The Cream of Jersey

Jersey TRAVEL The cream of Jersey This lovely little island is luscious in so many ways; read our Travel Editor’s tales for a very tempting taste … WORDS: Helen Werin PHOTOGRAPHY: Robin Weaver Mont Orgueil Castle and the harbour at Gorey 40 outandaboutlive.co.uk February 2020 February 2020 outandaboutlive.co.uk 41 Jersey TRAVEL CYCLING here was one thing that kept puzzling see some of the appealing coast of Herm me during our entire time on Jersey: and Guernsey and – slightly farther off – Jersey is fantastic for cycling. T why had we not been here before? We Sark along the way. We quickly slipped into There are lots of well- had eight days to explore and, over the first Jersey’s easy pace of life. Since the island is signposted bike routes and day or two, I’d fretted that I hadn’t allowed just nine miles by five, we were never more the reduced speed limits make for greater enjoyment. nearly enough time for our visit. Jersey’s just than about a 10-minute drive from its You are not allowed to ride on so gorgeous; I wanted to see everything! dazzling coastline. pavements, unless otherwise From the moment I’d seen Jersey from the Our campsites, very quiet early in the signed, and it’s the law to deck of the Commodore Clipper (Condor season, were top notch and well-placed for have a bell. Pick up a Jersey Cycle Guide from tourist Ferries), my anticipation had mounted. I’d making the most of our time. information leaned over the rail, pointing excitedly at an As it turned out, the lunch spot on the To hire bikes eye-catching bay of golden sands with a red first day was at the very beach that I’d jerseybikehire.co.uk or and white tower in the middle. “Wow, we’ve spotted from the ferry – Ouaisne Bay. zebrahire.com just got to go there!” My thoughts then were “It doesn’t get better than this,” I You can also arrange bike that my ‘must-see’ beach would be easy to mumbled through mouthfuls of our hire at Beuvelande Campsite seek out because of its distinctive tower. I Mexican-style meal from Kismet Cabana was soon to discover that it was to be the right on the sands. first of many fabulous bays and many The locals take great pride in their island. ABOVE Grève de Lecq similar towers. One after another they asked us, “It’s BELOW Phone boxes are Our 10-hour crossing to Jersey had felt beautiful here, isn’t it?” with an ingenuous yellow on Jersey like a mini-cruise, giving us the chance to expression, confident that we couldn’t possibly disagree. We thought ourselves very lucky; 294 sparkling sunshine every day enabled us to THE JOURNEY miles see Jersey in its very best light. It’s so lush We spent eight nights on Jersey in mid-May, having and colourful. travelled from Staffordshire to Portsmouth for the ferry. We worked up appetites by stepping out We left Jersey on Condor Ferries again for St-Malo, Brittany in landscapes varying from the dramatic THE COSTS north coast cliffs to the sheltered bays of the south and east and across to the seemingly Ferry Condor Ferries: Portsmouth-St Helier ..........................£220 Fuel Average 28mpg .......................................................................£57.95 endless stretch of dune-backed beach that’s Site fees ......................................................................................................£225 a surfer’s paradise in the west. We scouted Attractions One adult, one senior: Jersey War Tunnels, around a couple of famous castles (I have a Jersey Zoo, Samarès Manor gardens, Mont Orgueil Castle, thing about castles and Jersey’s are good Elizabeth Castle and ferry ........................................................£131.90 ’uns!) and learned about how the islanders Total costs................................................................................... £634.85 coped with five years of German occupation during WWII. ➤ February 2020 outandaboutlive.co.uk 43 Jersey TRAVEL Plemont to Beuvelande endowed us with the very I’m always amazed by such pictures; not Devil’s Hole ME AND MY ’VAN special treat of seeing St Catherine’s Bay least because I, in waterproof walking boots, sparkling prettily in the early evening light. which look to be far more suited to rocky Fliquet Bay Jersey’s north coast beckoned, with its terrain than those of the photographer’s Lewis’s Tower Jersey Zoo mesmerising vision of Guernsey and Sark. subjects, can only peer curiously and From our pitch at our second site, the enviously from above. Jersey War Tunnels superb Rozel Camping Park, we could A particularly memorable afternoon was clearly see the Cotentin Peninsula of spent walking from Grève de Lecq Mont Orgueil Castle Normandy and, in between, the tiny westwards