Guernsey - fish, history and sunshine

As it turned out, it needn’t have been so stressful as they let us straight through and there was plenty of space.

We were shown straight to our reserved seats in the private lounge, near the panoramic windows at the front of the boat, and settled in.

The Condor Ferries crossing only took a couple of hours and was easy going.

It was first thing in the morning and the sun had just come up. Although the air conditioning had lulled us into a false sense of security. It was boiling outside.

The ferry - Condor Liberation

When we emerged into St Peter Port on Guernsey it hit us. At least 30 degrees, with no breeze.

We left the car in the main car park in the harbourside after having picked up our parking clock (parking is free on Guernsey but you have to display the time of arrival on a handy cardboard clock).

We weren’t able to check in until the afternoon, so decided to peruse the various craft shops and cafes of St Peter Port – it turned out there were a few. We picked up a few local beers and made a list of places to try for food during our stay.

It was getting hotter in town, so we decided to head to the hotel ahead of time on the off chance we could check in slightly early.

For the first two nights of the trip we were staying at the Farmhouse Hotel, near the village of Les Bas Courtils.

The Farmhouse Hotel, near the village of Les Bas Courtils, Guernsey

We’d checked it out online before the trip and were excited. It looked super fancy.

We weren’t disappointed.

It turned out our room wasn’t quite ready and, even though we’d turned up early, reception offered us drinks on the house while we waited for the cleaners to finish up. We decided to have them outside on the terrace, by the pool.

It was an incredibly picturesque setting, so we decided to have dinner out there too. However, sitting for hours in the blazing sun, and having forgotten to slather on the factor 50, the back of my neck was somewhat worse for wear when we eventually headed inside.

Our room was as it had appeared in the pictures, well-furnished and comfortable.

The bathroom was nearly as big as the entire ground floor of our house back home – even complete with mood lighting in the shower.

The next day we had our itinerary all mapped out – it largely revolved around visiting old things. There are a few museums high up on the ‘things to do while you’re in Guernsey’ articles I’d read as preparation.

First stop was the German Underground Hospital dating from the end of the Second World War.

Completed in 1944, the hospital is the largest structure remaining on the Channel Islands from the time of the German occupation. It covers some 75,000 sq ft – a sprawling network of cavernous tunnels under the hillside.

The chill of the tunnels was initial relief from the scorching temperatures which had returned. However, the cold, along with the drip, drip of some unseen leak and the echoes of fellow visitors trying in vain to whisper and walk quietly was unsettling.

German Underground Hospital

The tunnels are one of the most atmospheric places I have ever been. It must have been awful to have been confined to a bunk amid the damp, artificially lit caverns – especially for those potentially suffering from shell shock or PTSD.

Some tunnels disappeared into the gloom. Having watched far too many post-apocalyptic films, we hurried past in fear of some dishevelled shape lurching out of the darkness towards us.

In one room there was even a crackly broadcast of Vera Lyn singing, which did nothing to dispel the unease. In fact it worked in quite the opposite way.

Despite the foreboding nature of the place, it was incredibly interesting and the information displays were full of personal stories of living (and dying) under German occupation during the war.

It’s well worth a visit, though maybe not alone.

German Underground Hospital

Next stop was the little chapel. Despite it’s fairly unassuming name, it’s a spectacular building.

A stone’s throw from our hotel, it looks like a grand cathedral in miniature. The entire place is covered in colourful shards of glass, ceramic and shell.

Just about big enough to stand up inside, the chapel leads down into the hillside. If you get there around lunchtime, as we did, you miss most of the crowds and can actually take in the place without having to shuffle along.

Next, we headed west.

Fort Grey Maritime Museum charts the history of the near countless shipwrecks which have occurred off Guernsey over the years.

Fort Grey Maritime Museum

Extensive reef networks around the island have put paid to ships carrying things as varied as sugar from Caribbean and even an oil rig.

The museum also salutes the bravery of various lifeboat crews who have risked their lives to save the men aboard the stricken vessels.

Sunburn topped up, our destination for that night’s meal was La Barberie – a seafood restaurant in the south of the island.

Among their specials was a seafood platter. I needed no further convincing. It was amazing, special mention to the crab.

Next morning, after checking out of the Farmhouse our plan was to take the boat over to the island of Herm located a short distance from Guernsey and famed for its white-sand beaches.

Herm

It was £16 return for the two of us and the boat ride took maybe 30 minutes to the tiny harbour on Herm – complete with pub, ice cream parlour and, best of all, seaside tat shop.

We walked, with the other visitors, on the path encircling the island to the far side and Belvoir Beach.

There we lounged in the sun, growing steadily pinker until it was time to get the boat back.

However, due to the tide having gone out in the meantime, we had to get our ride back from the still-accessible jetty at Rosaire Steps. The harbour we’d come into earlier was now only about a foot deep with water.

Nearly a full bottle of aftersun later, we checked into our second hotel. The Cobo Bay Hotel in the north.

The Little Chapel, Guernsey

Evidently the place all the locals flock to in warm weather, Cobo Bay is very reminiscent of Newquay in Cornwall. Windsurfers galore dotted the waves as the sun went down.

One thing about Guernsey is that everything seems to take place at a much more chilled pace than in Britain. Even the roads, the fastest speed limit we came across was 35mph.

We creaked into the Rockmount pub next door to the hotel for fish and chips, recommended by the tourist board ahead of our trip. It did not disappoint.

The next day we had all day to wait until our boat back at 9pm.

We decided to explore the northern coast, clambering over wind-battered rocks and watching the seabirds diving. All the while trying to shield already reddened skin from the still-blazing sun.

St Peter Port, Guernsey

It was a Sunday, so many of the shops in town were closed. Thankfully though, an ice cream stall was open and doing a roaring trade.

Unlike the trip out, we were among the first back on the boat for the return trip.

Guernsey is somewhere I’d definitely recommend for those looking to relax and live for a few days at a slower pace. Pack plenty of sun cream though.

For more details on how to get to Guernsey go to www.condorferries.co.uk/

For more details on what to do once you're there, head to visitguernsey.com