After travelling through Spain in July and August, I was not ready for summer to end even at the end of September.

I didn’t know much about Jersey therefore hadn’t ever thought about visiting, until I saw my mum and dad’s photos in spring 2023. I was sat at my desk in Ormskirk (where I was working at the time) looking out of the window at bleak grey skies while they were sending over photos of unexpected azure blue skies and sea views from their hotel room’s window.

Wow- I had no idea! The food, vibe, and people they described made me chalk it up to my wish list, along with countless other places.

About 18 months later, in September 2024, I was browsing EasyJet’s early autumn sales and was reminded of Jersey. I entered dates to stay for two nights and saw I could fly there for £47 return! Booked in the blink of an eye.

On Sunday 29th September, I drove to Liverpool Airport and parked up, had a coffee then took off into the calm sky for a 1 hour flight.

Jersey is a small island with an area of just 46.2 square miles, situated in the English Channel, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands and is 14 miles from Normandy, France.

Jersey is a self-governing island country which is called a Bailiwick; that is, a “self-governing parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, with its own financial, legal and judicial systems, and the power of self-determination. Jersey’s constitutional relationship is with the Crown; it is not part of the United Kingdom (lifted from Wikipedia).

Jersey was once part of the Duchy of Normandy, whose dukes ascended to the English throne in 1066. When the English kings lost control of Normandy in the 13th century and the ducal title passed to France, Jersey stayed loyal to the English Crown. However, it never became officially part of the Kingdom of England. The official language today is Jérriais, along with French and English, and is known to native speakers as Jèrri. (I tried to time my visit with a weekly drop-in group of people who meet to chat in the lingo but flight dates didn’t allow it this time!).

Upon landing nice and early around 8:30am, I walked off the airfield and on to the main road and proceeded to walk 45 minutes in the mild autumn weather, warmer than further north in Liverpool, towards my hotel.

Something I always notice when in another land is the difference in plants, flowers and trees.

As I passed the verdant front gardens of the houses neighbouring the airport, I kept noticing this fruit which looked like a pomegranate but probably is something else. Maybe this grows in the south of England too but I’ve never seen it up here in the north.

I chose to stay in St. Brelade’s Bay in the southwest of the island as it was within walking distance of the airport and known to be one of the most scenic bays of Jersey.

The weather was overcast when I landed but by the time I had walked through woodland and emerged on to St. Brelade’s Bay, the light clouds had cleared and Sunday morning sun was shining across the waters, a rich sapphire blue.

Palm trees framed the view of the beach, and it looked like a scene from the Caribbean rather than a few miles south of Dover.

The gentle sea breeze had me feeling wide awake and I was in no need of more caffeine so I ordered a peppermint tea from a cute beach shack called Solshine, served by a handsome surfer-looking guy with auburn curly hair and smiley brown eyes.

I couldn’t check into my hotel until 3pm so I was in no rush at all, and took a seat on the pictured bench and waited about 30 minutes for the peppermint tea to cool down and sat gazing out at handsome dogs bounding through the glittering waves. It’s such a luxury sometimes to not feel any rush to do anything or be anywhere in particular.

A wind started to pick up so I ducked into a beachfront café called Midbay and ordered a hot chocolate topped with the famous Jersey cream which was beautiful.

The Jersey Islanders are very proud of their Jersey Cows and the dairy products they produce from their milk. I had come on this trip with the intention to try the food and drink they were famous for. I’d had enough hot drinks by this point and was just waiting for 1pm for the lunch I had booked; I was allowing myself one luxury meal on this trip.

Maybe it’s due to being from a port city and growing up a quick bus ride away from the beach where we spent endless days through all seasons, but I have a real affinity for islands, beaches, the sea and anything maritime.

I booked a table at Oyster Box right on the seafront about three weeks in advance and was excited. I know it sounds pretentious but I do love oysters; I think it’s just the freshness and lightness of them and the condiments they are served with, shallots and tabasco.. a flavour profile I appreciate.

