A prize trip to the Scillies

A few months ago I won a four night break in the Scillies from Woman's Weekly. It was one of the competitions you can enter online, with daily entries and extras  for sharing, or by post. I entered just once, by post, using a pretty hand made postcard.

We decided to take the holiday in early September, when the summer crowds would have gone but the holiday season wouldn't be over. The trip was booked long before my health problems of the summer and the subsequent end of Grape Vine, yet turned out to be perfectly timed to help me recover from both!

The flight was from Exeter airport, in a tiny plane that would have held 17 people fully laden - there were just 12 of us on board, so everyone had a brilliant view as we flew low over Devon and Cornwall before crossing the sea  to the islands.

We stayed at Tregarthen's Hotel, right on the quayside with spectacular views over the bay.

Our room was the Portlight Suite, a separate "garden" building from the hotel, with a very comfortable living room and bedroom - it was rather like having a kitchenless bungalow. With half board meals included too, it was a very generous prize. The hotel's lounge and restaurant looked out over the sea, so we had an excellent view of the pilot gig races on two evenings, and a companion for breakfast every morning.

The weather was remarkably kind to us, raining overnight and staying fine all day, so we crammed a lot into our stay, taking a stroll around the historic fortifications:

 

 

Exploring the nearby harbour, bays and beaches:

Admiring the plants and gardens:

 

 

Taking a boat trip out to a seal colony:

Touring St. Mary's on a vintage bus:

And taking a trip to the Co-op. A trip to the Co-op? I expect you're thinking I was there looking for competitions. Well *ahem* nothing could  have been further from my mind! If you'd like to know just WHY we visited the Co-op, visit Mark's blog for the full story!