When ‘Mini me’ and I decide to go on holiday, we like to live ‘off the grid’ and our summer holiday each year usually finds us in a tent on a remote island 25 miles off the coast of Cornwall. Not many people have heard of the Isles of Scilly, which are an archipelago of beautiful , remote, sub-tropical islands.
We’ve been going there for our annual trip for six years now, and there is a strange tale attached to this family tradition... Six years ago I had finished my PGCE and was just coming to the end of my first year in teaching. Initially, I confess I found working as a teacher so stressful that I would have difficulty sleeping, wake up in the middle of the night in a panic or experience strange dreams.
One night I dreamt that a shadowy figure (I suspect who he was, but this is too personal to share) took me by the hand and we flew together over the islands and I had a wonderful sense of calm, happiness and fulfilment. While we were flying he told me that I would find what I was really looking for if I visited the Isles of Scilly. The next day, I woke up and decided to do just that. Within a few hours I had arranged flight tickets and booked a camping space. We were both captivated by our first visit and have been going back ever since !
One night I dreamt that a shadowy figure (I suspect who he was, but this is too personal to share) took me by the hand and we flew together over the islands and I had a wonderful sense of calm, happiness and fulfilment. While we were flying he told me that I would find what I was really looking for if I visited the Isles of Scilly. The next day, I woke up and decided to do just that. Within a few hours I had arranged flight tickets and booked a camping space. We were both captivated by our first visit and have been going back ever since !
The weather can be a little bit dodgy so I packed lots of cards, travel games and books, but actually there was no need as we had fantastic weather this time (I even came back peeling in places). We spent most our time rock pooling or watching the amazing wildlife. Not far from where we were staying were puffin and seal colonies. I’ve been used to seeing postcards featuring puffins, where they are perching on rocky ledges, but these were entirely different. There were large groups of them fishing in the water and flying by our boat – if penguins could fly I’m sure it would be just like that as they had such short wings ! The seal colony was amazing, and neither of us had seen seal pups before. They were beautiful, with creamy, white fur and cute eyes ! We also saw the Bishop’s Rock lighthouse (see picture), which is an awe inspiring stone structure built the 1850’s. It is perched on a tiny rock in the middle of a treacherous area called the ‘Western Rocks.’
We also visited the ‘Abbey Gardens’ on Tresco Island. They were established in the early 1800’s by the governor of the islands and contain a huge number of tropical plants which he brought back from his travels overseas.
J’s record of the week :
Big apologies blog readers, but as our little campsite didn’t have any electricity, we didn’t take any iPods with us on holiday. Consequently, I don’t have a record of the week....
But I do have a radio station of the week ! The Isles of Scilly has its own radio station, which is excellent – where else would you have something like ‘Scilly Automatic,’ a show named after a weather station !?
You can listen online at :J !
Big apologies blog readers, but as our little campsite didn’t have any electricity, we didn’t take any iPods with us on holiday. Consequently, I don’t have a record of the week....
But I do have a radio station of the week ! The Isles of Scilly has its own radio station, which is excellent – where else would you have something like ‘Scilly Automatic,’ a show named after a weather station !?
You can listen online at :J !
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did
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