IN February this year, Condor Ferries moved its Channel Island sailings from Weymouth to Poole because of structural problems with the quay.

This was obviously bad news for the company, but it does now mean that those living in places including Basingstoke can use the service for day trips. Although Poole is over an hour away, an early start makes it possible to travel to Guernsey in a day.

I took advantage of this to find out if the journey is worthwhile. Condor is running a Christmas shopping promotion up until December 22, costing just £30 per person for a day-trip, which includes four hours in Guernsey.

It was still dark outside when I set off on November 19 at 5.30am with my friend, but at least the journey to Poole was traffic-free and we had arrived by 6.45am. Check-in was at 7.20am - 40-minutes before departure, so we had half-an-hour to have a cup-of-tea while waiting. Unfortunately the terminal is stuck in a time-warp and could do with a revamp, but we weren’t there long enough to be too bothered.

Once on the ferry we enjoyed the luxury of club-class, and snuggled up in comfy, reclining seats to catch up on some missed sleep. But sadly our journey was not the most relaxing, and the choppy waters resulted in us feeling rather nauseous. Four hours seemed like forever, particularly as we could not entertain ourselves by reading or wandering around the ferry because of feeling sick. But finally we arrived and I caught my first glimpse of the picturesque St Peter Port from the window.

It took a while for our stomachs to settle and our legs to stop feeling like jelly, but the distraction of exploring a new place made us soon forget about the journey over. We wandered around the small boutiques which offer a variety of unique gifts, making it ideal for those looking to buy original presents. It would be easy to forget you were abroad, and had travelled some distance, were it not for the Guernsey pound-notes given in change in all the shops.

The town itself is quite small, and within an hour we had familiarised ourselves with the streets and shops. Looking for something else to do rather than just shop, we climbed up a steep hill to the house where Victor Hugo once lived. Unfortunately the museum about the Les Miserables writer was closed for refurbishment, but it was nice to explore the town a little further away from the centre.

Time was passing quickly and it was time for lunch so we chose a small cafe serving a selection of sandwiches and other light snacks. Leek, potato and bacon soup filled me up perfectly, while my friend enjoyed a Panini. The abundance of cafes meant we were spoilt for choice, and enabled us to stop for a swift lunch. Although technically we should have had four hours in Guernsey, by the time we had departed from the ferry, and then taken into account the 40-minute check-in time on the way back, really it was more like just over three hours.

So at 2.40pm we headed back to the ferry, not particularly looking forward to the journey home, and hoping it wouldn’t be as rough. Thankfully, it wasn’t quite as bad and I managed to browse the onboard duty free, which included offers on six bottles of Blossom Hill wine for £16 and two litres of Gordon’s gin or Smirnoff vodka for £22.

We arrived back in Poole slightly early at 6.30pm, paid £7 for the all-day parking at Poole Port, and headed home. I got back at around 8.15pm and was exhausted. It was a long day, but nice to visit somewhere different, although if I was to go again I might consider staying over-night to have a little more time in Guernsey, rather than spending most of the day travelling.