Friday, July 11 – Very warm. Drove Dot up to Asda to get an eye check. Pretty tired all day. Cancelled papers. Light lunch, then went to Morrisons to get some champagne and other stuff. Watched some TV – Wimbledon and Tour de France – and David FaceTimed. Had quite a long chat, which was really nice. He has been doing quite a bit of cycling.
Special street meet with champagne for my birthday next day. And nibbles. Mark, Sarah, Matt, Angela, Jon, Joe and Sam. Had quite a talk with Sam, but also with others. Outside in shade for a couple of hours before I came in and cooked salmon. Watched cricket and more Tour. Was very tired; so Dot cleared away.
Saturday – Very warm. Again. My 80th birthday. Felt quite dizzy much of the day. David sent me some writing books and a mini-pen. Books from Dot and Joy, who has sciatica and is feeling pretty bad. David and Oliver and Amy wrote some lovely things about me in Diderot. Anne got me some champagne and Kim got me a small mouse with a guitar. David and Oliver both FaceTimed, but Amy is in Scotland. Watched a bit of Wimbledon and Tour de France, then cricket when we returned from a meal at Bishop’s, which was my main present from Dot. Really nice there as always. Walked back through Close and as a result just reached 4000 steps for day.
Sunday – Somehow failed to record this, but went to church, then went to North Walsham to celebrate Roger’s birthday with him, Debbie, Judy and Don. Nice afternoon with snacks. Pretty warm still.
Monday – Not quite so warm. Very small amount of rain in evening. Sent birthday cards to Stephanie and Audrey. Spent day preparing for holiday – packing, etc. Didn’t feel too great. Head was very fuzzy. Thought at first I was getting UTI, but no. Decided not to go to Cake and Compline. Would have been a squeeze, timewise. Booked taxi for 9am. Cooked Chicken Kiev and watched England lose narrowly to India at cricket, then a couple of days of Tour de France.
Tuesday – Cooler; very windy in Jersey with tiny amount of rain. Picked up by taxi just before 9 and at airport in good time. Irritatingly long wait before we could book in: some kind of system problem. However, left on time after thorough going over in security. Flight was a bit bumpy; no food or drink (we had had a bun/Danish pastry before we left). Jersey airport exit very quick: picked up by minibus and taken to Radisson hotel by waterfront in St Helier.
First impressions not great; loads of traffic on unexceptional roads. But hotel was very good (though room had no sea view) and when we walked out by the marina, I was overwhelmed by the scenery as well as by the boat names (Sea Esther and Just Add Water, for example). Tide low and water dancing at entrance to marina, as well as castle out in the harbour being accessed by amphibious vehicle. Paintings in arches by the marina really good: in Britain would be covered with graffiti.
Later booked a couple of tours – one with hotel and one with Premier rep, who came to see if we were ok. Impressive. She also gave us a rundown of the area and what we could do, including bus routes. Evening meal in hotel very good (mussels starter big enough for main). We walked out afterwards to watch incoming tide. Remarkable difference. Earlier we had bought ice cream and walked through Jardin du Mer. Very early to bed.
Wednesday – Grey with some light rain. Coolish. Good breakfast at hotel, then on board bus to War Tunnels. It arrived a bit late, and the Tunnels were crowded but fascinating, giving a step-by-step scenario of the occupation of the Channel Islands by the Germans. Not impressed by Government’s failure to defend them and reluctance to help them after D-day. Then bus took us to the Glass Church, which was full of Lalic glass and very impressive , though not to a guy from Rotherham, who said he would rather have a beer. Had to get a minibus back to Radisson (we were only two from there out of 33 in bus).
Free afternoon tea, which was so lavish that I couldn’t eat anything for rest of day. We both slept for about an hour afterwards, then walked into town to buy snacks and get our bearings. Felt shattered, but it was all very beautiful, especially Liberation Square. Later had two free glasses of wine in bar (part of deal). Tide coming in – lovely view of sunset. Somewhere in there caught second half of Tour de France highlights.
