0:00:02 > 0:00:06This is the wildest, most remote part of the British Isles.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08It's called St Kilda.
0:00:09 > 0:00:13A handful of rocks out in the Atlantic Ocean,
0:00:13 > 0:00:15over 100 miles from the mainland,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18it's the most secret place in Britain.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27Home to seabirds and seals, these islands are also a place of mystery.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34Until just 80 years ago, St Kilda was inhabited by a race of people
0:00:34 > 0:00:36who lived in an extraordinary way.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42But when they suddenly abandoned their homes,
0:00:42 > 0:00:44they left behind a place full of mystery.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50Historian Dan Snow, naturalist Steve Backshall and me, Kate Humble,
0:00:50 > 0:00:56have been discovering the secrets of these amazing islands. But our time here is nearly over.
0:00:56 > 0:01:03And this is our last chance to explore the very limits of St Kilda, the history, ecology and wildlife.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13It's time to go deeper and further than before.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15We'll be scaling the cliffs...
0:01:15 > 0:01:17HE GRUNTS
0:01:17 > 0:01:20..diving into unknown caves beneath the sea
0:01:20 > 0:01:25and asking why did St Kilda's people leave?
0:01:26 > 0:01:31All to try to unlock the secrets of Britain's Lost World.
0:01:41 > 0:01:42Welcome to Camp St Kilda.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44Come on, you two. Get up!
0:01:46 > 0:01:50'Three little tents perched on a hillside on the most remote island of Britain.'
0:01:53 > 0:01:56Do you want some of this hot water for shaving, Dan?
0:02:00 > 0:02:02'We're nearing the end of our stay here.'
0:02:02 > 0:02:05Kate, your two boys looking clean shaven, here.
0:02:07 > 0:02:12'But there are still some questions to be answered about the mysteries of St Kilda's past.'
0:02:12 > 0:02:14Pretty good, Steven.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21Just who were the first people to call these remote islands home?
0:02:24 > 0:02:26We now know a lot about the people in these photos,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30the last St Kildans who left the islands in 1930.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35We've found out the Vikings were here before these Gaelic people.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38There's Viking names all around St Kilda itself.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42If you name the land you're not here to raid, you're here to stay.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Urgh. Ha ha!
0:02:44 > 0:02:48'And that there were people living here even earlier than that.'
0:02:48 > 0:02:52I would guess this is some kind of Iron Age burial site.
0:02:52 > 0:02:58It does seem to prove that there have been people here in St Kilda for at least 2,000 years.
0:03:01 > 0:03:07But now it's time to take our quest further back into the depths of man's earliest history.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12We're looking for evidence that man came to St Kilda as far back as the last Ice Age.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17And Kate's coming on the dive boat with me.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23'Can we find a cave that could have been lived in 12,000 years ago?'
0:03:25 > 0:03:29'The man to help us is marine archaeologist Gary Momber.'
0:03:29 > 0:03:32On land we've seen evidence of human habitation from the present day
0:03:32 > 0:03:35- right back to about 3,000 - 4,000 years ago.- Right.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39But out here we're looking for even older, the first human beings in this part of the world.
0:03:39 > 0:03:44People have been coming to this British Isles for about 700,000 years.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48So you think that there might be evidence around the island
0:03:48 > 0:03:52of human habitation far earlier than anything Dan's seen on land.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57Yes, and the reason is, if you look now it's water all the way to the mainland
0:03:57 > 0:04:00but at one time you could probably walk most of the way there.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03- This whole place was covered in icecaps.- Yeah.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07This would have been a big hill. Sea levels would have been 120 metres lower than today.
0:04:07 > 0:04:10People would have got across.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13They would follow animal herds, mammoths, even sea mammals.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15When they found somewhere they would use caves.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19- The hope is the caves will be preserved. - The hope is they will be preserved.
0:04:19 > 0:04:25Where's your gut? My gut would be to go round the leeward side, away from prevailing winds.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28To the west it's under constant attack from the Atlantic Ocean.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30The north is a little bit more sheltered.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33- We've got a lot of kit. - Yeah.- And some time.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Let's head to that side and see what we can find.
