Isles of Scilly Tues 23rd May
The date tells us that we are almost half way through the year. We are well into the third rally, the first of the Holiday Rallies but the weather doesn't seem to understand. We are at present into a 'conveyor belt' of Atlantic troughs, periods of low pressure, one after another, strong winds, it's been up to force 9 gusting accompanied by rain, followed by more rain in the form of showers and bright periods, warm sun and blue sky. It doesn't keep us in though! We have been walking around St Mary's looking at the wonderful display of wild flowers at this time of the year. The birds are busy feeding their young. To date the 'bird diary' reads, Cook-oo, Kestrel, Gold Finch, Linnet, young mallard, young moorhens as well as sparrows, blackbirds and thrushes that feed from our hands, that's besides all of the seabirds.
It's great to be sharing this with other members on a small rally. Over the two weeks there have been five units here. Chas and Senya White were here for the first week. They were followed by Ian and Catherine McKenzie who are using a tent, as their unit is too wide for the 'archway'. On Wednesday of last week we were joined by an 'old friend' Richard Brookes's Delta with its new owners Peter and Maggie Wood. Many of you may remember Richard as the guy from Somerset who used to tow his Dandy with a Reliant Robin 3-wheeler. John and Francis Bratt enjoyed their first day on Scilly so much that they re-booked to extend their stay from one week to two weeks. At the end of the Spring "Behind 'The Gavel" I said, now all we need is a good Summer, lots of fine weather, long summer evenings and good friends together. We have the good friends together but are still awaiting the balmy summer evenings and the fine weather. Perhaps that will come next week??!!
Ray Tims

The Scilly Experience
Phew, what a month! Returning from the AGM on the Sunday evening we began to have doubts as to the week ahead. Senya was on holiday and we were due to go on the Scilly rally. So the Monday was spent unpacking both cars and repacking the Dandy with all clothes, bedding, fridge (yes it does fit - just), porta-potti, etc, etc. As usual work got in the way so Senya had to do most of the work.
Tuesday morning saw us leave bright and early for the drive to Penzance. We “cheated” and stayed overnight in a Travel Inn so that at 7:30 on Wednesday morning we were on the quay at Penzance with the Dandy. By 11:00 we were at Lands End airport to find that no flights had taken off that day due to low cloud. But by 12:00 they had found a clear patch and 2 aircraft (both 8-seaters) took off; the second with only me and Senya on board. 20 minutes later we were treated like royalty by the Scilly taxi staff as they could not understand why we had arrived in a “private” plane. As we got the site about 3 hours before we were expected, Ray’s face was a picture through taxi window. Still Gerry had the kettle on waiting for us and John & Francis Bratt (who came over on the Scillonian with the Dandys).
The visit to the Isles of Scilly was well worth the effort; the flowers and bird life so much more abundant and colourful than in Loughborough and life definitely much more relaxed. Afternoon tea, Dandy style was definitely welcome after the walk up to the Garrison from the town as the hill was (very) steep. 
Obviously Scilly liked us as when we came to come home rumours of the ship not sailing started. Eventually the ship sailed early to try and avoid the storms! We went to the airport to be told that if we could not get on the next aeroplane, we would not be flying that day. So after weighing our luggage and us both, the decision was that we could leave at 12:45 (instead of the planned 3:15 flight). The journey back only took 11½ minutes due to the wind and the approach to the grass landing strip at Lands End was definitely not for the faint hearted (that’s me!) due to the buffeting. I now know what a crisp packet feels like when thrown away in the wind! 
When the Dandy finally arrived in Penzance harbour in the pouring rain at 7:00 we were only too glad to be on our way to the warmth of the Travel Inn; even a McDonald’s meal was an attractive proposition. The next morning the road home was blocked by an accident but after a lazy breakfast we managed to set off on the 300 mile journey back home.
Chas White

Scilly 2006
We arrived on Scilly after a long journey and a rough crossing on the Scillonian III to a warm welcome from Ray and Gerry Tims, After a gentle walk to the campsite and a relaxing drink we made camp,(not in the usual dandy style) as our dandy is too wide to fit through the Garrison gates so we took our little tent instead.
During our stay we walked the coastal paths every day and completed the whole of St Mary's after 3 days gentle exercise. The views from every bay and peninsular were stunning. The wildlife was wonderful and in most cases also very tame, hand feeding the birds became a daily occurrence.
We had a day trip to the island of Tresco to visit the Abbey and gardens which were in full bloom and beautiful taking hours to walk round hoping not to miss anything. Also very interesting was the display of ships' figureheads called Valhalla. We got that wet on the boat going back to St Mary's we may as well have swam but we soon dried out and a very good day was had by all.
The Islands are very beautiful and so relaxing that time just saunters by, but then there is not enough time in a week to see it all.
A very good rally with thanks to wonderful helpful stewards and fellow dandiers for making our holiday such a memorable one. Will definitely return one day in the future.
Catherine and Ian McKenzie