Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th June

Tuesday was a bit of a write off! Heavy rain for most of the day and temperatures struggling to reach double figures. We managed a short cycle ride in the morning between downpours and the the LLW decided that she may as well spend some time on her legal work. Ray was sent off to the gym and swimming pool for a while. The facilities at the site are very good but I had been looking forward to swimming in the sea off one of the many glorious beaches on the island. Sadly it may not happen this week - too cold even for me.

Wednesday dawned slightly better. Intermittent rain but slightly warmer (13C) and very little wind. We called in at the Island Office to check some arrangements and then cycled across to Tresco Abbey and the gardens.

The gardens are in a spectacular location and have a collection of remarkable plants and trees from around the world. Apparently the gardens were first stared in 1834 and Augustus Smith assembled the plants with the assistance of Scillonian mariners whilst on their many voyages around the world.

As we entered the gardens we encountered more red squirrels than we have ever seen win one place. At one stage we counted 7 fighting over access to the nut feeder.

It was a delightful walk around the gardens and the planting is amazing, but the LLW was slightly critical that it was not better kept!!

Our cottage Spindrift at Sea Garden Cottages is lovely and as you can see the garden there is very colourful.

We ventured out again later for another cycle ride and found even more beautiful beaches with nobody in sight! 

Dinner was at the Ruin Beach cafe again and this time we had a table in the bar with the most fantastic views across the bay

Monday 10th June - on to Tresco

A cloudy day, still cool and with fairly heavy rain forecast. Top of the priority list was securing a taxi to take us to the quay at Hugh Town for our ferry to Tresco. We had called the Tresco office yesterday as requested and were informed that out ferry was 12:45. Of the two taxi companies on the island, one was fully booked on the Monday until 13:30 and the other was closed on Sunday. We think that the Otillo athletes returning from whence they came was to blame for taxi overload.

The trusty DJ Cabs did try to call us back early but the mobile signal is very poor and they failed to connect. However, we managed to speak to them after walking down the road to find a mobile hot spot and the pickup was arranged for 11:40.

After a very good breakfast we packed our bags, left them at the B&B to be collected later, and headed off for a walk. We had not gone far before the rain started and luckily a cafe was at close hand and we spent 20 mins nursing a flat white whilst the worst of the storm abated.

We then walked across the bay to St Mary's Old Church where ex PM Harold Wilson is buried. He famously visited the Isles of Scilly every year for holidays and owned a small house which can only be described as looking like a large garage!

The rain kept away and we were soon in the taxi and deposited on the quay awaiting our ferry. The Scillonian passenger ferry had arrived and large numbers of visitors disembarked to join those from two small cruise ships making Hugh Town very busy.

The sun came out and we had a spectacular but calm ferry ride to Tresco via Bryher. It's difficult to explain the beauty of the islands in brilliant sunshine but I hope some of the photos go part of the way to demonstrating this.

We disembarked on Tresco at New Grimsby and soon were on our way to Sea Garden cottages on the opposite side of the island at Old Grimsby about 1 mile away. Sea Garden Cottage are delightful; very luxurious with beautiful gardens and spectacular views across the bay to St Martins.

After settling in we walked back across to New Grimsby and ordered some provisions at the Tresco Stores, which they will deliver later, and picked up our hire bikes next door. The LLW was informed that a round the island cycle ride was now necessary, particularly since the weather forecast for tomorrow is very poor. We cycled up a few hills, around the southern part of the island and close to the Abbey Gardens before returning to Sea Garden Cottages via some off road tracks. A lovely ride and after a short rest we walked the few yards down to Ruin Beach Cafe where we had a really excellent dinner.

Sunday 9th Cycling around St Mary's

A mainly sunny but cool morning was perfect for our planned cycling around the island and after a good breakfast we walked the mile or so to Hugh Town and the cycle hire shop.

After much discussion and consultation about hills around the island, the LLW determined that e-bikes were the order of the day!

We had to wait a while before we cycled off as the Otillo race began at 10:00. Today's race is just under 40km and involves 4 islands with 8 swims, one of which is 2.6km, and the winning time is forecast to be about 4 hours. As you can well imagine I had to restrain the LLW from submitting a late entry.

The views round the island were stunning and we pretty much completed the full tour. However, the LLW was very organised and had her priorities sorted so the first stop was the Strudel Cafe. This establishment has two locations, one in Hugh Town and the other up country which is where we stopped. Run be a German lady, the most amazing apple strudels were delivered and quickly dispatched!

Saturday 8th June Arriving on the Isles of Scilly

An early breakfast and we were soon on our way to Exeter airport for our flight to St Mary's. The luggage allowance is very strict with virtually nothing allowed as cabin luggage so we were pleased when our bags had been cleared and we were on board.

The plane an Otter 2 operated by Skybus is a 16 seater and only one seat was vacant as we set off on our short flight. High winds resulted in a bit of bouncing as we ascended but one in level flight it was very calm. The flight was mainly over land, firstly Devon and then Cornwall before the plane took a sharp left over St Michael's Mount and flew the 28 miles over the sea to the Isles of Scilly.

The first site of the islands was quite magical and nothing prepares the traveler for the extraordinary number of islands and rocks in the archipelago. The weather was good with excellent visibility and we were soon on the ground and in our minibus on the way to our first stop, Porthenor B&B which occupied a beautiful position over looking the harbour and bay at Old Town.

Having deposited our luggage we walked into town where we encountered the Otillo race for the first time and many runners and swimmers were arrived at the finish line for the first day's event known as the sprint.  The main event is tomorrow Sunday where serious distances are covered across 4 islands!

We walked around the peninsular where there were extraordinary rock formations and lovely views across clear blue seas.

Dinner was at Bondy's Cafe very close to our B&B; Crab Curry was the speciality and very good it was too.

Friday 7th June on our way to Exmouth

After the Open Afternoon at Amberley School we headed off towards Exmouth and since it was a Friday afternoon there was no surprise that traffic was very heavy. However, this was exacerbated by very heavy rain which caused difficult driving conditions and slow going. 4 hours later we arrived at The Imperial Hotel in Exmouth where Ray had spend several childhood holidays. The hotel still has a lovely setting with impressive grounds overlooking the Exe estuary but the once very grand hotel is now less so and standards have slipped.