I’m still slightly unsure what made us decide to go to Jeju, Korea’s largest island mostly made of porous volcanic rock. I had been pushing for some time in Gwangju, but as it wasn’t a Biennale year it didn’t seem essential, and some island time felt like a good idea as an antidote to our many city explorations.

We were incredibly lucky with our flights from Busan – all had been cancelled the day before due to the typhoon, ours was only an hour delayed and we soon filled the time by getting free manicures at the airport (yes including Tom!) As we landed typhoons were long forgotten as the weather was beautiful and we even caught a glimpse of the famed dragon rock (Yongduam Rock) from the plane.

We hadn’t made the best choice of where to stay really – right in the middle of tourist town (Jungmun Resort) at the Suites hotel, a cheaper option surrounded by luxury hotels and kitschy museums and a good hour or so on a bus away from Jeju-si, the capital so we didn’t get a chance to visit anything there. The hotel was nice, with a little kids area and restaurant but the swimming pool didn’t even have any water in it! Our first night we took a walk round to Jungmun Saekdal beach, which was lovely and we revisited another day, there was even a yoga class happening on the sand!

Unfortunately eating options here were a choice between a nightclub with pole dancing and disco balls and raw abalone from a bucket caught and served straight up by haenyeo, female divers. We went for the nightclub of course!

A better option for us were the halla-bong tangerines bought from a street stall. For breakfast we routinely had these and bought yoghurts and honey pancakes from the supermarket and ate in our outside area by our room.

We made the most of our location, enjoying a rainy day class at the Chocolate School and learning about the cuisine in nearby restaurants as well as our usual clifftop morning runs.

The best of the restaurants were Gogi Stop where we had our first real Korean barbecue with heukdwaeji – pork from the local black-skinned pig. Large chucks of fatty pork appeared ready for the bbq in the centre of the table with the usual Korean pickles and kimchi. Tom preferred to take over the cooking as usual!

A local restaurant around the corner from the hotel was Sinwoosungtown which was a large open-plan restaurant where we tried out soju, the local vodka, bindaettok – crispy pancakes of crushed mung beans and the local smoked and grilled mackerel.

Lastly Soul Kitchen was were we went when we needed some more European style food and the steak salad went down so well we ordered a second helping!

A perfect local outing was a visit to the Cheonjeyeon Falls and Seonimagyo bridge, where we got to see three waterfalls, one with a rainbow.

There were quite a few steps but we were rewarded by having a go at throwing money into the fountain of five blessings: longevity (a tortoise, my choice), wealth (a boar, Toms), honour (a dragon, Joanna’s), sons (a carp) and love (a mandarin duck, Molly’s).

Our best day out was when we took a bus to the Seopji-koji Peninsula. At one point swapping buses at brake neck speed, we arrived at Seongsan-ri bus stop around 12 noon. We were immediately greeted by Wily Jung the owner of Willala fish and chips, a small establishment across the road. They were filming a documentary and invited us to have a free lunch if we could take part. We asked if it could wait for half an hour or so whilst we climbed the volcano – they said fine. So up Seonhsan Ilchul-bong (a Unesco World Heritage Site) we went. 182 metres high and shaped like a giant punchbowl, it’s quite a sight when you climb all the steps and get to peek inside.

We got back to the fish and chip shop a little late and out of breath, but were warmly invited to take a seat, we were intrigued by cameras throughout the restaurant and the couple clearly on show in front of us. We wolfed down the delicious john dory and shark we were given. The owner had spent time learning the art of fish and chips in the UK, and we were fascinated to learn that the host of the programme was a well-known manhwa or comic book artist Huh Young Man.

We went on to Phoenix Island where most people take either a horse and carriage ride or self-drive a moped around, but we walked. Girls were a little despondent until we found a fun maze to run around in! Tom took the girls off for more of an explore to see a lighthouse whilst I visited the serene Yumin Art Museum designed by Tadao Ando – a beautiful space aimed at meditation, for me a treat to catch up with some Art Nouveau ceramics.

We met up for a pricey tea and cake at the restaurant Mint in Ando’s other building on the island, Glass House. Below us, Ilchul-bong beach and some horses beckoned. We ended our day with dinner in Seogwipo.

Jeju was strange and enjoyable, we were glad to have been able to spend time there and for all the natural beauty and quirky times we had.