They left in lots of laughter and we waved bye bye to their very patient little girl.

We followed the west coast road from there, with many more rocky bays with sandy beaches - we hope we shall have time to come back and visit some of them.  Then it was surprisingly quick to come back across the island to home.  Our meal this evening was at the Queen's Inn just up the road in St. Martin - really good, but we all found the main course much too big - perhaps we are getting old ......

Herm Island

 Tuesday 15th July

The No.11 bus took us down to the pier and we were soon on the 10.15 ferry to Herm.  It was a bit cloudy, but very warm and it didn't take long before the sun was out and we'd landed in the harbour (20 min trip).  After a cuppa at the Mermaid Tavern Val and Bernard set off to the west, hoping to find the path to Shell Beach was wheelchair-friendly and we went east to walk on the coast path around the island.  We were soon up high on the cliff-top, looking out firstly towards St. Peter Port, then Jethou, the small conical-shaped island next door, then out to Sark.  After a geocache find in some rocks, we sat on them to eat our lunch and chatted to a young French couple who were looking for the kayaking beach - they had come the long way round to Shell Beach!  The path inland that goes over the spine of the island took us on a grassy path between fields of jersey cows, up to the campsite and Manor Village.  It was lovely to see the village because Peter and Hannah and the children will be staying here for a week next month.  The little St. Tuguals Church is a gem, with bunches of fresias tied to the aisle chairs.  Fresias are grown locally - we had a vase of them on our kitchen windowsill when we arrived here. 

The path then took us down to the northern coast again and we looked down on Belvoir Bay - beautiful sand and large rocks to the side where people were climbing up and jumping into the sea.  There had been 2 groups of school children and a scout group on our ferry and one of these was having great fun in the sea here.  Next we came to the famous Shell Beach and although the tide was well out it looks amazing from the cliff path.  We found Val and Bernard there - they had taken their time as the path was quite sandy and therefore a bit of a challenge with the chair, but they were delighted to have made it.  We said a thankyou to those jersey cows as we tucked into their creamy ice cream and enjoyed a paddle in the sparkly water. Val and Bernard set off back the way they'd come and we continued over the heathland to the obelisk.  Sadly the geo there had been trashed, but we were asked by a chap on a buggy where the person with a broken leg was.  We then spotted the small group of ladies at the same time as he did, and we hope he was able to get them back to the ferry without too much discomfort.  Not really an ideal place to fall.  We followed the sandy path above Bear's and Fisherman's Beaches back to the harbour and met up in the gift shop.  The tide was so low this afternoon that they had to miss out one of the ferries, but the 4.35 one was to come into the Rosiere Steps -a long way down.  V & B got a lift on the tractor from the harbour to the steps and then took it slowly down them to wait for the boat.  It was all quite a challenge for them but it was all very worthwhile - a very memorable day for us all.

Jerbourg Point

Plan A this morning was to go to Herm. We did not allow for the fact that there is insufficient 10 hour parking by the harbour.  We confirmed with the ticket office that we can use our tickets tomorrow instead and dropped into Plan B.  Drove the short distance to Jerbourg Point at the SE corner of Guernsey.  Amazing views of the rocky coastline in glorious sunshine. Val and Bernard strolled with us a short way along the cliff top and then we parted company as we headed off on the coast path around the peninsular, finding 3 geocaches on the way.  We rejoined them for a late lunch at the Jerbourg Hotel, before leaving them again to enjoy the sunshine, while we took the (long way down) path to St. Martin's point.  We counted the steps on the way back up - 319 - but paused at every 50 to get our breath back!  Fantastic views of Herm, Sark and Jersey and Alderney in the distance.

When I was a little girl, I was very impressed with a postcard of the Little Chapel that my brother, Eric, sent from his Scout camp on Guernsey.  This afternoon I saw it for myself!  It is so tiny - built in 1923.  All the walls inside and out, the ceiling and the floor all covered with mosaic pieces of tiles and china.  Unfortunately, there were too many steps up to it for Val, but we took plenty of photos for her.  Inside the chapel were some chaps doing some measuring and fixing a wooden frame around the entrance.  They pointed out some rather hefty cracks in the walls.  All this caused by the earthquake last Friday.  They told us that the chapel was actually starting to slip down the hillside - glad we got there before it did!

Then we drove to the SW coast to see the huge bays of Rocquaine and Vazon.  The tide was out too far for a paddle,  but we shall return.

St. Peter Port Sunday 13th

John and I set off in the sunshine at 8.30 this morning to buy the bread at the local bakery, only to find it closed.  (A local lady I spoke to yesterday had told me it was open every morning!)  Still, we knew that M&S up the road was going to be open, so we continued on through St. Martin, arriving there at 8.50 only to find it opened at 9!  But that was just time to go for the nearest geocache - in the garden hedge of the house owner, but we didn't see him - and back to buy our hot rolls.  Val & Bernard wondered where we'd got to, but were delighted with the result.

Everyone is very friendly here - the German family next door sat out at their picnic table, where the daughter had her Loom Bands spread out all over a white bath towel and soon various people came to see what was going on.  Our Emilie had recently demonstrated how to make the various patterns, so we were already enlightened.  Other children came and joined in and soon we were chatting to some parents who have lived in Guernsey for 13 years and were staying here while they were having building work done on a house they have bought nearby - they are thinking of buying a motorhome in France as they share our love of the country and that's where they would be using it.

After a leisurely lunch by the pool, we caught the bus into St. Peter Port.  Wow, it is so beautiful in the sunshine.  With Val using the wheelchair we walked out to the end of a couple of the jetties and also out by Castle Cornet and beyond to the little old lighthouse.  We knew that the Oceana was in port today and from here we had a perfect view of her with a backdrop of the island of Herm.

On Sundays in the summer, the seafront roads are closed to traffic and lots of stalls are there selling local products, food and crafts, but all we bought were ice creams and drinks.

 My first dip in our pool on our return - there was a breeze blowing so couldn't persuade any of the others!  But the water was so warm and relaxing.

We are not really bothered about the football stuff going on at the moment, but we are switching on the TV every now and again to see how the final is getting on - or shall we say NOT getting on.  Result not yet known at time of writing ......

It's still here Jen!