MY PERSONAL PARADISE - PART 2

Yesterday I described the first part of a recent trip to the Isles of Scilly (pronounced 'silly'.) We stayed on one of the 'off islands' called Bryher which in Cornish means 'place of hills'. After a gloriously sunny day when we arrived, our second day dawned grey and windy but somehow it didn't seem to matter. It just showed another facet of these spectacular islands.


After breakfast we set off to hike the island and before you think we were being incredibly energetic, the island is only 327 acres so we weren't exactly pushing ourselves, especially with constant stops to look at the scenery and take photos.


It seemed only right to focus on the western extreme of the island on this cloudy day because it gave us a feel for the true character of this windswept and dramatic spot.


Look how little I am!! It was so exhilarating to be perching on the edge of the world! Of course we had to visit Bad Place Hill, with a name like that how could we not? So here is my husband being a Bad Ass on Bad Place Hill!!


There are some hardy little souls that manage to make their home in this windswept habitat, like this glorious little Stonechat who kept a very close eye on us.


With all the fresh sea air we were more than happy at the end of the day to sit down to another delicious meal and a good bottle of wine (I could very easily get used to this!)
Next morning dawned blue and sunny (such is the weather in Cornwall) so we were determined to get out and enjoy our last day on the islands.


Time for a little more beach combing on such a beautiful morning, like this strange little sand flea


and very busily running up and down the sand in pursuit of the sand fleas was this ringed plover who was so focused on catching his breakfast he hardly noticed me.


This really is such a special place, it always brings such a sense of peace spending a couple of days here, gazing at the sea.


The beautiful clear seas and wind sculpted rocks are an endless source of inspiration for many artists and photographers.


As you would expect the islands are home to hundreds of seabirds, one of the most eye-catching being the dramatically marked Oystercatcher.


Another reason that I love these islands is that the birds vastly outnumber the people, such a refreshing change from Chicago!


The little cluster of buildings in this picture is the hotel we stayed in, as you can see there aren't many other buildings around, and, best of all, no roads, just a couple of sandy tracks.


All too soon it was time for us to catch the island launch back to the main island of St Marys were the Scillonian was waiting to carry us back to Penzance.


And what a nice touch - one of the locals was there to say goodbye! Can you see him reclining on the rock?



Photo Credits - CJT & Dominick V