The Island of Guernsey

If you were asked to go to the world map and put your finger on the Island of Guernsey would you be able to do it?   I thought I knew geography fairly well, but I would not have been able to find that island.

Back in August last year we were excited to be able to take a cruise from the town of Dover, England around through the Channel Islands and on around to Ireland and Scotland.  As with all cruises, interesting Shore Excursions are scheduled for the passengers.  We tried to sign up to visit Guernsey, but that excursion was full, so we signed up to see the Island of Sark.  We had to go to St. Peter Port, Guernsey before taking another ferry boat out to the Island of Sark.  If you would like to see that post you can click on the below link:

http://sweetsoutherndays.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-island-of-sark.html

These islands are part of the Channel Islands in the English Channel.

Our ship anchored out a short distance from the town of St. Peter Port, Guernsey.  Everyone was transported ashore on the "tender boats" provided by the ship.  It is a very efficient and fun experience to climb into that tender boat and zip on over to shore.

Can you spot the Island of Guernsey in the map below? 

The distance from the Island of Guernsey to London is 228 miles, just to give you an idea of distance.

Below is a photo I snapped of our ship taken as we were going to shore at St. Peter Port

We had a wonderful time visiting these islands and I took a lot of memorable photos.  As I said, that trip was taken in August last year.   

Now fast forward to January of this year 2014 ...  Of all things! ...  In mid-January of this year, I received an email from a resident of the Island of Guernsey at St. Peter Port ... Yes, the very place we had visited.

He had seen a blog-post from Sweet Southern Days telling about our trip to his island.  He said: "Just read your blog about your visit to Guernsey on the 29th August last year.  You might be interested in seeing your ship from the "other" side,  from an inhabitant of the island."  He went on to say: "My blog is http://guernseyliner.blogspotcom/.  If you scroll down to the 29th of August you will see "your" ship."

I did go to his website and sure enough there it was, our ship, with the photograph taken from land on St. Peter Port.

 The below photo was taken by Nigel the local resident from St. Peter Port, Guernsey.

And it is indeed our cruise ship anchored a short distance from shore.

Nigel's blog shows photos of Cruise Ships that come into his island of Guernsey.

We corresponded and Nigel was good enough to send photos of his beautiful Island.  He also gave permission for me to use his photos on the Sweet Southern Day Blog so I could show them to you.

The below photo taken by Nigel is a lovely shot of the South Coast of Guernsey in the English Channel.  How completely beautiful his photo is.   There on the left it looks like a roadway, or possibly a walking path on the top heading toward the sea.  What an amazing view that must be!

This next photo Nigel has labeled "The Best Seat in Guernsey."

Yes, can't you imagine taking a picnic and walking out to enjoy this amazing view.

Nigel called  the below photo "Fermain."

Mr. Google tells us about Fermain Bay in Guernsey.  It is located on the east coast of the island and is a sandy, peaceful cove with beautiful views of the other Channel Islands.

Now how charming this is in the below photo ... Nigel said, "he was riding around the coast on a Monday and spotted this bucket of daffodils that someone was selling.   You are on the honor system ... You put the money in the tin behind the bucket and purchase your daffodils."  Don't you just love that!

Nigel called the below photo "living on a hill."  He tells us "Guernsey is an island with 65,000 people and 45,000 cars."  He goes on to say,  "the island is only 7 - 5 miles on the long sides."  Nigel also tells us,  "the variations of the seasons, the south coast cliffs, the hidden lanes in the country, and the history of the island make it a very special place to live and bring up children. "

Nigel tells us he uses a Nikon D300 camera with a 17-55mm lens and all of the photos he sent were taken within the last month and a half..  Nigel also said that "his hobbies include photography, travel, shipping, and aircraft which gets us out and about."

Nigel's below photo shows what he tells us are "the results of storms that had been going on for about 2 or 3 weeks."  He said that  "this shot was taken just north of the harbor."  He shared that "he was hiding behind a Land Rover taking these photos!!"

The image below shows the St. Peter Port harbor in the evening 

during what Nigel calls  "a recent Spring tide."

The Island of Guernsey is indeed a beautiful place to live and visit.  

One of the most famous residents of this island was the French poet and writer Victor Hugo who wrote the very popular Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Both of these famous books were written during his stay on the island.  If you do visit the Island of Guernsey it is possible to tour the home of the very popular Victor Hugo.

                             

Nigel concluded the photos he sent with this peaceful view of St. Peter Port.

I was so completely surprised to initially hear from Nigel because of his visit to Sweet Southern Days and the fact that he had seen the post about his beautiful island.    How very nice of him to share his amazingly beautiful photos for all of us to appreciate and I do thank him so much!

I hope you enjoyed coming along with us as we walked around the Island of Guernsey through Nigel's beautiful photos.

Wishing you blessed days wherever you may be.