Monthly Archives: May 2017

It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright) Sun-Shiny day

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Sun-Shiny day

Today was forecast as a brilliant day, and so it was.  The sun shone into the van at an early hour, but we were awake, the peacock had seen to that.  We left early picking up the bread and pain au chocolat as we left the campsite for the 9.11 bus into St Peter Port.  This arrived on time and we were whisked to our destination via the hospital.  Today we were catching the 10.30 ferry to Herm.  It should be a lovely day there.  Seems many others thought the same, as the ferry filled up.

The tide was low and we arrived at the steps and not the harbour.  More steps and we were on our counter clockwise walk around the island.  The first part is on the cliffs where bracken grows rather too profusely, smothering most other vegetation.  Various flowers were spotted and photographed as we walked around, although I did not photo the brromrape.

We stopped for tea at a Kiosk on a small beach where we had seen people swimming in late October. Today despite the warm sun, there was only one intrepid elderly couple dipping their toes into the sea.  Umbrellas and sun worshippers were in evidence. 

We continued to Shell Beach where we ate lunch.  Rosemary started her shell hunt.  As one couple said, the shells and sand urchins were small.  I ventured out onto the rocks and took a few photographs around the area.  A few other photographers were in evidence, one keen woman with a professional Canon lens.  It was always interesting to try and see what she had been photographing.   Many times, I was mystified.

We walked the rest of Shell Beach to the furthest point from the landing steps, when Rosemary announced we were to catch the 3.35 home, and we had 35 minutes to walk back.  We did make it in plenty of time, and thankfully our hurry meant we did not have to spend time in the shop.

Back to the camp site on the 81 bus.  I said we were going to Candie Road, was perplexed when the driver said, that’s just up the hill. He was soon stopping and telling us we had arrived.  No I said, the other Candie Road, just before the Little Chapple.  OK the road was named Rue du Candie, so technically I was wrong.

More cider was drunk at the campsite, and then we discovered someone new had arrived and they were parked in their VW next to us.☹

Some good photo opportunities as the sun set on the campsite, missed most of those.

 

I’m a honeybee, breaking your heart, broke mine enough to kill me

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Cobo Bay, Guernsey

Cobo Bay, Guernsey

We had planned to go to Herm Island today.  The weather, though dry, was not sunny.  Thursday according to the weather gurus was likely to be better.  So, instead we lounged around the campsite reading books, drinking tea and making lunch. We went for a short walk around the campsite looking at the sheep, chickens, turkeys, pigs and ducks.  The turkeys had chicks, the very protective mother was most concerned as we stood by.  They were protected in a cage on the field because if they weren’t, the gulls would come in for a quick meal.  The pigs were all rare breeds with a couple of Old Spot (and others I have no idea of now).  We missed two piglets but we saw them later when we came back from our afternoon walk.

Enough lounging about was enough, so off we went for a walk to Cobo Bay trying to keep to green lanes and the ruettes tranquilles.  We arrived and had tea at one of the famous Guernsey Kiosks, the Cobo Bay one, with me further treating myself to a Classic Magnum as we left. 

The walk back took us a different, slightly shorter route which passed two Island fortifications we have never seen before.  Both were not marked on our Guernsey maps.  Maybe we should update to a newer version. They are obviously proud of these fortifications with the new signs and historical notes.

Guernsey Honeybees

Guernsey Honey Bees

Guernsey Honeybee keeper

Guernsey Honeybee keeper

Arrived back at the campsite to what looked like a swarm of midges which must have been awakened by the warmth and sunshine appearing during our walk.  We decided on a bottle of cold, local cider (6%) brewed not more than a few hundred yards from away.   Nope they were not midges, they were  Guernsey Honeybees doing their swarming bit. (Perhaps from the apple orchard making our cider?)  The owner of the orchard was contacted and arrived, donned his kit and captured the honeybees, placing them in a box.  Quite exciting.  One of the campsite’s two young Border Collies managed to get a bee entangled in her tail and was quite subdued & anxious until the insect was found and removed.

I’m waitin’, waitin’ on a sunny day, Gonna chase the clouds away

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The predicted cloudy day started off with sunshine, soon descending into cloud.  We had already made the decision not to go to Herm, but instead go for lunch at The Auberge.  The French children had already packed to go, one night at the campsite, what were they here for?

We caught the bus into town, making the mandatory pass through the hospital.  We changed to a second bus to Jerbourg where the restaurant is.  Again, making a trip through the hospital.  Yes, we went past the hospital four times today.   Most bus routes appear to go through the hospital now.  The car park at the hospital, and the connections to the rest of the island must make it one of the best places to park when commuting on Guernsey.  (Well, if you could find somewhere to park.)