0:04:37 > 0:04:43What we're looking for is a cave big enough for people to shelter in, and one with a sandy bottom
0:04:43 > 0:04:47so there's a chance that evidence that man was there will have been preserved.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52It's a bit like searching for a needle in a haystack, under water.
0:04:52 > 0:04:58The sea level was then far lower than it is now, so the caves we're after will be beneath the waves.
0:04:59 > 0:05:05Some great caves here. What do you reckon? Are we hopeful there are caves deeper down below the surface?
0:05:05 > 0:05:07I think it's a good indicator, yes.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Cos it looks like there's some faults in the rock here.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15The weaknesses lend themselves to caves.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Is anyone going to mention the fact that it's blowing a force 10
0:05:18 > 0:05:22and the last thing any of us want to do is get in the blinking water?!
0:05:22 > 0:05:25- Yeah, but the thing is...- We're on the verge of a breakthrough!
0:05:25 > 0:05:28It's the most important archaeology in British history.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31- Oh, I don't care. Can we go and have a cup of tea?- Oh, Kate!
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Kate has a point but I'm determined to carry on anyway.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Just round the corner there's a sheltered inlet.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42'Gary spots an area that might have potential.'
0:05:44 > 0:05:47This area here looks more promising.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49And if you look all the way across
0:05:49 > 0:05:52you have these irregularities and fault-like features in the rocks.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56- Yeah.- A lot of those will extend under water, which are weaknesses,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00and the chances are that within those weaknesses you've got ancient caves formed
0:06:00 > 0:06:04tens of thousands of years ago. Those are the sort of shelves that we're looking for
0:06:04 > 0:06:07that would have lent themselves to occupation.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10Shall we have a quick recce of this 50-metre stretch, 100 metres?
0:06:10 > 0:06:14Yeah. First we should go along the surface with a snorkel.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18Before it takes time to put on all the diving kit, go and have a snorkel first.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21I'll let you archaeologists do the tough thing,
0:06:21 > 0:06:25- and if you think there's anything worth me diving for I'll get in later. How's that?- Thanks(!)
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Is it a Speedos job or are we going to get some dry suits on?
0:06:29 > 0:06:33- You stick with the Speedos, I'll go for the dry suit.- Nice one!
0:06:42 > 0:06:45Below the surface, we can see an overhang
0:06:45 > 0:06:49that could be concealing just the kind of ancient cave we're looking for.
0:06:53 > 0:06:57So there's nothing for it but to dive down and take a closer look.
0:06:59 > 0:07:00It does look promising.
0:07:00 > 0:07:06There could be a cave down there but without proper scuba gear I can't get far enough down to tell.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09I'll call in reinforcements.
0:07:09 > 0:07:16Kate has completed over 400 dives so she is far more qualified to dive at these depths than I am.
0:07:18 > 0:07:19What sort of thing did you see?
0:07:19 > 0:07:25We did see an overhang and the big question is - underneath there is there a cave system or a cave
0:07:25 > 0:07:27- that perhaps would contain the remains?- Right.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33There's nothing for it but to take the plunge.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37The water is very cold and very churned up.
0:07:40 > 0:07:46As we swim towards the overhang, we enter what seems to be a giants' graveyard.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50Huge boulders have been rolled against the wall of the cliff
0:07:50 > 0:07:55and the surge of the water makes swimming through the narrow gap really dangerous.
0:07:55 > 0:08:02If we're caught by the rush, we could be smashed against the rocks, so it's time to get out of here.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06It doesn't look like we're going to find any caves by diving down here.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11This side of St Kilda has just taken too much of a battering from the elements.
0:08:11 > 0:08:12How was it?
0:08:12 > 0:08:15- Er...- Well, it was interesting.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19Interesting as in massive archaeological breakthrough or...?
0:08:19 > 0:08:21- I think we're on the cusp of it. - Yes!
0:08:21 > 0:08:26At the moment there was so much devastation down there, massive rock falls,
0:08:26 > 0:08:29it made me realise even in more sheltered parts of the island
0:08:29 > 0:08:34that the impact of the recent weather is quite impressive.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41But we've got one more trick up our sleeves.
