Day 18 Goodbye Guernsey

 

We packed the car up and checked out of the hotel at 10 am and had at least 8 hours to kill before checking in for the ferry to Poole. 

It was overcast but much less windy so felt a lot warmer.  We took some photos of the hotel and then went for a walk along the beach near the hotel where it was high tide.

Wayside Cheer Hotel

Paul on rocks at Cobo Bay

Cobo Bay at high tide

We then drove to nearby Saumarez Park as this was one place we hadn’t managed to get to.  The park contains a large house built in the mid 1800’s.  The owner had worked at the British Embassy in Japan and brought back a wooden shrine and a wooden house which he shipped and re-erected here but they were destroyed during the WW2 occupation.  The park had a walled garden where they grow all sorts of fruit and vegetables.  We then walked to the small lake where there were a lot of noisy ducks.

Paul and scarecrow at Walled Garden

Walled Garden

Japanese Fishing Platform on lake

Cormorant sunning itself

Near to the park was a garden centre and we went there for coffee but not before having a good look around.  It was really well laid out.  All the indoor plants, gifts, restaurant and, of course, Christmas department were arranged in a Octogan shape with the outdoor plants in the middle.  We saw some really nice things there.  When we got the receipt from the restaurant we realised it was the same chain as the garden centres in Derby, Chatsworth and Trentham amongst others.  Outside we found a statue of a Donkey, which is what the Guernsey people are affectionately known as (those from Jersey are Toads).

Donkey Statue

It was still too early to have lunch so we drove to a couple of bays that we had not seen.  The first was Saints Bay where there were some small caves in the rocks.  The second was Fermain Bay which had a stony beach and a beach café which was quite busy.  Both were very scenic but were at the bottom of some very narrow roads without passing places so we didn’t stay for long at either. 

Saints Bay

Fermain Bay

Early afternoon we drove to St Peter Port and parked the car near to the ferry terminal and found somewhere to eat so kept our own rolls for eating later on the ferry as we would not get an evening meal tonight.

We did a bit more walking around St Peter Port and saw a few other areas we missed before and then checked in for the ferry at 18.00.

In Guernsey,  masks are rarely seen.  We only saw some shop staff wearing them and these were usually the bigger stores like M&S and the Garden Centres.  Masks are not compulsory on public transport or in crowded places.  This is because of the high take up of the vaccination by the local population and anyone visiting can only do so if they are double jabbed and proof has to be provided at the point of entry.  As we checked in for the ferry we were told that we must wear masks on the journey back.  It is going to be hard to get back in the habit of wearing them  again.

The ferry journey was very smooth and got in on time.  We then drove for about half an hour to the Travelodge in Ferndown where we stayed for the night and from where we will travel up to Hertford on Sunday for the family lunch.

 

I.