Jersey Holiday

When Alison found there was a half marathon in Jersey in May, it was the ideal opportunity to revisit the island. The last time was a short break to meet her sister's family which mainly involved the beaches and making sandcastles with the children.

We set off on Saturday morning. The journey was memorable for the ease of using ParkPlus at Gatwick and the flight on a FlyBe Bombardier Q400 twin prop aircaft, the first time I have been on a propeller driven plane. It may be hugely environmentally friendly. but I did prefer the jet for our return. We spent most of the day in St Helier before finding our hotel.

We were up early ( before breakfast) on the Sunday morning to drive across the island (and its lack of road signs) to drop off Alison for the start at 9.30. I managed to arrive back at the hotel in time for bacon and scrambled eggs, before driving to the finish in time to take the all important photo.

Alison (and most of the other runners) found the last mile very difficult as was right into a cold head wind, so she was very tired at the finish. But she had managed her second fastest half marathon, so was very pleased with the result.

We found a cafe at the end of St Ouen's Bay and Alison was able to devour a bacon and sausage roll with no problem. The rest of the day was spent "slowly" visiting the harbours of St Helier.

Monday started sunny but cool. We went to St Aubin's harbour which was very attractive and walked up the hill in the middle of the following photo for good views over the port.

Then on to St Brelade's Bay (Alison's favourite) and walked along the beach before continuing on over the clifftops above Beauport.

We finished the day at Corbiere Point. We had thought to walk on the path over to the lighthouse, but the alarm sounded as the tide was rising, even though it seemed it would take some time before the path was underwater. Five minutes later, waves were lapping over the concrete and soon became impassable. It was a wonderful sight to see the first wave over the path and it gradually being submerged.

On Tuesday we started at Gorey, another very picturesque village, overlooked by Mont Orgueil castle.

Then on to the north coast, ending up at Greve de Lecq. The chilly wind had died down and we were able to enjoy the warm sunshine sitting on the harbour wall.

We packed and left the hotel on Wednesday morning with time to visit Ransoms for coffee and a final walk on St Brelade's beach before the journey home.

Tutankhamun at the O2

It was such good weather forecast for our day in London, and the timed tickets for the Tutankhamun exhibition were not until early afternoon, that we thought it would be nice to travel there by river. The train and Underground took us to Marylebone and then Charing Cross. After a quick look round Trafalgar Square and a longer stop for coffee, it was time to head to Embankment to catch the Thames Clipper to the O2. As we had travel cards, £2.60 each must be the biggest bargain in London.

Some good views from the boat, including the Tower of London and Traitors Gate below.



When we reached Docklands, we could even see Discovery Dock, right in the middle of the next photo.

When we reached the Dome (sorry O2), we had time for a quick snack whilst I started to wonder if this exhibition was really what I wanted to see, having little real interest in Egyptology. However, I was very pleasantly surprised by some remarkable relics shown in beautifully staged and lit spaces. Some of the exhibits were so well preserved AND SO OLD.

As we left the O2, it was Alison who suggested we make for Covent Garden as the weather was so sunny and warm.



After wandering around for a while, we settled on Ponti's pasta dinner. Sitting outside to eat on a warm May evening was a a great way to end an excellent day.

The kind girl from the next table, who was a model, took this photo.