0:08:41 > 0:08:47It's back round to the relative shelter of Village Bay. We've saved the best piece of kit till last.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Where no man or woman can go, we're going to send a robot.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58This is an ROV, a remotely operated vehicle with a camera on the top.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03It's a state-of-the-art piece of kit, used for inspecting gas and oil rigs.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06Today it's gonna be exploring for us,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10looking for a cave that people could have lived in thousands of years ago.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15From the surface we can control exactly what it views below.
0:09:15 > 0:09:16Right.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18HE GRUNTS
0:09:21 > 0:09:23There he goes. Good luck, little fella!
0:09:30 > 0:09:35Here we are! If we go to the bottom of the cliff here, um, and move those boulders...
0:09:35 > 0:09:40There's quite a lot of rubble, like we saw around the other side.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42I know. Let's hope there is something here.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Taking it over to the right here.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49- Try to keep it steady.- Oh, look! That looks more cave-like.- Ah, yes.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52- Yeah.- That's nice.- That is nice.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56- That looks more promising. - You could live there, couldn't you?
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Well, just about. I think it's a bit too shallow for Dan to go in.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03- Yeah, he'd be bent double. - I could probably manage it.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07'But deeper down, a larger cave looms out of the darkness.'
0:10:09 > 0:10:11'We send the ROV inside.'
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Going up through the back of the cave. This is quite good. It's getting pretty deep here.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21I mean, presumably a cave with a certain amount of depth
0:10:21 > 0:10:28- would have been very appealing to ancient people looking for a safe, warm place to shelter.- Yeah.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36- Good. This is a natural cave, not one made by the waves smashing into it.- No.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39It could have been here a long time ago.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41But look, there's a lot of sand there.
0:10:41 > 0:10:48Doesn't it make you think that there could be endless teeth, bones and hand axes nestling just under there?
0:10:48 > 0:10:53This is quite key. All the sand in the back of the cave shows a lot of deposition and settlement.
0:10:53 > 0:10:59- There's a build-up of material at the back.- This has the groundwork for being the right kind of cave.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- I mean everything we've seen so far. - Yes. This deposit, this sand,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06it's covering a potential land surface at the bottom of the cave.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11- All we need now is a painting of a woolly mammoth and then we'll be home and dry!- There we are!
0:11:12 > 0:11:16'I'm pretty chuffed. We found just the sort of cave we were looking for
0:11:16 > 0:11:20'where people could have lived here on St Kilda thousands of years ago.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25'We can't dig today but we've logged the co-ordinates for future excavation.'
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Over all, a job well done.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35I'm feeling good. We have looked at the history of these islands.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40Obviously modern habitation going right back through the Medieval, the Viking, the Iron Age,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44and of course the Bronze Age, back to about 3,000 or 4,000 years ago.
0:11:44 > 0:11:47So I'm feeling pretty happy with the job we've done.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54During our time on St Kilda we've been finding out about
0:11:54 > 0:11:57the extraordinary lives of the last people to live here.
0:12:00 > 0:12:04We know they ate the plentiful seabirds of these rocky islands.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09They abseiled down the sea cliffs to catch the birds.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16When I did it myself, I discovered just how tricky but also how clever this was.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Once you get the hang of it,
0:12:19 > 0:12:23this is a really effective way of moving around the rock face.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26It's a great way of getting to different nests.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32We know they went to far-flung Boreray to hunt the gannets.
0:12:36 > 0:12:41And I found out how one group of men and boys who got stranded there survived.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46Their families are just there, but it would be totally impossible to make any contact with them.
0:12:46 > 0:12:51It must have been just the most incredibly melancholy experience.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57'Now our time here is drawing to an end
0:12:57 > 0:13:03'and I want to experience how the St Kildans got food when times were really tough.'
0:13:03 > 0:13:05OK. Good to go.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10There are some cliffs here you can't reach by land.
0:13:10 > 0:13:17When they had to, the St Kildans would climb them from sea level to catch the birds that nested there.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19It's a dangerous and remote place.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24I'm gonna put myself to the test.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Get in and get on it, I think.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34'To help me out in this rare re-creation of St Kildan history,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38'I've been joined by one of my climbing heroes, Cubby Cuthbertson.'
0:13:40 > 0:13:41Certainly in very good hands here.
0:13:41 > 0:13:47Cubby here is something of a legend in British and Scottish climbing.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51You've not actually climbed here before, Cubby.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56I've been here before but I haven't climbed properly, as it were.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00- So this is a real privilege for me. - So it's a first for both of us.