to Plemont Bay on a path that Écréhous islands. Their much sought-after dips up and down and around the St Brelades Bay fishermen’s huts look like toy building spectacular seaboard. I’d really begun to bricks on specks of rock almost swallowed take things for granted on Jersey, expecting Ouaisne Bay St Helier by the sea. – and getting – fantastic scenery around La Roque Driving slowly down leafy lanes, past doe- every corner. Very annoyingly, I’d forgotten Helen Werin... eyed, caramel-skinned cows and fields of to check the tide times so, when we arrived is MMM’s Travel Editor and Jersey potatoes, led us to the Priory Inn high above Plemont (there’s a long flight of loves nothing more than where we parked (free) for the Devil’s Hole. steps to the beach), the water was up. I was following in the tracks of Despite the name and the legends – that disappointed, having wanted to visit the readers who’ve inspired her had pulled us here – it’s paradisiacal, rather, caves here, especially as one of them has a with their motorhome the sensational view across azure waters to waterfall over it. travelling tales Sark and Guernsey is. I stood captivated by My disappointment didn’t last long, the seascape for such a long time that I swiftly assuaged by the pastoral scenes from almost forgot what I’d actually come here Rozel to Fliquet Bay, dominated by another for – at high tide, water is forced through a of the towers built in the 1780s to guard the tunnel and out of the hole, thus creating a east coast. Along the way we stopped to see ‘booming’ noise. what’s left of the 5,000-year-old gallery The Devil’s Hole is fenced off but, in grave, Dolmen du Couperon, before eating TOP TIPS Our arrival at our first campsite, Mont Orgueil Castle (aka Gorey Castle), on weathered monochrome pictures displayed our picnic on the suntrap breakwater at St 2002 Roller Team Auto-Roller Beuvelande, was marked by the appearance the east coast. on the viewpoint, Victorian ladies in their Catherine’s. We looked across the bay that 41 on a 2.3-litre Fiat. ‘Roly’ Jersey has its own currency. of a military jeep, men in military uniforms A couple of miles after leaving ‘Sunday best’ long skirts and bonnets are we’d stopped to admire earlier in the trip has lots of storage, which soon Ask for change in ‘English and women in Land Girl garb. It was a Beuvelande and we were on Gorey’s palm standing deep within the rock-strewn hole, and to Mont Orgueil Castle – with yet fills up when travelling with a money’. Barclays Bank in St Liberation Day event (for charity) and we tree-lined prom, with the landmark fortress which became a particularly popular tourist another of those red towers in between. teenage daughter Helier issues English notes ➤ (from a clearly marked ATM); joined in the spirit with other campers in seen on all the ads and posters above the attraction in the late nineteenth century. We headed for the Driftwood Café near other ATMs give Jersey notes. Tilleys, the on-site bar and restaurant. The harbour. All morning we trekked up and I suggest paying by card as wartime occupation of the Channel Islands down steep steps, under arches and along much as possible is a constant thread, woven among the stone pathways to the keep built on a rocky Walk along clifftops and find sensational scenery, a riveting and complex outcrop, interspersed with lingering looks secret bays history and the wonderful food. across the Royal Bay of Grouville to the jersey.com/self-guided- Jersey marked my first time in an south, north across St Catherine’s Bay and walks-in-jersey amphibious vehicle. Charming Betty is one to France, just 14 miles away. Pick up a ticket for a free of two such ferries transporting passengers I loved ducking through all the doors, return visit to the botanic gardens at Samarès Manor across St Aubin’s Bay at St Helier to peering into dark recesses and investigating samaresmanor.com Elizabeth Castle. It was such a strange down steps to dim passages and up towers. feeling trundling across the sands like we Flanked by four-storey residential If you get a rainy day, visit the Jersey War Tunnels (wear were on a slightly rocking bus. As Betty apartments built in the mid-sixteenth something warm) drove deeper into the channel, the roar of century and by huge walls, we experienced a jerseywartunnels.com her engine kicked in and we sailed across to wind tunnel sensation at one stage – though A Jersey Heritage Pass gives the islet on which the castle was built at the moments earlier I’d been sunning myself in unlimited access to four sites end of the sixteenth century. the tiny seventeenth century garden.

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