It’s been a while since I last posted here, I blame the heatwave in the UK which cost me a lot of energy (I don’t deal very well with hot weather). Still need to write up a quick summary from my Islay visit in June, but before I do that I’d like to share a video from another recent Islay visitor:
Doug Paulley (Doug on Twitter) flew to Islay in July (his first flight since becoming a wheelchair user if I understood it correctly) and decided to document his experiences as a wheelchair user as a help to others. A very interesting and informative video.
I spent a wonderful late afternoon and evening on a beautiful sunny June day in Lossit Bay on the west coast of Islay. Filming video, taking pictures and just generally looking around. Here’s a first taster of it, a one take one minute clip of walking along the beach and then turning around for a glimpse of the approaching sunset:
There’s plenty more to come, both pictures and video.
Yesterday I came across what I thought was a rather strange article about Islay. Having spent two weeks on Jura Alexander from South Africa thought he could visit and get to know five (yes, 5) Islay distilleries in two (yes, 2) hours. It wasn’t very successful for him, as he writes in A whisky without peat is like soup without salt, but Islay visit is bland.
Assuming I read it correctly he crammed driving from Port Askaig to Bowmore, visiting Bowmore distillery, driving on to the south coast, visiting Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg, driving all the way back to Caol Ila, visiting Caol Ila and then driving back to Port Askaig into two hours. 2 hours. I estimate driving from Port Askaig to Ardbeg via Bowmore takes approx 45 minutes. Returning via the High Road should be slightly faster, may be 40 minutes. That’s a total of almost 1.5 hours. Which leaves just over half an hour for five distilleries. Or in other words about 6-7 minutes for each distillery. Where it seems he expected they just drop everything for him as soon as he arrived without any warning or preparation (otherwise he would have known that Ardbeg gets rather busy at lunchtime).
Seriously?
Do you turn up at Johannesburg’s busy top restaurants without a reservation and then expect them to serve you a five course menu over 15 minutes and enjoy that experience?
Here are my (personal, others might differ) suggestions on how to discover Islay: Spend a little time on preparation, plenty of websites and travel guides out there to learn about Islay. Allow yourself a few days to immerse yourself in the island, I’d say at least two full days excluding arrival and departure. Restrict yourself to may be 2-3 distilleries. That’s plenty enough. Get out of the car, walk around a bit, experience the peace and quiet directly, not through the windows of a car. Feel, view, hear and smell the wild and rugged landscape. Spend an hour or two walking along one of Islay’s beautiful beaches. Go out to one of the pubs/bars in the evening, especially if there’s live music on. Good chance you meet a distillery worker there. Visit some other places like Finlaggan or the Woollen Mill, get a feel for the rich history. And most importantly, don’t rush it, you’re on Islay time.
Rough Guides I think do it much better in their video, they take their time to really discover Islay, the multiple facets and what it is about:
Of course there are many more reasons to visit and discover Islay, but these five are already pretty good.
Do you have anything to add, any further thoughts on how to best discover Islay? Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments.
Time for a nice Islay video again. Today Dan Bell takes us out to the far north west of Islay. I think he pitched his tent just south of Mala Bholsa, I believe I recognise some of the caves and arches as well as the waterfall. But now over to the video:
PS: I’m not so sure about some of his hacks though. Freezer bags to ‘waterproof’ your boots?
Some Islay wildlife not in their usual setting on dry land, but in the water at the south coast of Islay. Deer are good swimmers, they swim across the Sound of Islay between Islay and Jura quite regularly (I think someone even told me that occasionally they even swim across the Gulf of Corryvreckan, but I’m not sure of that). This stag was spotted by Jean Connor swimming near Kildalton:
Well, I had planned to share a short video from the Islay Sessions tonight, together with a mention that the artists in said video will soon be visiting the south of England. But then I spotted an error in the video, so it will have to wait for another day. Meaning I’m going to pull forward a video I had saved for another day, a very nice video about the Museum of Islay Life:
I hope you enjoyed the video and if you haven’t been yet (or even if you have been) it encouraged you to visit the museum (again).
Thought I’ll take you up in the air above Islay again today with two drone videos I’ve come across. The first one according to its title was more of a test, but as it has some very nice views of the snow capped hills of Jura (including the partly cloud covered Paps of Jura) I thought it was still worth sharing:
For the second video we travel across the island to the southern end of the Rhinns of Islay, to Portnahaven:
I hope you’ve enjoyed the videos from across Islay and Jura.
Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned voting for the Islay entries at FilmG 2018? Unfortunately neither of the Islay entries won the people’s choice award but at least one prize returns to Islay again. Yes, you read that right, returns to Islay again. Same as last year Islay High has won the Gaelic Award for Learners:
An dàrna bliadhna aca seo a’ glèidheadh duais an luchd-ionnsachaidh! Meal an naidheachd air Ìle Bheò. Well done to these guys, taking the Gaelic Award for Learners back to @CnaG_Alba@IslayHigh!
Almost a month since the event and I finally managed to get my act together to edit my first longer video from the Islay Sessions 2017. I’ve decided to go slightly out of sequence and start with the later evening sessions in the bar of the Port Charlotte Hotel, where everyone gathered after Adam’s and Mark’s Concert in the Conservatory (which I’m aiming to edit next).
But now it’s really time for the video, half an hour of beautiful tunes, laughter and joy:
I hope you’ll enjoy the tunes and the video transports a bit of the joy of the evening into your lounge, study or wherever you’re reading and watching this. More to come over the next few weeks.
It’s been a while since I last posted here, I blame the heatwave in the UK which cost me a lot of energy (I don’t deal very well with hot weather). Still need to write up a quick summary from my Islay visit in June, but before I do that I’d like to share a video from another recent Islay visitor:
Yesterday I came across what I thought was a rather strange article about Islay. Having spent two weeks on Jura Alexander from South Africa thought he could visit and get to know five (yes, 5) Islay distilleries in two (yes, 2) hours. It wasn’t very successful for him, as he writes in 
Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned voting for the 
Linsay is, and she has prepared this warning for the competition, be ready for the Islay Pipe Band in 2018: