Ordinarily the location line of a Daily Expedition Report is very straightforward geographically and completely uncontroversial politically – not so today, at least when it comes to politics. When writing our DERs we include in the title the locations we visited during the day, which are sometimes cities or towns, sometimes islands or beaches or named landing sites and sometimes parts of the ocean. This is simple enough for our excursions today: in the morning we landed on the small island of Alderney and in the afternoon on the nearby and even smaller island of Sark. So far, so good. Following this, we usually note the country we are in, particularly when we are frequently moving from one country to another, as is the case here in Europe. This is where things get difficult today.
The beautiful little islands of Alderney is a part of the Balliwick of Guernsey, which is a British Crown Dependency, but not part of the United Kingdom. In fact, it is fully independent, except in matters of defense and foreign policy. Although a Balliwick is usually a territory under the jurisdiction of a Baliff, which is normally an appointed position, the head of government on Alderney is an elected President.
Sark is also a lovely place, and even more challenging to understand vis-á-vis politics. It is within the Balliwick of Guernsey, but not a part of it. The head of state on Sark is known as the Seigneur, a hereditary position that originated in the Middle Ages when the island was a part of the Duchy of Normandy. This ancient system persisted until very recently and the island was considered to be the last feudal state in the world. Today its government has been significantly – though controversially – reorganized, but Sark retains its independence both legally and in spirit.
So for our purposes, let’s just say that Alderney and Sark are in the Channel Islands, a few small chips of land, close to France geographically but closer to the British Crown in governance. It doesn’t matter, of course – it’s simply one of those curious and fascinating departures from the common that make travel so compelling and rewarding.
Much more significant was our experience of the day, which showed us the two islands under very different aspects of the English Channel. We woke this morning to the sound of the ship’s foghorn. The sea was glassy calm, enveloped in a dense mist – when we arrived at our anchorage we could not see the nearby island at all. The Zodiacs made their way into the harbor with the help of the local pilot and laid a GPS track that we used for the rest of the morning. Once on shore we strolled along the narrow roads under the soft pearly light, encountering a few friendly inhabitants of the islands and discussing ways of capturing the essence of the quiet morning in photographs.
By the time we anchored off Sark for the afternoon, the fog was breaking and we spent the rest of the day under bright spring sunshine, exploring on foot, by bicycle and in horse carriages. Most of us visited the Seigneury, the hereditary residence of the Seigneur of Sark, where we learned about the history of this unusual office and about the gorgeous building itself. We had free time to wander in the surrounding gardens and a few of us stopped at the little café for a pot of tea and a scone or two.
Alderney and particularly Sark – where no private motor vehicles are permitted – seemed to be places caught outside the mainstream of time as well as politics. They are unique communities that offer an experience for visitors that is very much outside the realm of normal tourism, precisely what we are seeking on our European expeditions.
