A weekend of beautiful Herm
What a wonderful weekend! Completely by luck, E and I were camping on Herm and so were able to enjoy what could very well have been the final day of the summer sunshine!!
We went over on the ferry on Friday tea time and my flipflop broke on the boat so it was barefoot walking up to the campsite, with its fabulous, fabulous views towards Alderney and the English Channel. Needless to say we chose what we felt was the best spot in the field with all those fantastic views!
I borrowed E's huge crocs that evening and felt like bit of a clown as we wandered down to the Mermaid and were surprised at the number of people frequenting the place, what with the evening boat from Guernsey full of work parties. It was rather good fun, sitting and watching everybody.
The walk back up the hill was somehow easier in the dark, probably because I was completely blown away by the stars above, and when we reached the top and started walking the path to the campsite, I was doubly blown away by the incredible rising moon. Wow, this is what camping is all about. Completely back to nature again. It was even more superb when I woke in the middle of the night and went outside to have a look. Magical evening skies.
Saturday dawned cloudy but the sun soon shone through and that was it for the rest of the day, bright summer sunshine, hoorah, finally!!!! After a potter around the shops so I could invest in some new flipflops (!), and a spot of breakfast, we headed straight to Belvoir Bay, which was already hotting up. E wisely hired an umbrella and - much to my amusement - a deckchair too. So that was us sorted for the rest of the day.
Belvoir Bay is one of the most lovely beaches in the world - the sand is always so light, full of broken shells, and the sea is always so clear and inviting, albeit often a little cold. However today, the sea was a welcome relief and I love the fact that due to the gradient of the beach, even when it is low tide, you don't have to walk too far to get in! I managed a total of 5 swims, which is pretty good, even by my standard!!
E left me on the beach early afternoon to go and meet his Mum who was joining us for the night, so I carried on reading my book and sunning myself until I started to get a litte restless of the sun, so I practiced a little Yoga in the shade of the corner of the beach, where no one else could really see me. Lovely to practice on the beach like this.
That evening we went and sat under the hall at the harbour and enjoyed the warmth of the evening sun and views of Guernsey and Jethou, before joining the crowds at the Mermaid who were enjoying a spot of line dancing - rather random and far too noisy and busy fr us in the courtyard but looked fun for everyone all the same!!
Sunday dawned overcast and while it felt warm the sun never really shone through. We managed a walk to Shell beach and past one of the old tombs, there are quite a few on the Island, steeped as it is in such history. There are also tons of blackberries out already, another week and they will all be ready to pick. We managed another swim too and I have to say that this may have been my favourite swim of the year - high tide at belvoir, clear seas, overcast and not very many people on the beach, I don't know why, but I found it blissful.
We returned to Guernsey that afternoon and had great fun later that day celebrating my friend, Sarah's birthday in her beautiful garden and house in Le Bigards, a lovely spot in the Forest, a community all of its own(thank you Sarah and Joseph, really enjoyed the celebrations!).
These past few days I can't help but noticing that Autumn has arrived early again - or is it simply that the seasons have changed and the school calendar has not adjusted yet! There is just that smell in the air and the berries are everywhere and the weather is all over the place as the shift occurs...
The sea feels rather warm however!
xxx