WHO hasn't ever dreamed of escaping to a new life on a remote island the other side of the world?

But the Falkland Islands?

Peter and Caroline Wakefield are emigrating from Swanage to a place so remote they will be boosting the local population to seven when they arrive.

They are selling their £250,000 stone cottage for a £35,000 property they describe as a tin shack insulated with sheep wool - a standard building for the Falkland Islands, apparently.

Caroline said: "As soon as we decided that was what we wanted to do - even though everyone was saying we were crazy and urging us not to go - we seriously didn't have any doubts at all."

They are moving to Darwin, two miles from Goose Green, where the local shop opens for one hour on each weekday.

"We will be able to watch the dolphins from our porch," explains Caroline. "It is the wilderness but with running water and mod cons."

"The Falklands is a way of life that appealed," says Peter. "People have got time for each other and they are civilised with each other.

"There's never been a case of mugging down there and the only crime is drunkenness, meaning falling down drunk, not the yobbery we get in the lower High Street."

The couple got married in the Falklands after visiting Caroline's brother while he was on military service there.

They celebrated their fifth and 10th wedding anniversaries over there and earlier this year made a fourth trip to stay in the cottage they have since bought.

Despite the remoteness, they have felt more a part of the world over there than here, meeting all nationalities of visitors keen to see the islands' unspoilt wildlife.

They plan to help out at a nearby hotel run by friends and former art teacher Caroline, 55, is looking forward to spending time painting again.

Peter, 58, is looking forward to fishing for seatrout and bream from a jetty 60 yards from his front door.

Caroline said: "There are going to be bad times I'm sure, but the good times outweigh the bad times. I'm looking forward to the long winter evenings with snow outside."

Falklands facts:

Location: The Falkland Islands are located in the South Atlantic approximately 300 miles east of the South American coast. Surface: 4700 sq miles Climate: The climate is temperate and largely conditioned by the surrounding sea being cooled by the Antarctic Current. People: The majority of the 2,379 people that live in the Falkland Islands (excluding an estimated 112 residents temporarily absent and 534 civilians based at Mount Pleasant military base) are of British descent. 1,989 live in the capital, Stanley, and the remainder live in settlements or on family farms around the islands. English is spoken on the Falkland Islands.