Friday evening, time to sit back, pour a wee dram of Islay single malt whisky and enjoy an Islay beach video. Here’s one of Kilchoman beach in Machir Bay on the west coast of Islay I’ve just found:
It’s only a short video, but you can just watch it several times on a loop while enjoying your whisky?
It doesn’t seem that long ago that I completed my first crossing to Islay on the MV Finlaggan, but then again that was back in June 2011, over a decade ago. Later this year and early next year Islay is scheduled to receive two new ferries, the MV Isle of Islay and the MV Loch Indaal, both being built in Turkey as of writing this. Earlier this week the MV Isle of Islay was launched and this morning I came across a short video from the launch by Scott Smith:
And he’s done it again. Stuart has put out another great Islay from the air video, mostly filmed during his travels around the island as a taxi driver. This one is a compilation of views from pretty much all over the island, some during the day, some during sunset and you even get to see a rare snowy landscape:
A very enjoyable 5 minutes, I hope you enjoyed the video as much as me or even more. I’m sure there will be more to share over the coming months and years.
I’ve shared a few sailing to/from/around Islay videos over the years, so why not a few more? Here are two videos of the SY Sula, first sailing (and motoring due to lack of wind) from Largs to Port Ellen, then continuing from Port Ellen to Kerrera. Some great shots in nice sunny weather with some great drone footage, but also some grey damp weather. Starting with leg 1:
Then leaving Islay with leg 2:
I hope you enjoyed the videos, not long now until the warmer and hopefully sunnier days of spring and summer, possibly with some nice sailing trips?
From planes to drones with a nice video mostly showing one of Islay’s nicest beaches from the air (you also get a few impressions of Lagavulin distillery). I’ve walked this beach many times, during the Islay walking week, on my own, with my sister Imke and with my late parents. The last one means it has some special memories for me, as it was my mother’s last and my father’s only Islay visit. The beach is around Killinallan Point, stretching out to Gortantaoid. While filmed on a mostly overcast day the views are still beautiful:
If you decide to walk here look out for the tides, it’s much easier to walk at low tide as during high tide the water can come quite close to the dunes. For a circular walk you can walk on the track to Gortantaoid and return via the beach or vice versa.
With Islay obviously being an island there are only two ways to get to it: Across the water or through the air. Coming by air unless you arrive by helicopter the only place to arrive is Islay International Airport. Found a nice video with a great introduction and overview of it:
To move on from the AI nonsense I started the year 2024 with let us change to something more wholesome and real. How about a video by Purple Heather Scottish Tours of driving around Islay and spotting various wildlife and farm life? Here you go:
And the bird at the end according to a Google Lens search is probably a Helmeted Guineafowl or something related. Not native to Islay….
Regular readers will remember an earlier post about Islay Drone Photography. Earlier today I came across a new video by him I really liked. It’s only a short clip, but it brilliantly shows some of the impressive tidal currents at The Kettle just off Orsay with the Rhinns of Islay lighthouse:
I’m not sure what (if anything) came of it, but that illustrates why there was talk a while back of potentially creating tidal power generation off the south and west of Islay (in addition to the ones long planned in the Sound of Islay). There certainly is a lot of power out there!
As the title says, some nice calming Islay inspired music today, only released a few days ago. The work is by Hania Rani in collaboration with Islay’s Bowmore distillery. The video shows many scenes on Islay, in particular around Saligo Bay (the poor piano carriers must have had their work cut out…). Lean back and enjoy:
I hope you enjoyed the music and the video, you can read more about the collaboration on Two Sensorial Spirits.
The attribute “stunning” I often feel is overused and through that sadly devalued. But when I watched Donny Wilcox’s videos from Islay, Jura and Colonsay this evening I couldn’t think of anything else but “stunning” several times. Some really amazing views and different perspectives, views I’ve never seen that way before. Let’s start with Islay and Colonsay:
Now let’s rewind to Donny’s arrival on Jura, his base for his time in the area:
And to close some more of Donny’s time on Jura, exploring Loch Tarbert:
I hope you enjoyed Donny’s videos as much as I did, the great views from the air, the sea and the land. Many thanks to Donny for sharing your adventures!