Tag: travel

Islay ferry MV Hebridean Isles to be retired

Islay News

An era is coming to an end. For many years the MV Hebridean Isles was one of the ferries on the Islay route, I’ve done many many crossings on her, don’t know how many. Initially it was together with the MV Isle of Arran (still in service, at times still on the Islay route), more recently with the MV Finlaggan. With the two new ferries coming into service later this year and next year this is now coming to an end.

Picture of the ferry MV Hebridean Isles in the Sound of Islay, a lighthouse in the distance
MV Hebridean Isles in the Sound of Islay

In November the MV Hebridean Isles will be retired after 38 years in service, as reported widely:

As someone who likes to be outside during a ferry crossing if possible I will certainly miss her. While I’m not sure about the exact layout of the two new ferries I believe they will be more like the MV Finlaggan in regards to outside spaces accessible to the public, much more limited than the older ferries.

Video of the launch of the MV Isle of Islay

Islay News

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:

MV Isle of Islay launch at Cemre

Looking great, hope to see her in action later this year or early next year. The BBC also has a report with further video footage: Islay Turkish-built CalMac ferry successfully launched.

Ruth Aisling visits Islay’s neighbour Gigha

Gigha Excursions

Last year, in June 2023 to be precise, I spent a few very nice days on Islay’s neighbour Gigha. You can find some pictures of Gigha on my photoblog from this visit and previous day trips. Ruth on her campervan trips around Scotland also visited Gigha, I believe in August 2023. Here is her report:

The Scottish Island Owned By The Community | Gigha

Brought back some nice memories from my visit for me, I hope you enjoyed Ruth’s video and it maybe inspired you to visit as well. Oh, and Ruth has been to Islay and Jura as well, but that’s for another time.

A great tour around Islay with a drone video

Islay on Video

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:

Islay in all its glory 4K drone footage

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.

Islay ferry problems for Fèis Ìle make it on to the BBC website

Islay Whisky News & Links

The biggest (by far) event on Islay’s annual event calendar, Fèis Ìle, has a bit of a problem: Not enough ferries to get the many visitors expected for it to the island. So far working with Calmac hasn’t brought any additional sailings for the crucial period, so they’ve gone on a publicity blitz to hopefully get things moving.

There have been reports in several of the Scottish papers (most unfortunately behind paywalls, so can’t really link to them). Now even the BBC has picked it up and made it a fairly big report:

Islay whisky festival warning over ‘inexcusable’ ferry disruption

Hopefully this will help and get things moving.

Nice Islay International Airport intro video

Islay on Video

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:

Islay Airport

For more visit the Islay International Airport page on the HIAL website.

Islay roads and wildlife video

Islay on Video

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:

WILDLIFE AND ROADS ON ISLAY #video #scottishwildlife #driving

And the bird at the end according to a Google Lens search is probably a Helmeted Guineafowl or something related. Not native to Islay….

More Islay by motorbike videos

Islay on Video

Back in May I shared some videos from a visit to Islay with a Royal Enfield Meteor 350. This time it’s a rented DL650 for a fairly short visit. Brent rode from Coupar (where he rented the bike) to Tarbert, which is where the interesting part of his videos from his motorbike tour around Scotland begins:

Motorcycling Scotland – Day 2 – Islay (via Kennacraig)

Day 3 sees him leaving Islay and he also rides past a mishap on the “Tarbert Bypass” (be careful on that road if you use it) while travelling north:

Motorcycling Scotland – Day 3 – Islay to Fort Augustus (Loch Ness) via Oban, Tyndrum, & Glencoe Mtns

I hope you enjoyed Brent’s videos, let’s see what else I’ll find over the coming weeks as people share their summer holiday videos.

Fixing the road to Islay?

Islay News

Unless you’ve only ever flown to Islay you will almost certainly have driven the A83 and with it the drive up to the Rest and Be Thankful. A very scenic drive, but also a drive regular users know with a lot of problems. Problems in the form of landslides. A couple of years ago I missed (or did it miss me?) a landslide only by a couple of hours. Roadworks. detours and more have been going on for many years now. But maybe maybe this will finally be resolved now.

Earlier today I spotted a report on the BBC website, Rest and Be Thankful: £470m tunnel to protect vehicles from landslips. In a nutshell: Transport Scotland has developed plans to build a just under a mile long open-sided shelter/ tunnel to protect the road from being blocked by landslides. For more details there is a virtual exhibition of the A83 tunnel plans. And for some eye candy there is a (virtual) fly through of the preferred solution:

Flythrough – Long Term Solution Preferred Route – A83 Access to Argyll and Bute

Some will probably say, “Oh, I’ve been saying that for years!!”. Either way, I hope this moves forward quickly now and work starts soon. In any case I suspect it will take a few years to complete a project like that.

Islay and Jura with a Royal Enfield Meteor 350 – Two videos

Islay on Video

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.