If I had to name one place in the UK that I could visit over and over again, I think it would be the Isles of Scilly.  These jewels that sparkle off the coast of Cornwall have a knack of luring you back.  I have done day trips and I have stayed but staying makes all the difference to your island life experience.

In 2015 I arrived at Land’s End airport to find all flights were cancelled due to a storm coming in.  But that is what happens. The next day after forking out for a hotel in Penzance and losing one night of my booked accommodation on St. Mary’s, I was there in glorious sunshine looking out across the ocean at the cluster of small islands.  At 10am, I was at the harbour to catch a boat trip.

I didn’t bother with Tresco this time.  A young man had gone missing there.  Search and rescue teams were looking for him and it was not a happy ending.  Instead I took a trip to the farthest Eastern isles to watch seals and seabirds and later to St. Martin’s.  I lost myself amidst bracken and heather and then walked across a beach of pure white sand