The Isles of Scilly

We wanted to try somewhere different, a bit unusual, unlike anywhere we'd been before. We found it in the beautiful Isles of Scilly

We didn't to travel very far. The Scillies are off the coast of Cornwall, accessed by boat or by tiny plane - we chose the latter (thus fulfilling another ambition in this list: to fly in a small plane). This plane had space for ten people, including pilot and co-pilot. Totally adorable.

The islands have their own very agreeable microclimate, resulting in beautiful gardens and wildlife. We were there in September, and loved the slow pace of life and glorious scenery.

We enjoyed long walks around the islands (five of them are inhabitable; the rest, and there are 140 of them, belong to the creatures); indeed, walks between islands, as there are times of the year when tides are low enough to paddle! We attended a glorious 'pop up' food-and-drink event on the wet sands.

The gardens on Tresco were stunningly beautiful, populated by more red squirrels than we've ever seen anywhere else.

I was able to go snorkelling with the seals, which was a real highlight for me. There's a whole blog post on that here.

Cars aren't allowed on the island, except those belonging to residents - you get everywhere by shanks' pony or by boat. So a tour around the largest island, St Mary's, in a vintage car was not to be missed.

A superb place, and one to which we'd gladly return given the opportunity.