The Isle of Islay, western Scotland
By stickitoffee
45 comments
Two weeks ago we flew onto Islay [pronounced Isla], into some cloud, the plane lands next to the beach. For the next two days the mist had come down and no flights were possible!
We picked up the hire car and drove across the island, finding the small supermarket on the way to stock up for the week. The island is dependent on the ferry bringing stores from the mainland and a small plane landing twice a day [when the weather is suitable].
First an important stop for coffee and homemade treacle scones ~ delicious, sitting in comfortable settees with a view across the sea loch ~ does it get better than this?
Islay is small ~ small enough for you to explore in a week which i rather like. Many of the roads are single track but as there is little traffic this is no problem.
Having driven along past the sea loch where oyster catchers played,stalked and flew and eider ducks swam we drove up over the hills across views of the sea loch on the north side of the island, past deer at the lochside, goldfinches on the gorse, wheatears and swallows dipping and swooping everywhere; past another large inland loch, a newly established distillery, the coastguard cottages, a view of the beach and up the hill to the cottage we had hired, next to the old church where choughs nested in the tower. All this within a journey of 35 minutes!
This is the lounge window looking across the garden/lawn onto fields beyond which is the sea:
usually there were anything from 3 to 9 rabbits out here ~ most of them babies.
From the edge of the garden a clearer view of the silver sea with the clouds coming down:
A few minutes walk down the road, across the fields of young lambs and sheep and through the dunes lay Machir beach:
and onto the dunes to the sand and the clean clear waves:
Back up to the cottage and a short drive [less than 2 miles ~ i walked back] and we arrived at the newly created distillery! Using the local barley ~ here is the barley malting floor with the [as yet] unlabelled bottle.
And that was day one!!
30 May, 2011
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Comments
yes its great ~ thanks bloomer ~ perhaps peaceful is not the right word given the wind was blowing at a rate of knots but its an escape that i love. i dont like the flying but i love those islands.
30 May, 2011
Lovely ... no wonder you like it there, Sticki! : o )
30 May, 2011
i will do another blog to show you some more ~ the best beaches are yet to come! thanks shirley
30 May, 2011
I can see why you love it there - it looks lovely and empty. A bit like Orkney where we went last year, have you been there yet? Thanks for the pics (with the wrong camera?). :)
30 May, 2011
i imagine it is a bit like orkney ~ this side of the island is flatter as i imagine some of orkney to be. no i have never been ~ i would like to go ~ im ticking off the islands as i visit them!
this was day one ~ the camera broke just after i took the picture that shows the sea from the garden. if i do another blog with further pictures ~ they will be from the wrong camera! [its better than mine but i cant work it!!]
30 May, 2011
Your photos are getting me all worked up Sticki! We will be going on holiday in about 8 weeks or so to the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides. Scotland is sooooooo beautiful. I can't wait!!
30 May, 2011
Lovely blog, such cute lambs and nice pictures! Also SCONNNESSSSSS!!! Wonderful stuff :) Can't wait to see the next installment! :)
30 May, 2011
That's lovely Sticki! The plane must have been quite small, the ones that fly to the islands usually are...I'm not mad about those wee ones...they're so noisy, and they make my eardrum burst!! The Isles are lovely though, bit like the north coast over here. Those lambs are adorable!
30 May, 2011
lovely blog and pics- I love goldfinches so that would have been great too - lovely lambs - Love beach pictures too :):):)
31 May, 2011
thank you everyone ~ its lovely getting your comments ~ sort of makes the holiday last!
the plane wasnt too small libet ~ the one from birmingham to glasgow wasnt much bigger!! i just dont like those bumps ~ when you suddenly fall.
better beaches to come PG ~ but i can never quite capture how good they are! sorry there are no goldfinch pictures ~ saw a perfect one but no camera to hand ~ OH camera is too big to have handy ~ thats why i dont want to get that sort.
GD i wish i was coming too ~ Harris is my favourite ~ it sort of pulls me back and has a very definite place in my heart ~ if that isnt too poetic?? its name conjures up colours and a warm glow! [and thats not the whisky!!] please bring some pictures back for us!!! especially Luskentyre and Seilebost ~ the Skoon [i think] cafe ~ its an art cafe on the east side is well worth a visit. try to have a look at the beach at Borve ~ just along from Scarista ~ its so clean and the waves are big ~ i just loved it ~ its even good in the rain and it will be light till 10 or 10.30 at night.
31 May, 2011
What a lovely place for a holiday the sea and beach look so nice as do the lamb,s :-)
31 May, 2011
yes mavis ~ lots of lovely things but you have to be prepared for wind, cold and rain ~ i dont mind but i wish i could stay there longer. there is a real feeling of community there too ~ i think they would need it cos they are quite cut off ~ strangely it feels as if they are more cut off than some of the outer hebrides, not sure why.