0:14:03 > 0:14:07'St Kilda is now a World Heritage Site, and the rocks here are protected.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13'It's a real privilege that the National Trust have allowed us to climb here today.'
0:14:14 > 0:14:15OK, Cubby. Climbing!
0:14:19 > 0:14:25'I've climbed all over the world but first ascents like this are always nerve-wracking.'
0:14:26 > 0:14:27Oof!
0:14:30 > 0:14:34I think I might put something in here first, actually!
0:14:34 > 0:14:36- Just one thing, Steve.- Yeah?
0:14:36 > 0:14:39This rock is sometimes a little bit brittle in places,
0:14:39 > 0:14:43so I would just, you know, I wouldn't just yank on anything.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46I'd climb with a bit of caution, if you know what I mean.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49- Yeah, sure. - Because I think what happens is...
0:14:49 > 0:14:54It's been so pounded by the sea, it almost welds flakes and edges to the rock
0:14:54 > 0:15:00and it looks like it's part of the rock but in fact it is still slightly detached so I'd be careful.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06Oh, this is amazing!
0:15:08 > 0:15:12The St Kildan men would have learnt to climb at an early age,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15because for them it was an essential skill.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18But it seems they climbed for pleasure as well.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25So Cubby, it's almost as if the St Kildans were some of the first people
0:15:25 > 0:15:30that actually really got into climbing for the fun of it.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32I think the evidence is there.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36There's no doubt in my mind that they climbed because they enjoyed it
0:15:36 > 0:15:40as well as for a livelihood. Absolutely no doubt.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43I guess when I first got here,
0:15:43 > 0:15:50I saw the St Kildans in the same way as the Victorian tourists
0:15:50 > 0:15:53who used to come here and gawp at their strange way of life.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57But after just a short time here,
0:15:57 > 0:16:02I have to say I really admire their stubbornness
0:16:02 > 0:16:05in kind of keeping to their way of life,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08no matter what was happening in the rest of the world.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12And actually I have to say,
0:16:12 > 0:16:18I think I'm kind of envious of their life here in these islands on the edge of the world.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25'As the climb progresses, it becomes more and more of a struggle.'
0:16:25 > 0:16:27HE PUFFS
0:16:28 > 0:16:32Rather a different complexion to the climbing now.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37The sun's gone in, it's started to get cold. Fingers are cold.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40And the climbing's a lot harder too.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44More of a sense of exposure out here.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01HE GROANS
0:17:12 > 0:17:19I find it absolutely unbelievable that in the 21st century,
0:17:19 > 0:17:22while we're Tarmacking over the world,
0:17:22 > 0:17:27there can still be somewhere as wild here in the UK as St Kilda.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33I can understand why the St Kildans had such a hard time in leaving.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39It's certainly not as hard as getting up this thing.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43HE PANTS
0:17:57 > 0:17:59HE GROANS
0:18:03 > 0:18:06FANTASTIC!
0:18:06 > 0:18:08YOU BEAUTY!
0:18:10 > 0:18:12Yes!
0:18:13 > 0:18:17Right. We'll have to find something more difficult for you now(!)
0:18:22 > 0:18:24In our time here, we've been finding out
0:18:24 > 0:18:28how St Kilda's extraordinary wildlife is surviving in the modern world.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33We've discovered that the puffins are having trouble feeding their young
0:18:33 > 0:18:36because there's a shortage of their favourite food.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41Let's hope that St Kilda still has puffins for many years to come.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45- They are St Kilda so...- They are. - Yep!- They are St Kilda for sure.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51And we've worked out who's attacking the rare Leach's storm petrel.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53SHE SHRIEKS
0:18:53 > 0:18:55That'll be the dive-bombing skuas!
0:18:58 > 0:18:59SHE LAUGHS
0:19:04 > 0:19:07But I've one more thing I must do.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12'This isn't an investigation or an experiment, but it's an amazing experience.'
0:19:12 > 0:19:16This is going to be great. It's going to be absolutely great.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21'If you're interested in birds, it's one of the wonders of the world'
0:19:21 > 0:19:23and it's unique to St Kilda.
