Lundy

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Where?:
Lundy is an island in the Bristol Channel between England and Wales.

Okay, first things first - Lundy issues it's own stamps (that are accepted by the Royal Mail if they are sent on the island), in the past it has issued it's own currency - the Puffin. There are a number of flags that have been flown above the island. There was even a King of Lundy - hence I class it as a country and I count it as one!

Getting to Lundy can be a bit of an adventure - on paper it's easy the boat departs from either Ilfracombe or Bideford, and takes a couple of hours to get to the island. However you do have to cross the Bristol Channel, and the water can be rather rough. I've got pretty good sea legs, but even I felt a bit green by the time I got off the boat.

That said the journey is very much worth it - Lundy is a quite a beautiful place if you want to get away from it all - I'd suggest that you try and stay over rather than doing a day trip. The Landmark trust have a number of self catering properties on the island, and there's a shop that although is small seems to have all the basics, and a few other things as well. If you don't want to cook, then there's a pub that does breakfast, lunch and supper.

Lundy Jetty

The island is only about three miles long by less than a mile wide, but it has three lighthouses (one of which you can climb up), a surprisingly large church, as well as large supply of wildlife. From Puffins (where the island gets its name from, to deer, ponies to sheep. There's also the Lundy Cabbage.

I stayed a couple of nights in the Old Radio Room, which is practically perfect for one person. It's just behind the pub, set in a beautiful courtyard, and has everything you could need. Cooker, grill, fridge and loads of cutlery and crockery. Of course you could always nip around the corner to the pub.

I re-visited Lundy a year in June 2012 a year after my last visit - there are very few places that I have re-visited (not because the places I visit aren't interesting, it's just that there are new places to see) so I guess it says a lot that I have re-visited Lundy.

The trip out to the island was just as much as an adventure as it was last time - the wind was blowing so hard that the boat couldn't run. So everyone who was staying on the island were bussed out to Hartland Point, and took turns to be loaded into a helicopter! The flight was rather short at just six minutes, but I was lucky enough to sit in the co-pilots seat, so I managed to get a very good view of the flight. Despite the bad weather the flight was very smooth, and if all flights were like that I could actually enjoy flying!