The Armin Grewe Homepage
Picture of two surfers After a good breakfast we left Homeston Farm to start our short journey to Islay. Near Machrihanish Bay we stopped to watch a few surfers showing their skills. I even managed to record a short video of a surfer riding a wave. Almost as good as Hawaii...

Just before lunch we arrived in Kennacraig where we boarded the ferry to Islay. It was fairly cold, although the sun started to come out soon. When we approached Islay I was able to show my sister where we would go walking the next day. Soon after entering the Sound of Islay I pointed out the bothy at An Cladach, where we had lunch during the Islay Walking Week earlier in the year.

The journey continued through the Sound of Islay, where I continued pointing out where we had walked earlier in the year.

Picture of the bow of the ferry with islands ahead Picture of hills on Islay as seen from the ferry
Mid-afternoon we arrived in Port Askaig, which is undergoing a dramatic change at the moment. Just compare the pictures from the linked page with the picture below left and you'll see some of the changes. From the ferry we drove straight to Bridgend, where we stopped at Islay House Square. Time for a visit of Islay Ales brewery. After confirming that enough beer would be available to pick up before we left Islay we drove on towards the Rhinns.
Picture of Port Askaig as seen from the ferry Picture of the Islay Ales Brewery
Picture of Imke walking on the beach in Machir BayPicture of Armin on the beach in Machir BayTime for the beach: Along the winding single track road we drove across to the west coast of Islay, to Machir Bay. Through the dunes we walked to the beach and then started walking along the beach. I think it's just under a mile until the southern end of the beach, here we climbed on to some of the rocks and rested, enjoying the views and the sun. An impression of the view in the panorama below. This panorama is also available as a QuickTime VR panorama of the view over Machir Bay (note: 1.8MB download, fast connection or a lot of time recommended).
Panoramic picture of Machir Bay on Islay

Later in the afternoon we drove over to Kilchoman House to see if Ian Brooke (organiser of the Islay Walking Week) was at home. We managed to catch him just as he was leaving, but were still invited to a cup of tea. Thank you very much for the invitation and the tea! We had a nice chat about Islay, boat trips to Ireland, the walking week and other things before it was time to leave and let them finish their laundry (Saturday is change over day for the cottages). Early in the evening we arrived at the Port Charlotte Hotel where we checked in before enjoying a nice dinner.

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