Queen Elizabeth, Aurora

In my eyes the Cunard liners are the creme de la creme of the liner world, with their dress codes and restaurants dependent on your cabin,  their historic heritage,  they stand out from other Lines even if the ships are not unique any more.

The Queen Elizabeth arrived on a flat calm morning but did not seem in too much of a hurry to get her tenders ashore, being almost a hour after she anchored. She sailed overnight from Zeebrugge,  the port for Bruges, before enjoying a sunny day at anchor.

The Queen Elizabeth towers over Castle Cornet, Guernsey's main defence of the harbour, last used by the Occupying Forces in World War 2. It is now one of the Island's premier tourist attractions.

 The Queen Elizabeth stayed the night as did the Aurora on one  of her conference cruises where you anchor tantalising close to shore but do not get off.  They will both head back to Southampton on Friday. The island in the background is Herm, where today there is a Real Ale Festival, and the coast of France at Cap de la Hague is just visible on the horizon.

 The Aurora used the southerly anchorage off Fermain Bay and the east coast cliffs.  In the foreground is the road that leads out to Castle Cornet.