At Jerbourg I started my mandatory run down the steps and path to the point, only to be stopped by path closed signs and a dug-up bridge leading to the lighthouse.  Back up the steps again to be greeted by Rosemary shaking her head (as to why I hadn’t made it all the way down), and a tour bus from the Norwegian Jade who was anchored off the coast.  I did wonder how many of the 2,700 passengers took tours of the island.  I somehow doubt there is much extra transport capacity on the island.  Is it expected that most passengers will mooch around St Peter Port? Guernsey is said to be the last duty free stop before returning to the UK. Cruise liners are not able to anchor off Jersey.

Short walk down the road to The Auberge where we ate lunch.  Cocktails while we ordered and then a lovely meal from the lunch time menu, and a bottle of wine.  Back on the buses through the hospital twice more and then on home to sit outside to read (R), snooze (me) and shiver (both) in the refreshing weather. 

The sun is promised for tomorrow, and hopefully the Internet is better now that the French kids have gone elsewhere and I can post this with one photo of me standing next to a large plant.

Victor Hugo

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This morning was lovely and warm for eating our breakfast outside.  The wind had died, and the sun was shining.  Even the night had been a lot warmer, and the fridge did not play up.

Victor Hugo Victor HugoToday we were off to see Victor Hugo’s house, where he lived for 15 years in exile from France.  This was our first visit.  We have been visiting Guernsey for 25 years and never visited his house; it was always closed.  This year our visit was in the early summer and it was open.  Next year (2018) it is closed for refurbishment, so we were lucky to find it open.  The house is owned by the City of Paris and run by the Parisian museums, it was gifted to them by Hugo’s granchildren in the 1920s.  The house is staffed by French staff who do guided tours.  Guided tours are the only way to visit the house.  Luckily the French staff don’t abide by French lunches and it is open continuously throughout the day.  We were also amazed by a group of French about to start on a tour at 1.30.  What has happened to the French lunch? If you are in Guernsey, try and visit the house.  It is quite remarkable with each room being decorated and furnished in different ways, from dark to light going up the storeys.

A pleasant lunch was spent eating our sandwiches on the quayside.  Unfortunately, we happened to sit where the Guernsey tourist road train set off from.

Bus over to Petit Bot Bay, where the Martello tower had been renovated and fairly newly opened to the public. The Petit Bot Bay café had been done up, though they advertised cream teas and Guernsey Gache, none were to be seen.  Tea now served in paper mugs.  Definitely gone down hill in the tea department, though lunches might have been good.

Long slog back up the hill to the Independent Grocery Shop for some replenishments for the rest of the week.  R asking me why I had bought Scottish Cheddar.

Back on the bus to the end of Candie Road.  As we set off in the bus, I looked at its route on the map and reckon we could have walked faster.  We took a very scenic route to Candie Road, passing the other side of the airport some 20 minutes after we set off from the south side.

Back at the campsite, having spotted the noisy peacock outside a local house, the peace has been further broken by a large group of French school children coming camping.  At least they are tented a long way from us. 

The wind is a little stronger this evening, so all dressed in fleeces while we drink our wine and prepare the beef stir fry purchased at the grocery.

Lazing on a Sunny Afternoon

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Vazon Bay

Vazon Bay

Vazon Bay

Vazon Bay

Today was predicted to be a sunny day with less wind, and a little warmer.  Thankfully we could relax, the fridge had been giving us some cause for concern overnight and had been running incessantly.  Couple of interventions during the night only made it stop running all together.  I think maybe it was too cold at night for the fridge, operating temperature should be 16C, less than that and it can be inefficient!  The instruction book says that. Sounds counter intuitive to me.  Seems to be working fine now it’s warmer. (Us humans are also working fine in the warmth.) Added to the fridge waking us, there was the peacock, whose idea of dawn needs to be modified.  As far as I could see, there was not a glimmer of light in the sky.  The cockerels did have the decency to hold off until you could see the sky line.

Today was Sunday, so off to Vazon Bay and La Grande Mare for Sunday lunch.  We arrived at the shore around 11.45 and saw the stragglers of the Guernsey Ultra Marathon pass by.  This was an around the island race on the coastal paths.  These paths included all the steps up and down around the cliffs on the south coast.  The run is 36 miles long, with a best time of a little under 5 hours.  The stragglers we saw were half way around and 5 hours in.  They would be hard pressed to make the 10-hour closing time.

Mallards in the La Grand Mare hot tubMallards in the La Grand Mare hot tub

Mallards in the La Grand Mare hot tub

Twinkle the Cat

Twinkle the Cat

At La Grande Mare, we sat by the outdoor pool and consumed our prepranidal drinks, Rosemary had a G&T while I drank a pint of beer.  It was lovely and warm, while we watched a pair of Mallards take to the swimming pool and hot tub for a spruce up.  Lunch was ordered which we ate in the restaurant itself, then sat outside again for coffee.  Oh we saw Twinkle, the cat who used to visit us in the self-catering flat years ago.  She must be getting on in years now.