Thursday – Started grey with very slight drizzle, but by mid-afternoon became very warm and sunny. Earlyish breakfast, then tour of island by minibus, driven by witty Scotsman. Went round Jersey anti-clockwise (21 of us), stopping at Gory, then for very nice lunch (best prawns I ever tasted) at an inn, Les Fontaines, on the north coast. After that continued round to Corbière lighthouse and a beach on the south coast, where we stopped for ice cream.
Quite a restrained group, but I chatted to a woman who think was quite upper class but very nice. Driver had amazing series of stories about who lived where etc etc and why Jersey society was so calm (no litter, graffiti etc). Interesting – bit like England when I was growing up. Lots of traffic at end but back at hotel by 5pm. Tired. Watched Tour de France then had meal in bar area – I had beef burger and Dot Caesar salad. Beautiful sunset which I managed to get on camera after being alerted by Dot.
Friday – Quite warm. After biggish breakfast walked into town, but I wasn’t feeling great. We walked around various shops – all very picturesque – and Dot bought some stuff in Boots while I sat on seat. We then walked some more and had drink in Costa, where I went to the loo. On again, and bought Dot a bracelet from a jeweller who was retiring. Back up to hotel, and I lay down for a while. Also took paracetamol, which worked quite well. We decided to take DUKW ferry out to castle in the bay , which proved quite exciting. Climbed to the top, where we saw some aerobatics from a Spitfire flying over – had the feeling he was doing it for us: the two of us were standing alone on top of the tower. Got last ferry back at 5pm. Early supper at 6.30pm in hotel bar – both had Caesar salad followed by really nice light cake and a Cointreau. Strolled out to look at sea but then went up to our room. Managed 12400 steps today.
Saturday – Dull, spots of rain later. Amazing waste of time. Ready for transfer to Jersey airport after breakfast; specified time 10.30 am. Our transfer man arrived ten minutes late and drove like a bat out of hell to get to the airport by 11am. then discovered our flight had been put back 90 minutes. Incidentally check-in and security were fast and friendly. Anyway we sat in the departure hall, did a bit of eating and drinking, and I was feeling really rough. Bought a couple of books. Eventually while I was in the loo we were called to our gate, where we waited another 20 minutes or so before boarding.
When on board there was another hold-up because of a problem with luggage. Then took off behind Spitfire and took about 15 minutes to reach Guernsey. At the airport we waited another 20 minutes or so for our transfer to arrive, and got to our hotel in St Peter Port about 4pm. So that was about six hours to get about 27 miles, or from Norwich to Blakeney. Weather worsening: very grey; light rain in the evening. Before meal we walked down to viewpoint over harbour, and afterwards a short distance in the other direction. Hotel Duke of Richmond quite posh. They had done me a small birthday cake. Nice meal in evening. Slept afterwards, then wrote blog. Felt a bit better.
Sunday – Well away from pop-up DCC meetings, sunny with occasional light showers and wind (but not cold). Breakfast with terrace view. Met Mr Bennett, who found the stairs hard to deal with. Walked into town (very steep downhill) and looked round old parts before having a cider in Terrace Garden. Then down to seafront and eventually to bus terminus, where we met a couple who often cycle in North Norfolk. Very nice. They were heading back to Manchester but recommended a beach area we might bus to tomorrow. After making some inquiries we caught a 91, which basically did a circumnavigation of the island, dropping us off halfway at Vazum Bay, where we had lunch in a beachside cafe; Dot had sweet potato chips and I had mackerel pâté.
A few drops of rain, but we walked out to a bunker on the cliff, with sky looking threatening. Dot climbed to sea wall but didn’t make it to the beach. Eventually walked back to bus stop and waited about 20 minutes for 91. This was packed, and we had to stand for a bit. While we were on board there was a really heavy shower. Back in town, where it was dry, we tackled the steep walk back up to our hotel – hard going! Watched Tour de France and then had another £100 supper.