MS Hebridean Sky begins her 2022 Season
By Susan Currie
We are three days in to our voyage. The arrival in Portsmouth and boarding of Hebridean Sky went smoothly on 5th May, as did our voyage overnight to Guernsey. The sea conditions were excellent, the sun shone, and after arriving early on the morning of the 6th May we spend a full day here.
Guernsey is, of course, a financial centre owing to its status as a Crown Dependency, rather than a part of the United Kingdom, which permits it to organise its own fiscal rules. As an island it has had a very chequered past being a territory disputed between the French Monarch and the Dukes of Normandy in the 14th and 15th centuries and in more recent times when occupied by Germany during the Second World War. Nowadays it welcomes all peaceful visitors (!) and the island has a lot to offer the traveller. Saumarez Manor and Garden, home to a major sculpture park currently hosting 200 pieces of art, was one optional excursion for Noble Caledonia travellers on Guernsey. Another was Castle Cornet, a large stone fort on the southern edge of the main harbour which has its origins in the 13th century.
St. Peter Port, the main town of the island and entry point for visitors, has been built around a horseshoe-shaped bay which hosts various inner and outer-harbour moorings for an impressively varied, collection of pleasure craft. Amongst the more famous residents was the author Victor Hugo who lived at St. Peter Port for 14 years between 1856 and 1870. Many passengers spent the afternoon exploring the town while others enjoyed a coastal-path walk with a local guide and expedition team members.
Caerhays Castle
On leaving Guernsey we sailed overnight to Fowey (pronounced “FOY”) and spent the 7th of May at anchor in the River Fowey just opposite the town centre. Our morning excursion by coach to Caerhays Castle and Garden provided an opportunity to visit this impressive early 19th century castellated manor house and to explore its 120 acres of garden. Considered to be one of the top 10 “Great Gardens of Cornwall”, the scents of the flowers were magnificent today with honeysuckle being a favourite. Magnolias, rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias provided super colour and there are well-signed, graded walking trails and lots of benches for sitting and contemplating the beauty of the garden. The café in the castle courtyard was a very pleasant place for a coffee break!
Fowey
After returning to the ship for lunch the afternoon was spent either at leisure in the town of Fowey where the annual Fowey Festival of Art and Literature was in full swing, or partaking of the Fowey Hall Walk with the expedition team. This circular walk around the Fowey River area uses two ferries and winds along coastal and woodland paths offering an outdoor experience of nature and some tremendous views. The sun continues to shine!
Tresco
Having revisited the mainland at Fowey Hebridean Sky sailed overnight to the Isles of Scilly where we were greeted early on Sunday morning (8th) by a sea fret – where were the islands? By 8.00am, however, the sun was visible, there were patches of blue sky, and Bryher and Tresco islands were clearly visible ahead. We spent the morning on Bryher, the smallest of the five inhabited islands of Scilly (there are 51 uninhabited islands). The expedition team offered a variety of guided walks on Bryher which included a “botany-focussed meander”, a “geology and landscape-focussed bimble” and a walk to discover the island’s museum located in a red telephone box. All walks were successful and offered magnificent views of the Bryher coastline. The island is favoured on the eastern coast with fine, pale sand beaches and crystal-clear water. Bryher is a very relaxing place, the ideal island for relaxing.
Tresco
Our afternoon was spent on Tresco, home of the world-renowned Tresco Abbey Garden. We arrived at the Carn Near slipway at the southern end of the island by Zodiac and some walked the kilometre to the garden while others took advantage of the Abbey Garden land-rover for a lift. In the garden we were given a map, a brief orientation to the facilities, and then we could wander at will in these fabulous gardens which definitely showed us their spring best today. There are palm trees of many kinds, succulents, king protea, blue echium, pink pelargonium, a huge variety of geraniums in every colour from palest pink to darkest purple, strelitzia and furcraea, herbs and vegetables in their dedicated area and even free-range hens. Most people also found time to see the elaborate and very beautiful shell arbour and the Valhalla area with its collection of ship figureheads. This is one of my personal favourite gardens. The variety of different areas where one can sit and contemplate vistas of colour, or luxuriant foliage, is wonderful. Many passengers also explored the café and the shop before leaving to get back to the ship. The return journey by Zodiac was a little bit more challenging with spray coming from the rising wind on the waves but the expedition team did their best to keep the anointing by salt water to a minimum. This was a very good day!