On Sundays the buses in Guernsey operate a very limited schedule, and generally only run once every 2 hours on each route, making travel a little more challenging. Our plan for the day was to visit the market, look around town, have a walk and then pick something up to take back to the B&B for dinner, and then tomorrow we would do a bus trip around the island, stopping at various places along the way, due to the much better bus schedule (buses every hour) on weekdays. Here is how it turned out....
We did not want to wait an hour for a bus after breakfast so we walked the 4.5 Km into town, and walked through the Sunday market stalls on the Seafront which was closed to vehicles all day. Nothing spectacular in the market, and certainly not anything that we would want to carry with us for the next 4 weeks.
Sunday Market on Guernsey Seafront
We then walked out to Castle Cornet and beyond on the breakwater. Castle Cornet has been added to over many centuries, and now houses museums of the RAF and an infantry regiment, but was originally a defensive fortification.
From the end of the breakwater we had great views of the town of St. Peter Port. How would you like to do a 3,000 piece jig saw puzzle of the photo below?
St. Peters Port from the breakwater
After getting back into town, we stopped for a coffee / tea and scone, and then decided that we would take the bus up to the NW corner of the island, walk for a few hours, and then head back to the B&B, picking up dinner along the way. The queue at the bus stop was long, as we had a large cruise ship in port (15 decks) and lot of the passengers wanted to do the 1 pound tour of the island on the public bus (which was only going every 2 hours being Sunday). We did however manage to get on the bus, but had to stand, making it really hard to see street names, so that we would know where to get off the bus. Luckily we guessed correctly and exited the bus at Pembroke Bay.
From Pembroke Bay we walked counter-clockwise around the island, past the garbage dump, golf course and several sandy beaches, eventually reaching the point where the road to our B&B intersected the coast road. We would have to wait 45 minutes for a bus, so we started walking down the road to the B&B.
At the first major intersection we spied a convenience store, but nothing convenient for dinner. The girl suggested that the pub at the next intersection might have food, but they didn't do food on Sundays. We were still about 10 minutes from the B&B and the bus was due any minute, so after a quick chat and verification of the bus schedule, we decided that our best option was to take the bus all the way to town (St. Peter Port), eat dinner, and take the last bus home, 2 1/4 hours later. Moments later the bus arrived and whisked us off to St. Peter Port.
Our first choice of pubs didn't do food on Sundays (this is becoming a major inconvenience), so we ate at the same cafe that we ate the scone at earlier in the day. While waiting for our food to arrive, we tried to plan tomorrow's activities, and realized that the big obstacle was our luggage, as the ferry does not leave until 5:30 pm. We knew that we could leave the luggage at the B&B, but that would mean wasting 1 1/2 hours going back to get them, so Randy suggested that maybe the ferry company would store the bags for the day.
So after dinner, we headed down to the docks to check with Condor Ferries, where we learned that our ferry tomorrow night has been cancelled, on the expectation of 6 metre seas due to the tail end of a hurricane hitting the English Channel. Thankfully, they could get us on the 5:30 sailing tomorrow morning.
Back at the B&B, Christine (our landlady) started phoning all the taxis, to see who would pick us up at 4 am. The answer was a resounding "nobody". Christine then offered to drive us, if we would unload her vehicle for her (she is a "collector"), and I would help her with some iPad issues. How could we refuse?
So, as I finish this post, it is time to shower, pack and get a few hours sleep before heading to the ferry at 4 am.
Hopefully tomorrow I will have a positive report of the travel experience.
Below is an additional photo from last night, taken from the docks, added to add some colour to today's post.
St. Peter Port Harbour at Night
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