After lunch, we walked along the beach towards Fort Hommet Headland.  It was funny seeing the beach with people building sandcastles and going swimming.  Rather different to October!  After a pleasant walk along the beach we walked back to the campsite for a well-deserved beer on the sunset veranda. Now sitting outside Van the Van in the still warm sunshine sipping our drinks.  So much more pleasant when the wind is not blowing.  Forecast for the rest of the week is good.  (On several peoples’ authorities and not just Google’s.)

Guernsey – Little Chapel

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Little Chapel

Little Chapel

Little Chapel

Always be prepared.  Today the forecast was sun and no rain.  So, casting aside jackets, we set off to the Little Chapel. We had not even left the campsite when were caught in a deluge. I quickly retreated to Van the Van and retrieved waterproofs.  Off we set in the rain which soon stopped for the rest of the day, although my hat was a tad soggy.

The Little Chapel was open having been closed for renovations since November 2015.  It had been cracking up as part of the chapel had been built on granite, while the other side had been built on earth.  The roof had also been repaired and looked greatly improved. There was a continuous arrival of tour buses, stopping for 20 minutes, disgorging their load, waiting and picking them up a few minutes later for the next stop on Guernsey.  Many nationalities. We soon discovered there were two very large cruise liners in at St Peter Port.

After eating our cheese rolls, we caught the number 71 bus to St Peter Port and disembarked on the quayside.  A walk around the High Street looking at what had changed.  The Apple store had moved and grown larger.  Managed to dissuade a sales person from speaking to me by showing him my Android phone, at which he backed off in horror.  The shop selling kitchen equipment had changed into an outdoor ware shop.  Amazingly HMV was still in existence.  Down on the docks, the slaughter house had turned into a bistro and bar called, highly originally, The Slaughter House.  We thought the same had happened to the fish shop.  But it now sells fish and meat, so is called the Surf and Turf.  Our confusion was justified.  Luckily some things don’t change. The same pubs selling the same beers.

Oriana boarding

Oriana boarding

Oriana and Trident Marine

Oriana and Trident Marine

Walked to the lighthouse near Castle Cornet, having checked out the yachts in the various harbours. We watched the two cruise liners (one was P&O’s Oriana) being loaded.  Huge queues of passengers at the port waiting to re-embark onto the cruise ship tenders.  Fascinating to watch.  Thankfully not us. Unfortunately, my Canon 100-400 telephoto lens began to play up and wouldn’t always focus. Rosemary was of course deeply suspicious of this and thought nervously of all the camera shops.

We caught the 61 bus back to Kings Mill (straight back, no dawdling around camera shops) and walked the hill back to the campsite, where I am drinking my JD & Coke in the sunshine.  Could do without the wind.

Guernsey in Van the Van

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We had a 9.00 am Condor ferry booked from Poole harbour, so instead of rushing down in the morning, we decided to travel on the previous evening and park at the ferry port. The weather was appalling, raining most of the way to Poole.  We arrived and parked in the waiting lanes for the ferry, with about twenty other mobile homes waiting for the Cherbourg ferry. There are nice loos there, and a café, closed when I arrived, but open in the morning where we could buy coffee and bacon rolls.

We boarded the ferry in sunshine and were soon on are way to Guernsey.  The ferry crossing is three hours.  As we approached Guernsey the clouds came in.  We docked and were one of the first off the Condor. Drove to the bus kiosk and dropped Rosemary off to buy a Puffin card.  No parking near by, even for a Smart car.  Ten minutes later I picked Rosemary up and drove to the Waitrose in the centre of the island.  This shop has always been there in all the times we have visited,   This is its third re-incarnation, being a Safeway and some other supermarket in previous lives.  Provisioned we headed to Vazon Bay for lunch.  This used to be home to the “Biker Café”, but it has been smartened up into a Bistro and Bar.  It still sells snacks, tea in mugs and “Biker Coffee”, instant coffee with a slug of warm milk. 

After lunch, a walk to La Grande Mare to take a nosey around and to see if Twinkle the cat was still alive.  The staff reported the cat was still alive, though we were unable to see her.  Checked out the menus and decided we will be back for lunch one day.

Now to the campsite, checked in to a pretty empty place. One other motorhome and three tents.  Seems reasonable place, has beer and wine for sale, eggs, fresh bread and pain au chocolates for those who need food. 

Alas the evening was a bit chilly with an unwanted breeze adding to the cooling affect.  More wine was acquired to counteract the chill.