I ordered six Jersey Rock oysters: three of which were served with shallot vinegar, lemon and tabasco, and the other three were served with chilli and ginger.

They were absolutely exceptional, especially the latter. To accompany them, I also ordered a side of Jersey Royal potatoes and a glass of Picpoul de Pinet to wash it all down.

Staff were lovely and views were a treat for the eyes, watching the increasingly turbulent waves crashing on to the shore as raindrops flecked the windows was just a sensory delight. Yeah, a bit extravagant, but life is for living and I will always remember that!

Now it was 3pm and time to head to my hotel for check-in.

I had booked the Biarritz Hotel on St. Brelade’s Bay due to its location and sea view rooms. I pretty much gasped when I saw the view from my room (pictures never do justice, do they?).

What you can’t see in this pic is the terrace leading directly from my room where the bed overlooked the bay. I slept with the curtains open to wake up to the sunrise on the sea. Even the first night when rain was pelting the glass and wind was howling, I was delighted.

I caught the bus to the island’s capital, St. Helier, and crossed the road to the Jersey Museum and Gallery and Victorian House.

I studied for a MA in Victorian Literature and love anything from that time period. It’s distant and recent all at once. The old and antique fascinate me; to look at something and think how many years its existed and to be still in tact.

Entry to the museum and Victorian house is free. The house belonged to and follows the story of Dr Charles Ginestet and his family who abandoned the house and fled to France to start a new life after accruing too much debt.

After this, you work your way over to the Jersey food exhibition called Bouan Appétit! (in the Jérriais language) which is highly informative on the produce of this fertile island and how important this is to the Jersey Islanders.

Jersey is lauded for its excellent seafood, Jersey cream, Jersey Royal potatoes, an array of fruit and vegetables, and Jersey Butter (more on that later). Blessed with a mild and sunny climate for most of the year and with excellent, mineral-rich soil, its position between the south of England and the north west of France means some top quality food.

Afterwards, with food on the brain, I walked over to Jersey Market, an old hall decked out with artistic floristry stalls and food of so many kinds from pasties to tapas.

I circled around for a bit, spoilt for choice, then eventually pulled up a stool at Casa Paco, an excellent Spanish tapas bar that felt authentic not just in its food offerings but in the vibe and way of serving. The air was warm and the waiters were conversing in Spanish and I felt cast back to my Spanish adventure earlier in the summer. I had tortilla de patatas with alli-oli and croquetas; popped a couple mints then headed on.

For the rest of the afternoon, I wandered about St. Helier, then returned quite early to my hotel due to it raining again and feeling tired from an early start (hotel was fab except for paper thin floors/ceilings where I was awoken at 6am by the guests on the floor above who were probably only getting ready at normal volume but it sounded like a herd of elephants doing the River Dance… reminder to self: pack earplugs for future trips).

I lay reading on my bed, terrace doors open, allowing the breeze to blow the curtains through as I watched the sun slip away into the inky night, a bright and defiant rose.

The next morning, I arose to the sun.

This day was the best weather of my trip, illuminating Jersey in dappled autumn sunlight and allowing the sky and sea to really show off.

I went for a walk towards St. Brelade’s Parish Church for a panoramic view across the bay while I decided what to do with the day.

I am comfortable in my own company and love to step out of my comfort zone as that is where we grow. I will travel alone, eat out alone, go shopping alone etc, but of course I do believe that beautiful moments are best shared with others.

I find myself thinking, “so-and-so would love this” and send them pictures.

I have to say though, I felt very safe throughout my entire stay in Jersey, even when walking alone in the dark (obviously, I kept my wits about me and would look behind a lot as we tend to do but still, at no point did I feel intimidated or fearful).

I then caught the bus to the harbour at St. Aubin, a picturesque place that is popular with both locals and tourists alike.

After a while of wandering, it was lunchtime and another excuse to try Jersey’s stunning food.

