ISLES OF SCILLY, England -- The helicopter from Penzance in southwest England takes 20 minutes to fly its scenic route to St. Mary's, the main island of Scilly. Down below the rugged coastline of dramatic cliffs, smugglers' caves and secret coves, a green, open headland tapers to Land's End at the tip of Britain. Turbulent sea fills the 45 km separating the Isles of Scilly from the mainland.
Islands and mainland were joined until after the ice age, when the seas rose and drowned ancient farmland, leaving some 100 islands and rocks to comprise Scilly.
Scilly is still Cornish, wildly beautiful, with low stone houses, lobsters and cream teas.