Tom’s idea of a good holiday is probably slightly different to mine – they both involve sun and relaxation, however mine has a lot more activities and probably less beer than Toms. And luckily this was a holiday organised by the Jersey tourist board, organised for me (that Tom tagged along on!), which meant a lot of activities.
First up was surfing, that you can read all about here.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t playing ball so we opted for an indoor option on Satruday afternoon, and one that I knew Tom would love – the Jersey War Tunnels. It was an easy bus from the bus station around the corner from our hotel, the Royal Yacht right to the car park. Tickets are about £12 (this isn’t included in the Heritage Pass), and walking around the tunnels takes about 2 hours. Bring an extra layer, it’s chilly down there but so worth the trip. It was fascinating learning about Jersey and the German occupation during the second world war.
Dinner our first evening was at Tiffin Tea House , where we enjoyed watching the sunset over the harbour. A combination of early start and action packed day meant that we were in bed by 9.20 (and Tom was fully asleep by 9.30pm!)
Sunday morning our plan of action was Coasteering with Absolute Adventures. I have to admit, when I saw this on the itinerary I had to google it, so for those of you that don’t know, Coasteering is a combination of rock jumping, wild swimming, rock climbing and cave exploration. We took a rib out from St Brelades Bay to find a perfect location without too much swell where we were thrown off the boat and swam to the rocks….
and jumped right back in.
I was worried the water would be cold but with our winter wetsuits we were fine. We spent about 3 hours swimming, climbing, and jumping along the coast. Our favourite part was swimming into a gully that acted like a natural wave machine, sucking you in and out of the gully.
Tom is afraid of heights, yet it was me who nearly froze on the top of one of the rocks, hesitating before I pulled myself together and jumped in!
We worked up quite an appetite, so after stripping off our wetsuits we headed straight over to the Crab Shack and snagged a seat outside in the sunshine – just as well because I hadn’t thought to bring any shorts to put on after the swim, so I was just in my bikini bottoms. I tried the highly recommended Crab Tacos and they did not disappoint, in fact I wish I’d gone back to have them again. AMAZING, and so much crab, not like the overpriced salads you get in London.
The weather was amazing, so we took full advantage of our hired bikes from Puffin Bike Hire and cycle along the bike path from St Helier to St Aubin for coffee/beer, a flat 3 mile route along the coast. It was gorgeous, full of walkers, runners, families cycling in the sunshine, we took the pace slow and took in the scenery.
And then I made Tom cycle back and forth with me with the camera on self-timer. Instagram life is so glamorous, right!
I hadn’t run yet on this trip and so took advantage of our hotel gym for a quick, sweaty speed workout on the treadmill while the Chelsea match was on, before we got spruced up for dinner at El Tico.
It had been highly recommended by both friends, and the tourist board, and it didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed the Crab and Lobster salad and calamari, and Tom narrowly skipped a second burger of the day, and opted for a pulled pork sandwich (although it looked like a burger to me!), followed by a huge sundae. We were the last people in the entire restaurant at 8.30pm – clearly Sunday night in Jersey is a quiet one!!
I had 12 miles on my New York Marathon training schedule, and knew that the bike path would be perfect, however it wasn’t lit, so I had to wait until sunrise to head out. I ran my first 3 miles on the treadmill until it was light enough, and ran a further 8 miles outside…finishing right on the doorstep of Moo for breakfast.
Moo is a vegan health food cafe in St Helier where we were able to enjoy lunch there on Saturday as well as brekkie on Monday. We loved the curry and cous cous, but the real highlight was the Acai bowl. SO GOOD. Worth a visit if you’re ever in Jersey, anytime of day, for one of these bowls of goodness
Last stop before the airport was a SUP yoga session with Emma, we wet suited up again and were loaned boards from Jono’s Watersports. I’ve paddle boarded a bit this summer, but never with this strength of current, it was quite hard work. We paddled out to an inlet with a little protection for our yoga – attempting child’s pose, downward dog, warrior, some less successful one legged moves – we both fell in!
I wish I could attend Emma’s yoga classes regularly, we both thought she was lovely – I bet even Tom would have been persuaded to come to her classes.
Thank you so much for Visit Jersey for hosting us over the weekend, we had a fantastic time. We’ve even started planning our trip there next summer – with white sandy beaches, clear warm water and amazing food so close to home, why wouldn’t we?! Plus Tom’s new job has him flying back and forth there regularly, so maybe next time he can fly us there!
Ahh I love Jersey! It’s my favourite place! My mum’s from there so we used to go over quite a lot to visit family while my gran and grandad were still alive. There’s a photo of my great gran and her sister in the Underground Hospital! I’m planning to take Darren there too at some point as he’s never been. Did you know they also have a marathon there in October? I keep meaning to do it (when I can eventually brave another marathon!). Looks like you had such a lovely time 🙂 x
I am definitely of the more active adventuring type too! That coasteering looks terrifying but fun. I love the photos you captured of it! I did SUP for the 2nd time again this summer and surprisingly didn’t fall in, but I have yet to attempt yoga on the board.