Not one but two videos today, brought to us by David Campbell also known as The Budget Biker. As you’ve probably already gathered he rides a Royal Enfield Meteor 350 at the moment, looking at his channel he has used other models before. His adventures started in Australia before more recently moving on to Scotland. And of course no visit to Scotland would be complete without a visit to Islay and Jura:
Royal Enfield Meteor 350 | Explore Scotland – the islands of Islay & Jura part 1
And straight on to the second part with the main part of his visit:
Royal Enfield Meteor 350 | Explore Scotland – Islay & Jura part 2
The beach around the two minute mark is of course Kilchoman beach and I think he made the right decision not to climb the wall at the church, as sadly it has become quite dangerous in recent years with the risk of falling masonry.
I’ve very much enjoyed the two videos, I think they have a great being on the road vibe. I’m not entirely sure, but it looks like after exploring Scotland and in particular the Scottish islands he might have moved on to Northern Ireland as I write this. Either way, if you’re interested in more of his adventures check out The Budget Biker channel on YouTube.
Haven’t posted much here this year and the last post so far this year was the traditional April Fools joke. Time to change that and get going again a bit more. How about a nice Islay video with some nice wildlife shots? Some good views in this one, especially towards the end, so make sure you watch it all:
Islay | 5 Minute Road Trips EPISODE 5
Billy Heaney visits Cornabus Farm and a variety of other places on Islay’s south coast as well as on the Rhinns of Islay, spotting a good mix of wildlife, in particular birds. And as I said, the best of his spots is at the end of the video.
I’ve had a few rather busy weeks in the day job, so haven’t got around posting here since New Year’s Day. But today I had a day off and used the opportunity to quickly edit a short Islay video. This video is kind of a first for me, as it’s my first vertical video apart from the Islay Shorts clips I’ve uploaded. But then I thought waterfalls filmed on a mobile phone really fit the vertical format:
Waterfalls at Kilchiaran, Isle of Islay
I hope you like the video, the footage is just as recorded with the phone. While that means there is some slight wind noise (in particular on the fourth clip) I feel the original sound of the waterfalls works best.
While they are not very big I think these waterfalls are very nice and “videogenic” (not sure if that is a word? Is that the correct equivalent to “photogenic”?). So many of them in such a small area is quite impressive.
This post left me with a decision to make, which category to pick? Same as the two previous posts it mentions an Islay whisky, in addition it also features a new Islay video (even though you need to read all the way to the end to find it). In the end I decided to go with the Islay video option. So what have I been up to on Christmas Day?
Laphroaig Càirdeas 2022 Warehouse 1 Islay single malt whisky
Well, less than I had originally planned. I stayed up later last night than I had originally planned, leading to me sleeping in this morning. When I finally got up it rained quite heavily, so in the end I decided to skip my walk today and just take it easy at home. I relaxed, ate a lot of chocolate, Lebkuchen and food like that. Also some Chipolata sausages and rolls baked yesterday. And tea. And hot chocolate.
For my tea I has some nice beef steaks with garlic butter as planned. With them I enjoyed a bottle of the Innis & Gunn Laphroaig Islay whisky cask real ale (something I thought I had blogged about already, but it seems I haven’t). Followed by some chocolate cheesecake.
Then of course there’s today’s Islay whisky. I decided to go with the distillery I was tending towards when thinking about it last night and picked the Laphroaig Càirdeas 2022 Warehouse 1 as my Christmas Day Islay single malt. As regular readers might remember Laphroaig was my first love and remains one of my go to Islay whiskies. It doesn’t disappoint and for me it’s a great choice as my Christmas Day dram.
But there’s still a new Islay video to come. The footage as such is a bit older, from November 2015 to be precise, but at the same time it also reminded me of my most recent Islay visit in November 2022. While I had sunny spell there was also plenty rain and wind, which this video is about:
November Rain and Wind on Kilchoman Beach, Isle of Islay
I recommend to watch it in full screen on a larger display/monitor, you’ll get to see much more of the rain coming down on the beach. In the second part of the video you get to see the beach on the move, I hope the footage gives a feel of a windy day on Kilchoman beach.