31 May, 2011
Just perfect!!
31 May, 2011
y dream come true, wonderful scenery peace and tranquility and lots ofwildlife just heaven;0)
31 May, 2011
thanks PP and bampy ~ i wish you could all see it ~ im sure you would love it.
31 May, 2011
Looks like a lovely place, love the photo's
31 May, 2011
What a wonderful place !
1 Jun, 2011
thank you sue and hywel ~ it is wonderful hywel ~ all those islands have a wild and unspoilt free atmosphere that i find so very attractive.
1 Jun, 2011
There will be plenty of photos: 8 weeks this coming Saturday and counting!!
1 Jun, 2011
i shall be waiting to see them. dont forget to take plenty of memory cards!!
you are going to be near luskentyre aren't you?
1 Jun, 2011
We are staying across the road from Seilebost beach: it is literally across the road and down the grass bank!
2 Jun, 2011
oh :(
~ are you sure you havent got room in your suitcase?
its the best place on earth. you flying or driving/ferrying?
2 Jun, 2011
Driving to Skye then ferry from Uig bay to Harris. Staying in Ullswater (lake district) on Friday night going and again on the Saturday night coming back. It will be around 600 miles there and the same back (from Hull) so breaking the journey up a bit.
I am hoping I remember to take the camera with me in a couple of weeks time when I do the Yorkshire 3 peaks walk along with about 25 others! I am hoping to do the national 3 peaks walk next year. Raising money for a homeless charity in Hull city centre and Action Duchenne a muscular dystrophy charity.
2 Jun, 2011
thats a very long journey ~ maybe similar from here ~ just south of birmingham?
im very impressed ~ doing the 3 peaks ~ thats quite a challenge. i know a few people who have done it and my oldest son has climbed kilimanjaro ~ dont think i could do it all ~ and certainly not with the time constraints that 3 peaks puts on!! well done you!
2 Jun, 2011
Lovely blog Sticki, such a peaceful looking place and glad you enjoyed your holiday despite sans camera!
Love the pic of the whisky (you sure Yorkie didnt stow away in your suitcase? lol!).
The beach picture is lovely, could just imagine myself there!
6 Jun, 2011
thanks tet ~ that beach was nice but there are better to come!!
i did wonder why there were several empty bottles lying around ~ was yorkshire missing for a week or two?? the whisky festival was the week after we were there.
6 Jun, 2011
Heaven Sticky, what a beautiful place and you say I'm romantic!
6 Jun, 2011
oh dear! have i given that much away!? if thats what it shows then i dont mind ~ but only for islands!!!
6 Jun, 2011
Just over 7 weeks to go.......
7 Jun, 2011
just thinking about you ~ i saw your comment on another blog and it made me think ~ not so long now.
just watching spring watch ~ they have eider ducks on ~ i saw them on Islay.
7 Jun, 2011
Hi Sticki \0/ I always knew you were a romantic no matter how you deny it. What an idyllic place! The mysterious warm glow you get from Harris which you say is not caused by the whisky...could it be the tweed? :-)
15 Jun, 2011
could be Ba ~ i have a piece on my bed!! i also have a knitted cardigan/jacket from there ~ its soooo warm!!
15 Jun, 2011
I can see why you like the west coast..seems you had a great time!
17 Jun, 2011
was lovely pixi, i have some more pictures to put on ~ better than these, i also have some of the isle of harris ~ somewhere in my photos ~ their beaches are stunning!
17 Jun, 2011
Had been wondering how your hol to Islay went. Just catching up now, gr8 blog, Sticki, love the dunes pic :-))
9 Nov, 2011
You have been in more places in Scotland than I have lol :)
10 Nov, 2011
thanks david, i was very sorry i didnt have my camera to take more pictures ~ the best bits are not on this blog ~ the north west tip of the island had a gorgeous beach and sea as blue as silk
but i dont live there pixi!! there are sooooo many more places i want to go to, i just wish it wasnt so far away.
10 Nov, 2011
:)
10 Nov, 2011
do you have any holiday pictures ~ david?
10 Nov, 2011
Haven't been for quite a few years now, Sticki, before I got a digital camera. Have lost piles of photos through several home moves since. :-(
10 Nov, 2011
oh, thats a shame; i have a feeling i have lost some on the old computer that died ~ thought i had got them all but im certain there must be more somewhere.
did you go away on holiday this year?
10 Nov, 2011
I didn't, but the kids had a fab fortnight in Florida courtesy of a rich uncle. At least I have all their pics safely stored. :-))
10 Nov, 2011
thats good to know and how lovely that they had such a great time. what a treat!!
10 Nov, 2011
:-))
10 Nov, 2011
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30 Dec, 2011
That looks lovely and peaceful,Sticki..just the thing to unwind..:o)
30 May, 2011