Blogs from Channel Islands, Europe

Just trying to squeeze in a few more school reports before being picked up by Mum to take us to the airport. At the moment, I'm most looking forward to going somewhere above 4 degrees. My feet are freezing.... read more

So this is a practise run to see how is best to communicate whilst i am away, at the moment this is the clear winnr. At least i can log onto here!! next update will either be before i leave,during travels or when i get there,will see how it goes. Bye for now. Katie x... read more

Monday 6th August Well this will be the last blog until we arrive home tomorrow. The cocktail party went off quite well but the canapés never reached us unfortunately but I am happy to say the bubbly got to us. Straight on to dinner (formal black tie event but I think my grandson has got mine so it was scarlet for me). We went to the show afterwards and after a slight hitch with the sound when the dancers ended up not knowing what on earth was happening. It got sorted out and the show began and ran without a hitch. It was all dance some of which was good and some a bit bizarre. Off to bed ready for tomorrow morning when we arrive in St Peters Port on Guernsey. We dropped anchor just before ... read more

So, I have survived the first 10 days on the island and tomorrow I'm flying back to London for my first trip back! Very excited about the imminent wedding of the special Miss Smith, I cannot wait to see the dress etc! Also looking forward to a lovely dinner in Teddington with the Jepsons on Saturday and popping into John Lewis at some point. Amazing how quickly my withdrawal symptoms have developed. Hopefully those of you who have had a look at the first entry may check back in to see what's happening. A full intro to island life will probably follow next week as there is lots to tell you all already, including the possible new house I've found to live in, hurrah! Enjoy your weekends, I'm definitely looking forward to mine.xx... read more

The UK’s Channel Island of Jersey was our spring weekend destination. Scott, Myles, Adam and I set out extremely early for Gatwick, 5.30am to be exact, yawn. We were soon on our way for the short flight south and landed to a crisp, sunny morning. After picking up the smallest car on the Island, 3 door Fiat, and all squeezing in we were off and soon at the main city; St Helier on the South Coast. Every town is ‘St’ something, and apparently each parish issues different drivers licences – so many odd things still going on in this part of the world. We all couldn’t check in to our hotel so decided to go for a burn across the Island to the North Coast. It only took about 15-20mins. The country side was very pretty ... read more

we left Guernsey early and headed for cherbourg. Mike had been warned that the Alderney Races (narrow channel between Alderney and Cap De la Hague notorious for rip tides and dodgy sea) could be difficult and should be negotiated a good way from the headland. He set our course for 8 miles off the coast of France and headed out. Initially the fast flowing tides helped us and sent us flying along at 15.6 knots (Ozzy usually does 8/9 maximum). This speed soon got VERY hairy! just off the headland of Cap De la Hague the rip tides and under currents chopped right up with big waves cioming at us from every direction and throwing the boat all over the place - I won't lie to you, a litle bit of wee came out. It was ... read more

Hello again - long time, no blog.... So, my plan of writing a piece every month for Simonseeks hasn't quite gone to plan, but I've finally found time to finish my Guernsey guide. I think it was worth the wait - it's probably the Simonseeks contribution I'm most proud of and spent the most time researching/writing, and it's been well-received by readers so far. Like all the other stuff I'll be writing from now on, it's nowhere near as long as my previous epics, so please have a quick look if you've got a spare couple of minutes. Any feedback is appreciated - let me know what you think! Click here - Guernsey - an island escape on the UK's doorstep Enjoy! ... read more