Solo Adventures in Jersey (day 2)

I woke early to the bright sunshine peeking in through the curtains. I had slept pretty well and felt full of energy despite being a year older! I opened my cards, had a wee chocolate filled brioche and got ready for my birthday day out!

I sauntered into town to buy my 3 day bus ticket, found out I had half an hour to spare before my bus was due to depart so went to the bakery in Liberation Square.

I sat in Liberation Square admiring the statue with its 12 surrounding fountains. The fountains each represent a parish of the Island, and below is what is written on the plaque at the statue:

‘At this place on 9th May, 1945,
advance parties from the Royal Navy
and the British Army liberated Jersey
from nearly five years of occupation
by German forces. They and the return
of the British flag were greeted by
thousands of Islanders with intense relief,
joy and gratitude.

On the 50th Anniversary of that day,
the States and people of Jersey dedicate
this new Liberation square to commemorate
that historic event and all those whose
efforts and sacrifices made it possible.

This Sculpture by Philip Jackson F.R.S.S.
was commissioned by the Jersey Public
Sculpture Trust and unveiled by His
Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
on 9th May 1995′

When I had finished my pain au chocolat, I went round the corner to the bus station to catch my bus. The journey was quite quick, the driver highly skilled in driving on narrow and twisty roads!

And my birthday party for one commenced…

Upon arrival I was advised to head straight towards the gorillas as it was literally ‘feeding time at the zoo’ much to my amusement!!

There were 5 well behaved gorillas tucking into their lunch of celery, bananas and lettuce. The zoo keeper was doing well to tell the crowd all about the gorillas whilst the youngest and definitely cheekiest was having a ball, running up a grass banking and doing roly polys back down!

Afterwards I headed away from the crowd, down towards a small pool and burn where I found a pat of flamingos. The sun shining on their bright and deep pink feathers allowed me to take a very colourful photograph of them.

Next up was the very hard working gang of meerkats. I was easily amused as they stood on their hind legs and moved their heads side to side just like in the Compare the Meerkat adverts! Simples!! Heard that word being said several times during my visit to the meerkats!

How many meerkats can you spot?

From there I went through a door with a plastic slatted curtain to find the most colourful range of birds I had ever seen.

My most favourite of the birds was the Nicobar Pigeon from South Asia. It’s seemingly the closest living relative of the dodo!

I continued to wander around the zoo slowly, enjoying the tranquil setting and the many species which were all out in the glorious sunshine.

20180418_141421 — Not a cloud in the sky!

After many hours of wandering around the zoo I jumped on the bus back to St Helier, walked back to my air bnb room, got showered, changed and headed out for an evening stroll.

I wandered about for an hour or so then headed back with a pit stop at the Howard Davis park for a wee picnic dinner as the sun was setting.

There are 40 Commonwealth burials of the 1939-45 war here, 26 are unidentified sailors of the Royal Navy, the 12 named sailors are from H.M.S. Charybdis, sunk on 23rd October 1943 by enemy action. There is 1 Commonwealth burial of the 1914-18 war here. Uniquely, each of the graves is marked by an oak cross, specially cut by Jersey craftsmen, from an oak tree which was presented by Lady Stewart, a local woman who had lost her son in the First World War.