St. Helier

The High Street

Almost every corner had a Real Jersey Ice Cream stand to taunt me 

This is the fountain in the main indoor markets - it's a similar set up to the Victoria Markets with mostly flower, meat and fresh produce stalls all inside a large open building. 

A cute stall in the markets

A tribute to Jersey Cows - I also thought it was funny with the man standing there as to me it looks like he and the cows are all looking at the same thing :) 

What I thought was a cool castle on the top of the hill  - turned out to be a private school. 

One of the many parks and squares in St. Helier

I got extremely lost and so I thought I'd head for the churches - assuming that would be higher ground and I could see where I was. The plan did not work but I did get to see this very impressive church - it's St. Mary's church and they do English, Polish and Portuguese mass - though thinking about it they may still all be in Latin - not sure.

First Impressions...

Hi All,

So I have now arrived in beautiful Jersey ! I spent the day wandering around the main town of St. Helier and so this will be a very picture heavy post. My first thoughts of Jersey when I got here - bearing in mind that I was extremely jet-lagged at the time - were as follows:

1. The pilot sounded like Hugh Grant - I think he must've gone to Eton or something - it was awesome. He actually said "I...uh...do appreciate you...uh...flying with us this evening" best.flight.ever.

2. Bunnies ! this may seem odd but there were bunnies on the grass between the run-way and I saw them as we taxied so they were literally the first things I saw once I was on the island. They were super cute and I don't have to feel guilty thinking that anymore ! woohoo! There were also bunnies in the back garden of Durrell and I could see them through my window :)

The Bunnies in the garden - taken from my bedroom window

3.  Everything is insanely green. Almost every house outside of town has a plot of land about the size of 2 or 3 blocks attached to it which they use as fields for crops or for for cows and all of these are immaculate tended and beautiful - and I mean both the crops and the cows :) All of the roads are lanes and have trees bordering them so it looks like the lane running through the old forest in Lord of the Rings. The roads are also very narrow so most people have small cars ( I've seen about 5 minis just today) and the buses have to stop if tractors, trucks or other buses go past to make way.

This is the walkway leading to an inner-city carpark just to put into perspective.

4. There's a library here with just Zoological journals, a fancy arm chair and globe - and it has a ladder ! Anyone who knows me well will know that I LOVE libraries with ladders. Honestly, dream come true ! It's only a little one but whatever - it's awesome ! I realise I don't look that excited in this photo but I was trying to figure out self timer and I was balancing my camera on my jumper so I had a lot going on - but on the inside I'm grinning madly :D

The rest of the day I spent wandering around St. Helier - the main town. It's about the same size as Perth only the tallest buildings were about 4-5 stories high. I got super lost - probably the most lost I've ever been in my life. For the most part this was due to the fact that everything looked the same to me and the streets are really tiny and go in odd directions - a lot of them are on angles and form little triangles like in paris - and also the fact that every time I thought I was going south I was actually going north - darn you northern hemisphere! Anyway, I'll put all the photos up in the next post as there's too many for here. It's a really beautiful town though and there are many squares and parks and pretty much every second store is a pub or a cafe. Also, thanks to the jubilee there's bunting everywhere ! ! ! and I love me some bunting :) Tomorrow I'm  going into the Durrell zoo itself so prepare for even more photos !

xx

How not to arrive in a country...

Or as it should perhaps be titled - how to be refused entry into a country.

It is official guys - I am now a rebel. I have been sat down in a room with only a table and two chairs, both of which are heavily chained to the floor and told that I was not allowed a camera or any of my personal belongings, I have been searched, I have been put into waiting rooms and I have been scanned, photographed and fingerprinted. According to the documents I was handed detailing why they were able to detain and fingerprint me it is because I "failed to give satisfactory or reliable answers to an Immigration Officer's enquiries" as such I was "detained under paragraph 16 of Schedule 2 to the 1971 Act".

In reality it was a work permit miscommunication but since this may be the closest to "cool" I ever get - I am revelling. I am also slightly drunk and exceedingly tired.

Anyway, it's all been sorted now and I am at present waiting for my new flight in the BA lounge having been upgraded to business class. Hence the Wi-Fi and hence the "slightly drunk".

I'll post again with pictures once I'm in Jersey,

xx

So it begins...

about to embark on 19 hours of flying and 5.5 hours of transit time. See you on the other side :)

It's a dangerous business, walking out of your door...

Hi All,

This is the main place where I will be updating all of the new and exciting adventures that await me in Jersey. I will try as hard as I can to regularly update with posts, pictures, musings and goings on in the hope that all of those who plan to live vicariously through me will be thoroughly entertained. If I don't manage to stay in regular contact with all of you via skype, facebook and letter writing then please feel free to check up on me via this blog and to contact me through the comments.

I will miss you all without exception and I know that despite what an unfathomably wonderful journey this will be there will be times when I will long for home and for you all. And no doubt also for the metric system, sunshine and food that isn't noodles.

Pip pip,

xxKim