0:19:23 > 0:19:24The island of Boreray
0:19:24 > 0:19:29is home to the largest breeding colony of Northern Gannets anywhere.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34All those white things are birds!
0:19:34 > 0:19:40All those white dots, all over that stack, are gannets.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Just take a deep breath, through your nose.
0:19:42 > 0:19:46- Oh, yeah.- You get that kind of fishy, special smell.- Yeah.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47That's got it. Gonna put my hat on.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51It's like being in a kaleidoscope of birds.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Look how beautiful they are.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55I mean, they're just so aerodynamic.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59I've never seen a concentration of wildlife like this in the UK.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04This is one of the great wonders of the natural world.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09This is the biggest Northern Gannet colony in the world, Dan Snow.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12And you are in the midst of it. It's just astonishing.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15It's amazing that they find the little ridge lines,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17the little cracks in the cliff,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19and every single one has a nesting bird on it.
0:20:19 > 0:20:25And do you know what's absolutely amazing? Every year they will come back to that exact same spot.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28So that pair, they won't just pick some random spot on the cliff,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30they'll come back to the exact same spot
0:20:30 > 0:20:33and that's where they'll nest again. It's astonishing.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39So do you think you might be converted, just a little bit?
0:20:39 > 0:20:42- You might make a bird watcher out of me yet.- Hooray!
0:20:51 > 0:20:55'As our adventure here draws to a close, we have to ask one fundamental question.'
0:20:55 > 0:20:59Why did the St Kildans leave in 1930?
0:21:01 > 0:21:06It would always have been a tough life, perched on these remote islands at the edge of the world,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10at the mercy of the weather, and making a precarious living.
0:21:10 > 0:21:15I think even today a winter here would be unimaginably bleak,
0:21:15 > 0:21:20with weather patterns coming in off the ocean and of course it would be dark most of the time.
0:21:20 > 0:21:26But for the St Kildans, with boats often unable to reach here from the mainland for months at a time,
0:21:26 > 0:21:32having to live on salted and dried sea birds, one of their biggest problems was starvation.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38We've discovered that by the mid-18th century the St Kildans' crops were starting to fail,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42which must have made a hard life even harder.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45And help was always so far away.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51Food and medical supplies would only come once or twice a year from the mainland
0:21:51 > 0:21:54and if the weather was bad, the boats couldn't get through.
0:21:54 > 0:22:01This was the 20th century, but it had left the St Kildans far behind.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06In 1927, a nurse arrived in St Kilda,
0:22:06 > 0:22:08sent to care for the people of Village Bay.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Her name was Wilhelmina Barclay.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16She saw how hard their lives were and suggested the whole community should leave
0:22:16 > 0:22:18for a better life on the mainland.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22The people of St Kilda were still not convinced.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25But at the beginning of 1930, one event tipped the balance.
0:22:25 > 0:22:31A woman called Mary Gillies died of appendicitis because it had taken two long weeks
0:22:31 > 0:22:35to get her to hospital in Glasgow, hundreds of miles away.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37It was the last harsh tragedy.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40The St Kildans sent a petition to the Government
0:22:40 > 0:22:42asking to be evacuated.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53It must have been a day of really mixed emotions for the St Kildans.
0:22:53 > 0:22:59With the navy waiting out in the bay there, they had to prepare to leave their homes for the very last time.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03They lit fires of peat and coal so that they could watch the smoke
0:23:03 > 0:23:06rising from the chimneys as they sailed away.
0:23:06 > 0:23:13In every house a Bible was left open on the table and a small pile of oats, a sort of traditional offering.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17Then a prayer was said and the doors were closed for the final time,
0:23:17 > 0:23:21and they walked away from the life they had always known.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25On 29th August 1930,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29the islanders ferried their few belongings to HMS Harebell
0:23:29 > 0:23:32and left Village Bay forever.
0:23:33 > 0:23:38For the first time in centuries there were no inhabitants left on St Kilda.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45Ten years later, one St Kildan went back to the Hebrides,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48from where he could see a distant view of his old home.
0:23:48 > 0:23:53He wrote, "There is no paradise on earth like it.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56"I saw St Kilda under a white cap of summer haze.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00"I felt like Moses when he viewed the promised land."