The forecast was for rain during the night and sun the next day.  Yes it rained, and the next day was a glorious day of sunshine.

So Friday arrived and off we walked to the orchid fields three miles away.  The walk was on roads all the way. Guernsey roads can be narrow and sunken, even more that the roads in the West country.   The flowers on the road sides were glorious. Rosemary spotted a spider’s nest with hundreds of spiderlings about to invade the country.

The orchid fields were found, Early-Purple, Common Spotted & Pyramidal, but there were hundreds of them, all in prime condition.  We had arrived at the correct time and we haven’t finished checking the photos yet.

We walked on down the coast to the Imperial Hotel for a pint and then on to Pleinmont where there were paragliders flying.  Never seen them there before.  Back to the Imperial to catch the bus which took us to Kings Mills, a water treatment and pumping station.  Then a short 20-min walk back up to the campsite for drinks and canapes

 

Cambridge Society Visit to Salisbury 12-14 May

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We headed down to Salisbury on the Thursday, stopping off at Figsbury Ring.  A hill fort being grazed by cattle.  From here you could see the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, and the planes landing at Sarum airfield. Lovely sunny day and a nice spot, though fenced in on one side by military fencing and a rather poor access road. We then drove on to the Salisbury Camping and Caravaning campsite and parked  Van the Van for the night. Big, open site, next to a huge playing field.  Good walks down by the river and into town.

On the Friday we started late and walked to the Old Sarum Iron Age Hill Fort for our guided tour.  Lovely views of the surrounding countryside including the airfield, Figsbury Ring, Salisbury Cathedral and of course our campsite as one member of the society commented.

Walked into town for dinner at Sarum College where most of the other Cambridge Society members were staying.  Good meal in the student canteen.  We taxied back to the campsite to bed.

Saturday we again walked into town to the cathedral for a guided tour.  We were divided into a couple of groups.  Our guide gave a rather dumbed down talk.  Fine for me, but not for those who wanted more information.  Next we had a guided tour of the roof and tower of the cathedral.  This was really very interesting and was excellent.  Tower tours seemed to be run very regularly. I think there were three in progress at a time. We walked from one end of the cathedral to the other under the roof, then up steps through the tower to the base of the spire.  Outside we could look over Salisbury from a narrow ledge.  The tour went on longer than planned, so no lunch and straight out for a walk to see Clarendon Palace Ruins.

Evening was another lovely dinner in Sarum College. and then a taxi ride back to the campsite.

Sunday another pleasant walk into town to pay for our meals and then a guided walk around Salisbury. This included the old court house where Kate, a Society member, had once sat as a judge.  We cadged a lift to Old Sarum Airfield where we ate lunch.  Apparently there was a rather large unanticipated crowd there today with a sponsored parachuting event.  No matter.  The main event for us was the museum where we could look at and sit in old military aircraft which had to have  some connection with Boscombe Down.

Walked back to the campsite for dinner.

On the Monday we drove home, stopping off National Trust Mottisfont Abbey.  The Abbey itself was not open, but the gardens were.  Lovely river with large fish swimming, and some working displays of lock gates for children to play with.  No children around so Rosemary and I had great fun pumping water and operating sluice gates. R wanted a set in our garden.

 

 

Clare College

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Rosemary and I were invited by Ravi for a meal at Clare College, Cambridge University, where Ravi is a Fellow. On the way to Ely we stopped of at the Emmaus shop which solid “preloved” furniture and goods, where we ate a quick snack lunch.  We checked into the hotel in Ely and walked around the city.  It was Ely Eel festival.  I managed to grab a couple of pints, avoided the eels and listened to a band which was playing outside the Poets House Hotel. Quick change of clothes before meeting up with Ravi to catch the train into Cambridge where we had a preprandial drink at The Eagle.  Quick walk to Clare College where we were to eat at 19.30 in the dining room.  

Today there were no senior fellows in attendance, so Ravi had to host the three MCR members who were also eating at the top table.  The three post graduates were from Germany, Holland and Sheffield.  We chatted over sherry before being summoned to dinner.  We walked through the dining room past the undergraduates and positioned ourselves at the head table.   Ravi read grace, and then we sat and were served dinner.  After dinner was complete, the waitress (college servant) brought a small gong for Ravi to sound.  He duly sounded the gong, dinner was now over and we and the undergraduates could now leave.

After dinner we retired to the SCR and drank some postprandial drinks.  After everyone left we posed for some photographs and left for Ely by taxi.  As we walked to the taxi, we saw the three post graduates  outside in the Clare College court chatting amongst themselves.   Wonder what they were talking about.

The next day we ate breakfast at Poets House Hotel with Ravi who came to join us.  We had a small wander around Ely, visiting the antique centre by the river, before picking up the car and driving back home.