ALDERNEY
Today we visit lovely Alderney, we first visited her on a National Geographic sailing. Now my memory is refreshed and it was here I visited a hardware store.
We are only here for the morning and I am just walking into St Anne to find the hardware store, and maybe spot a hedgehog if I am lucky.
Alderney is famous for its unique population of blonde hedgehogs, a rare luecistic form of European hedgehog with a creamy colored spines, pink noses, and dark eyes. Due to recessive genes from inbred, introduced pets, over 50% of the island’s estimated 400–600 hedgehogs are blonde. They are best seen foraging at night from spring to autumn, The population is believed to have originated from a small number of pets introduced in the 1960s.
Alderney is the northernmost and third largest of the Channel Islands, acting as a self-governing British Crown Dependency within the Bailiwick of Guernsey. Covering roughly 3.5 by 1.5 miles with a population of 2,000, it is renowned for its tranquil, rugged beauty, extensive WWII history, and tax benefits, making it popular for quiet escapes.
Situated in the English Channel, close to the French coast. It is part of the British Isles but not the UK.
The main town is St Anne. The island uses pound sterling, along with Guernsey banknotes.
The Channel Islands are known for their diverse history from the Iron Age to Roman times and heavy German occupation fortifications during WWII, including labor camps.
Popular activities include hiking, birdwatching, and exploring beaches like Saye and Braye. The island is a hotspot for wildlife, including puffins and hedgehogs and a very large Northern Gannet colony.
The zodiacs were used to tender us into the dingy dock. From the dingy dock it is a 1 mile uphill walk to the center of St Anne. I will add while the walk is uphill passing the cute residences with their flower gardens makes the walk enjoyable. Another aspect of the walk was the friendliness of everyone and I do mean everyone greeted me with a “good morning” or “Hello”. These gestures of warm kindness made the walk most enjoyable. Upon reaching town my first stop was at the hardware store. On our first visit I purchased a whisk in this fun shop. This visit I got some bag closures, a bottle opener, and Lynn a pair of gloves for our narrowboat trip in October. I then walked to St Anne’s Church where I took pictures of the graveyard and in this beautiful little church. I then started back to the dingy dock making a stop in a gift shop to get Lynn a hedgehog. Then closer to the dock a grocery store stop for a Lion chocolate bar.
Earlier, as I started my walk, I went to the RNLI Station to see if their shop was open. It was closed and no one was around. Yet on my return there were a couple of crew members in the station. I asked if they could open the shop as I saw a hat I liked. I explained that I wished to make a donation and get a hat. They were kind enough to oblige me. We had a good chat before I returned to the zodiac dock and back to the ship.
HX had a flash sale of older Hurtigruten items, I got a nice dry backpack. I enjoy going to the knot tying session.
Then there was a backstage tour. Lynn went to the presentation on seaweed, then we missed the Svalbard info session, then we went to the D-Day presentation.
We then settled our shipboard account. On HX and Hurtigruten tips are not expected, that said there is a crew fund where one can show ones appreciation. This is not publicized nor mentioned by the crew. HX and Hurtigruten treat their crew well and this shows in the service they provide. They are engaging, happy and eager to perform their tasks with service above and beyond.
Tomorrow we disembark in Dover and will be spending two nights there. I don’t think Lynn will sleep in anticipation of Poundland.
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