0:24:07 > 0:24:09How are you getting on?
0:24:09 > 0:24:14'It's time to pack up our St Kildan homes, but there's one bit of unfinished business.'
0:24:14 > 0:24:18- Do you know what I must do before we disappear?- What's that?
0:24:18 > 0:24:20Phone the mailboat people.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22- Oh, yes!- That crazy project!
0:24:24 > 0:24:27'When we first arrived, Kate and I made a St Kildan mailboat,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29'the St Kildan version of a message in a bottle.'
0:24:33 > 0:24:38To find out exactly where ours ended up, we attached a satellite tracking device.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40HE CHEERS
0:24:40 > 0:24:43Others have got as far as Shetland and Iceland.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Now Kate can phone in and find out how far ours has gone.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Ooh, it's ringing, it's ringing.
0:24:51 > 0:24:56Hi, this is Kate Humble calling from wilderness St Kilda.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01You don't happen to have...? You do! Oh, you're a genius.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04Hang on a second. Steve, can you do something useful?
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- What?- Write these co-ordinates on there. Right.
0:25:09 > 0:25:121, 0, 7, 9, 7, 1.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16Oh, 107971. Write it down.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20- I can see exactly where it is! - We've got it.- It's over there!
0:25:20 > 0:25:22THEY LAUGH
0:25:22 > 0:25:25It's on the other side of Dun!
0:25:25 > 0:25:28'So it left the bay, but only to get stuck around the corner.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32'Good thing it wasn't a genuine emergency.'
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Wow, that was really successful(!)
0:25:34 > 0:25:36THEY LAUGH
0:25:37 > 0:25:43'In our last hour or so on St Kilda, there's a chance to reflect on our own experiences here.'
0:25:43 > 0:25:50One of the things that I really wanted to do here, because it's such an important place for sea birds,
0:25:50 > 0:25:56was to try and get that feeling of being totally surrounded by them.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59And so to come to a place like this is a huge privilege.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04But I can't imagine any experience with birds
0:26:04 > 0:26:07will beat the one which was going out to Boreray,
0:26:07 > 0:26:11taking Dan out and trying to get him to get gannets.
0:26:11 > 0:26:16It's one of those experiences that makes your face hurt because you're just grinning so much.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21That, for me, was my St Kilda experience. I'll take that away and I'll remember it forever.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30The real highlight of my time here has been the couple of days that I spent on Boreray,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33which to me is one of the most beautiful places in Britain,
0:26:33 > 0:26:34if not the entire world.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36Oh, wow.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40And the thought as well that possibly one person a year, if that,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43actually gets to set foot on Boreray. What an amazing privilege.
0:26:43 > 0:26:48That's what I'll take away as the most special image of St Kilda.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54The sock's coming off. I'm warning you that it'll be bad.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57STEVE LAUGHS IN HORROR
0:26:57 > 0:27:00- Shut it! - I'm not saying this just for telly!
0:27:00 > 0:27:04- Those are...- I've got trench foot, that's why, buddy.
0:27:04 > 0:27:09The other guys seemed to get away with it, but I just got constantly soaking on my lower body.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11Probably should have gone the easy way.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17Trousers and feet constantly soaking, so I'm going to go back to the mainland
0:27:17 > 0:27:21and put on dry clothes and some slippers and it's gonna feel good.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31'For all of us, this has been a truly magical experience.'
0:27:31 > 0:27:34- Oh, we're going home, boys and girls.- We are.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38'By turns bewildering, bewitching and tough.'
0:27:40 > 0:27:44The interesting thing about St Kilda is that a place can seem
0:27:44 > 0:27:48so wild, so foreign, so strange,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52and yet be part of the country where I live, the country that I was born in.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02I've been looking forward to a bit of sushi.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04THEY LAUGH
0:28:04 > 0:28:06Let's go.
0:28:07 > 0:28:11- Bye-bye, sheep.- Be free. - Have a good winter.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17- Ready for it?- Bye-bye, St Kilda.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Ready for the big, wide world? It's gonna be quite weird actually.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24I'm feeling agoraphobic about returning to civilisation.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27- I wonder if Tony Blair is still Prime Minister. - THEY LAUGH
0:28:56 > 0:28:58Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:58 > 0:28:59E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk