McFly's Danny Jones enjoys sun, snorkelling and playing the blues on Peter Perfect Island

McFly's Danny Jones enjoys sun, snorkelling and playing the blues on Peter Perfect Island

By Danny Jones

PUBLISHED: 04:07 EST, 2 July 2012 | UPDATED: 09:59 EST, 5 July 2012

It wasn't supposed to be like this, of course. I should have been putting my feet up in the most luxurious surroundings imaginable, yet somehow it had turned into a busman's holiday â€" and I was loving every minute of it.

Until this moment, I thought I had discovered the ideal place to relax, take it easy, laze in hammocks, go to bed early and generally recharge my batteries.

But here I was staying up all night, singing the blues and whacking out some classic numbers on my guitar, including My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen, Mr Writer by the Stereophonics and lots of Eric Clapton.

Into the deep: Danny Jones took time out with his girlfriend Georgia to relax and explore Peter Island, one of the British Virgin Islands

My long night began when a blues singer who also played the harmonica dropped into our holiday hideaway. I have loved the blues since I first started playing the guitar, so we tried out a few songs together. I was in my element. Before I knew it, we had been jamming well into the small hours.

In my defence, I should point out that this was just one night during a glorious break with my girlfriend Georgia to Peter Island â€" a place I now prefer to call Peter Perfect Island. This paradise is one of the British Virgin Islands, a part of the world I had never visited before, even though the Caribbean has become one of my favourite holiday destinations.

I've been about half a dozen times, both privately and on working trips with my bandmates in McFly. So far I've clocked up trips to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, St Lucia, Antigua and Barbados. They're all wonderful, but Peter Island is something special.

Lying about five miles south-west of Tortola, it's the largest private island in the BVI and the fifth largest of the 60 cays and exposed reefs that make up the archipelago.

All a Twitter: Danny shared some pictures of his trip with his Twitter followers, including this one of Georgia, but the rest of the time embraced the opportunity to switch off on the paradise island

As Georgia and I were looking for a quiet 'away from it all' vacation, what most appealed about Peter Island was that it is largely undeveloped â€" but that doesn't mean you rough it. Our hotel, the 52-room Peter Island Resort Spa, has twice been named by Conde Nast Traveller magazine as one of its best places to stay in the world.

Being in a successful band means we don't get that much time off. The chance of getting away somewhere for more than a week is such a rare occurrence that Georgia and I really wanted to make the most of our time alone. We yearned to find somewhere as close as possible to paradise.

The first part of my search involved looking for the place where the weather is best in May, and top of the list was the British Virgin Islands. Then I looked up the best place to stay on the BVI and this led me straight to Peter Island. The place looked tranquil and amazing and â€" at the risk of sounding like a rock star â€" really cool.

Mind you, it takes a bit of effort to get there. First we flew to Barbados and then took a little aircraft operated by Caribbean airline Liat. I loved this small plane: it was like a bus as it had 'stops' at Antigua, St Martin, St Thomas and St Kitts before finally touching down on Peter Island.

Altogether it took 22 hours to reach our destination, but we quickly decided the extra journey time was well worth it because when we eventually arrived, we were impressed that the island was so untouched and so chilled-out.

When I was a boy, my family took holidays in the Mediterranean, staying in hotels where we always had to get up early to bag a sunbed by the pool â€" that was a bit of a ritual. I still have very happy memories of trips to places such as Majorca, but it's a very long way from those package-holiday palaces of the Med to Peter Island. 

For a start, the resort felt deserted. Whatever time of day, the whole place was gloriously uncrowded. Even when we went to the beach, it was as if there was nobody else around. Ours were always the first footsteps on the sand, as if no one had touched it before. It was awesome â€" we loved that. But the big thing for me was having the chance to relax and soak up the special atmosphere.

When I travel with the band, it can be frustrating, even in great places such as Brazil and Japan, because usually all I get to see is a hotel room: four walls and a TV. Now, at last, I could really enjoy somewhere.

Island idyll: Danny nicknamed it Peter Perfect Island and loved the ambience at the Peter Island Resort and Spa

When we'd first thought about this holiday, my idea was to undertake some sort of big adventure â€" to do something amazing such as driving down the west coast of America. But then Georgia and I began to think that it would be much better to go somewhere we could just shut ourselves off and not have to worry about answering the phone or look at text messages.

We even decided to leave our laptop at home â€" our dream was just to sit on a beach and have tranquillity for a couple of weeks. As things turned out, we had plenty of peace â€" but we also had lots to do.

Rock 'n' Roll: Danny Jones loved the opportunity to play with a local blues musician

On the first morning, Marika, our expert guide at the resort, met us for breakfast and suggested an itinerary for us. We were a little nervous about sticking to a schedule because we didn't want to do too much â€" chilling out was our priority. But Marika's plan turned out to be perfect, with several picnics on beaches to watch the sun set, some sailing trips and snorkelling with a photographer.

I like to think that I can switch off easily, though I know that when I get excited I get the urge to tweet. But this holiday was different. I did post a few pictures on Twitter, but otherwise I managed to stay incommunicado, enjoying time with Georgia and also listening to music.

My best 'iPod time' was when Georgia was getting ready for the evening: that was my cue to climb into the hammock, put on my headphones and watch the sun go down.

As it happens, it was time well spent. We're just about to record a new McFly album â€" which I will be producing, too â€" and I was able to listen to all sorts of music for influences that might help. I was particularly intrigued by the drum sounds created by American rock band Incubus, and by Bruce Springsteen. For me, that hammock was a very exciting place to be and another perfect aspect of Peter Island.

I also loved the people who worked at our hotel: they made us so welcome and we felt we were on holiday as soon as we got there. We were on first-name terms with the staff almost instantly, something that made us feel very special.

Home from home: A lounge area in one of the exclusive villas at the resort

It was good to discover there was a bit of live music played in the resort but it never went on very late (until that night I got involved). In fact, if it wasn't that busy, everything shut down by about 11pm to allow most of the staff to get the last ferry home to Tortola. The resort manager promised that if it got busy, things would stay open later, but we liked the fact that we were sometimes going to bed at 9.45pm and then getting up early the next morning.

I must admit that doesn't sound very 'rock 'n' roll', but then I'm happy to lead a relaxed lifestyle when I'm not on stage. I can't say the same for some of my bandmates though â€" drummer Harry Judd won the last series of Strictly Come Dancing and bass player Dougie Poynter triumphed on I'm A Celebrity . . . Get Me Out Of Here.

Despite being in a band, I haven't actually travelled that widely â€" I haven't been to Thailand, for example. However, next year should be an interesting time for us â€" we plan to go to America and try to make it over there. The success of One Direction has opened up a lot of doors for other bands.

I really like the United States: I've been to Los Angeles and New York, and one of my favourite places is New Orleans.

The last time I was there with the McFly boys, we got to jam on Bourbon Street. I asked one busker if I could play her guitar but she said: 'No, no, no, no.' She didn't want to lend it to me, probably because she didn't trust me â€" we were young at the time.

But our singer Tom Fletcher and I persevered, and in the end we paid her to borrow her guitar because we desperately wanted to say that we had busked on Bourbon Street. That was cool.

If I get the time for another proper holiday, I would definitely want to go back to Peter Island. When Georgia and I arrived, it really felt we had landed in heaven. It's the ultimate dream destination.

Travel Facts

Tropic Breeze (01752 880880, www.tropicbreeze.co.uk) offers seven nights at Peter Island Resort Spa in the British Virgin Islands from £1,475 per person this summer. This special price takes advantage of a seven-nights-for-the-price-offour offer, which saves £375 per person. Accommodation is in an Ocean View room on a room-only basis and includes return flights from Gatwick to Antigua with British Airways and onward connecting flights with Liat.

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