photographed by Adrian and Gill Smith
Starting on the mainland, then the MacBraynes boat across to Islay. See the flowers page for more wildlife pics.
| Grey Gull Inn at Ardrishaig. Highly recommended, specially the Polish apple pie! | |
| Ardrishaig - looking SE at 10pm. Apologies to the waiter for bolting from the dining room to get the camera at this point. | |
| Ardrishaig harbour. | |
| Ardrishaig foreshore with Lochgilphead in the background. | |
| Hmmm - that jetty looks tasty. Incoming ferry at West Loch Tarbert. | |
| Just the Sea and the Sky. Interestingly, the camera saw this rather better than we did. | |
| Paps of Jura from Loch Tarbert. Unlikely we will ever get a better day for the crossing. | |
| Paps of Jura - nearly there now. | |
| Jura ferry from Port Askaig. | |
| What a load of Bull. | |
| Yellow Flag at Gruinart. Lots of these, as well as Corncrakes and other goodies. | |
| Ragged Robin near Kilnave. | |
| Machrie - fun with reflected sunlight. Photographers find it hard to resist these shots. | |
| Machrie - setting sun. | |
Time for a bit more tourist stuff around Islay. Not sure we believe the info board which claims all the crosses were by the same group of sculptors! They felt very distinct in style.
| Bruichladdich - distillery yard. |  |
| Bruichladdich mashtub. Looked so like something out of Myst, particularly when it moved amid clouds of steam! |  |
| Bruichladdich - a good use for old milk tankers. |  |
| Bruichladdich - empty Jim Beam barrels waiting their turn for something better. |  |
| Bruichladdich mashtub detail. Dated 1898, I think, originally from Caol Ila. |  |
| Wheel cross at Kildalton. This is the abstract side - the other face has the biblical scenes. |  |
| Kildalton cross - figured face. |  |
| Kildalton - simpler and older cross. |  |
| Stonecrop near Claggain Bay. |  |
| One of many Spotted Orchids. You get a bit blasé about these but they are very pretty. This one had hybrid vigour. |  |
| Dragonfly with captured bumblebee. A bit of luck that it was far too busy munching it to care about a bunch of ground-dwelling apes sneaking up with a camera! |  |
| Burp - about 4 minutes later. We really think it must have scoffed the lot. |  |
| Looking north from Ardtalla. |  |
| Wind-eroded sand at the Machrie. Offshore wind for 4 days had turned around all the normal patterns on the beach. |  |
| Just knock it over the post - the Machrie at sunset. |  |
| Machrie - evening light across the links. |  |
| Machrie at sunset. |  |
| Sunset over the links - it really was this colour. |  |
| Ruined chapel and cross at Kilnave. |  |
| Kilnave cross - detail. |  |
| Gruinart Bay from Kilnave. |  |
Back to the mainland - holed up in a great B&B with a rather good view across the golf links!
| Machrihanish - view of starters hut from B&B. |  |
| Machrihanish - view from the Battery. |  |
| Rock formation at Machrihanish. |  |
| Machrihanish - spot the seals. |  |
| Machrihanish - bay with approaching storm. |  |
| Machrihanish - sunset over the links. |  |
| Tiny arch in clay soil. No idea how it formed - maybe rabbits over the years? |  |
| Keills Cross - unfortunately indoors now. Let's start a movement to have it put back where it should be! |  |
| Limestone formations at Keills point. |  |
| Jura from Keills point. Just a great place to watch seals and (probably) porpoises. |  |
Back again one day, I expect. There is Machrihanish to sort out, as well as a few more distilleries to mooch around on Islay!