I sat outdoors in the sun, sunglasses on and short-sleeved top on the 1st October, and had mussels with lemon, and scallops with an orange and fennel salad. Again, just wow.

Afterwards, I embarked on a long walk in the sun and stopped to view Elizabeth Castle.

I then caught two buses totalling around 45 minutes to La Mare Wine Estate in St. Mary in the very north of the island. I was intrigued to try Jersey wine as it was not something I have ever come across before. They have been making wine here since 1972, further back than I had thought!

The sun was dimming slightly by 4pm and it felt distinctly autumnal at the estate with the vines tinted golden and bronze.

There were just three of us booked on to the tour: a Zimbabwean couple and myself.

Tickets for adults cost £20 and it is so worth it.

The guides were lovely, welcoming, and teeming with knowledge. We were taken for a walk along the vines to inspect the grape types although very few were left after the recent harvest.

Their red, the La Mare Bailiwick, is made from pinot noir, rondo and and regent grapes at 12.5% ABV. It was beautiful and silky smooth; they also do a white, a rosé and a sparkling.

Other products made on La Mare Wine Estate include Jersey Cider made with their famously good apples (I’m not a fan of cider although I am sure it is very good), and we got to try their Jersey Apple Brandy Liqueur in a chocolate cup they also make on site (we watched their chocolatiers at work through a window) which was lovely but again, I am not really into liqueurs or spirits. The chocolate was divine though and I bought my nephews a couple of Jersey chocolate bars.

The star of their show though is Jersey Black Butter; not a butter at all but a very old reduction of sugar, lemon, liquorice, spices and cider apples which can be served alongside cheese, drizzled over ice cream or baked into pies. That flavour profile is one of my absolute favourites and I made sure I bought a jar which I have been saving for Christmas.

All staff were absolutely lovely and one woman in particular, named Helen, really proved the kindness of strangers by offering me a lift back over to St. Brelade which wasn’t even the exact location she was driving to but not too far away. This saved me about an hour of time and two buses and it was such a selfless act for someone you’ve only spoken to for a few minutes.

We spoke more on the drive across the island where she told me her inspiring story about overcoming a pain-inducing condition to take up hula-hooping and how she started up a business (@hoopsandglitter on Instagram) where she teaches hula-hooping to others and offers parties and has also competed at conventions across the UK.

I believe that everyone we cross paths with in life, good and bad, is for a reason, and it was timely to meet Helen that day just as I was transitioning in my working life towards starting up my own creative writing business (@wordcraftworkshops on Instagram and website is at www.wordcraftworkshops.com ) to speak with somebody who believed in their ideas and made the leap!

The next morning, I checked out of the hotel, got the bus to St. Helier and had a coffee at the market then had time to see an exhibition at ArtHouse Jersey .

‘Of All the People of All the World’ is an installation of piles of rice with each grain representing one human. Each pile is a statistic to represent certain events in history or changes in society in a way that helps you comprehend the magnitude or smallness of something.

Here are a few photos I took; I found the one on pensioners living in poverty in the UK in 2022 particularly saddening:

This art exhibition has been going since 2003 and across many venues in the UK and Channel Islands, constantly changing and being updated and they even give you a questionnaire on your thoughts and reactions to it where you can also suggest ideas for new statistic to be represented in grains of rice.

After this, my time in Jersey was sadly coming to an end with my flight home due that afternoon. I caught a bus to the airport and was back in Liverpool around 4pm!

There was one thing I didn’t get to do which will be bringing me back at some point in 2025… I had booked on to a night time beach walk to see bioluminescence, something I thought you had to travel to the Maldives to see! Unfortunately, the walk was cancelled due to dangerously high winds that night but if you are going to Jersey, now you know that this is something you can see! It is definitely a reason to make me book another trip to the island to see this phenomenon of thousands, if not millions of bioluminescent marine life forms glowing blue at the seabed under a carpet of stars on a clear night.

See here: https://jerseywalkadventures.co.uk .

As I type this in December, I am already looking up flights for early next year!