That’s all for today. Not sure yet what I’ll do tomorrow, but if the weather is nice I’m hoping to get out somewhere in West Berkshire or north Hampshire. There will probably also be a Boxing Day Islay single malt whisky (after the fish I’ve got on the menu for tea tomorrow).
The logical follow up to the Nice timelapse video from a flight to Islay post is quite obvious: The return flight. It takes a different route, flying across Islay and then along the west coast of Jura, including a view of Scarba with the Corryvreckan at the northern end of Jura. Didn’t look like it was running when Paul passed though. I hope you’ll enjoy the return flight as much as the outbound flight:
N3600X Islay to Perth
I’m hoping there will be more videos like this showing Islay and her neighbours in all their glory. Paul has hinted there might be videos with both straight ahead and side views, showing different angles.
I’ve shared a few videos of flights to/from Islay over the years, although I don’t think I’ve had a flight from Perth yet. Well, that’s what I found today. A nice timelapse video by Paul Barnett of a flight from Perth to Islay, passing Loch Lomond and the Clyde on the way. It’s only just over two minutes long, enjoy the fleeting views:
Perth to Islay SR22
I quite liked the explanations of the places Paul passed on his way, thought this was really nicely done. Also found the views of the clouds flying past strangely fascinating yet soothing (obviously they don’t do that in real time). Well done Paul, thanks for sharing.
John Munday and his best friend went to Islay in March 2022, staying at Easter Ellister Farmhouse. They mainly went for the whisky, but there were also visits to the beautiful beaches and some paddleboarding. Oh, and they were lucky enough to enjoy some amazing weather:
Islay March 2022
I hope you enjoyed the lovely views from the air and from the water, from the distilleries and from the beaches, all in glorious Islay sunshine. Nice work, John!
It’s time for this week’s Islay video. This weekend we’re going to Saligo Bay again (and will again in a future video, as it’s so videogenic, if that’s a word). The occasion was a breezy April evening a few years back with waves rolling in from the Atlantic and algae foam being blown across the beach by the blustery wind. I hope you enjoy the walk and views along the beach:
Islay’s Saligo Bay on a breezy April evening
This was during high tide, so the water was coming up almost all the way to dunes, pushing in also by the strong winds. Managed to walk along the rocks at the foot of the dunes for some nice views in the beautiful mild evening light.
If you’d like to see more, I’ve just created an Islay’s Saligo Bay playlist with all my videos from this beach. Currently it contains 10 videos, I hope to add at least one more over the coming weeks. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel (if you’re not already subscribed), then you can be alerted to new videos whenever I upload one.
To close, well, if you’re a regular reader you know the drill: While I can’t promise anything I hope to publish another video next weekend. It will probably be a drone video, either revisiting Port Charlotte (long in the pipeline…) or of Finlaggan. Fingers crossed and watch this space.
This one took me a bit longer to edit than expected, so it’s only going out quite late this Sunday evening. But I hope the wait was worth it and you’ll enjoy this video of a drone flight around Lagavulin Bay. Obviously views of Lagavulin distillery and Dunyvaig Castle (well, the ruin of it). But there’s more, as I flew around the whole bay, so you get to see the Islay Marine Centre, Stormpods, the village of Lagavulin and more. There are also brief distant views of Texa, towards Port Ellen and over to Ardbeg.
Islay’s Lagavulin distillery and Dunyvaig Castle from the air
And of course there’s something else: How good are your eyes (and attention)? Did you spot the Seal on the rock in the bay? If not you might want to watch the video again and see if you can spot it this time.
I’m hoping to edit another Islay video next weekend as well, but as usual no promises. The topic of the video will probably be Saligo Bay, but I haven’t made a final decision yet.
