Working boats painted as blue and green as the ocean had bumpers of intricately hand-knotted blue rope. Although it wasn’t flamingo season, we came across a lost flock, all soft pink from their diet of shrimp and algae.

I found that, in some ways, the Galapagos and Ecuadorian landscapes offered the same colours but showed them off in very different ways – a fabulous styling technique from nature itself. I considered whether to even place these two distinct places together, but if a trip is planned to one, it would be foolish not to explore the other. For these reasons, your inspirations are likely to come home all mixed up & this is very natural.

In a remote cove of pink sands, the shores are strewn with sea turtle tracks, sea urchin quills & coral fragments, with the dunes behind speckled with bluey-green prickly pears & the holy trees that lend a beautiful scent to the scape. It was all very David Attenborough, and it became clear to me how this part of my gypsy roving fitted together as I watched blue-footed boobies dance, saw the aquamarine, turquoise & milky greens of the sea and the shock of orange & red Sally Lightfoot crabs scuttling across the cool coral sand.

I named my colours (from the top) hacienda, flamingo, Sally lightfoot, alpaca, isola, booby, flotsam, hummingbird, St Anthony & sea lion. Tune in next week as I start to details the way I brought home these colours, and how I re-lived my experiences through interior styling.