Arrival on Islay - Islay Walking Week 2007, Scotland

	Finally I was on the way to Islay again. As in previous journeys to Scotland I had driven up the M5 and M6 the previous evening. Now I only had to cross the border (after finishing some grocery shopping) and drive over to Kennacraig. By lunchtime I had a arrived at Loch Lomond where I took a quick break for lunch. Soon I was on the road again and on the A83 along Loch Fyne. I quite like this drive, in particular the sections where you drive alon the shore. I made one more stop on the way, spending half an hour at Crarae Garden for a quick look around. I had visited it before, but thought I take a quick look again. There were some nice colours to be seen, daffodils and some of the rhododendron for example.

	Late in the afternoon I arrived at the familiar junction for the ferry terminal at Kennacraig. The ferry seemed to arrive fairly late and we left later than I had expected. At least we still had some nice sunshine and it looked like we were going to get a nice sunset. I was hoping to take a few nice pictures of the distilleries in the evening sunlight. As we left West Loch Tarbert my hopes were seriously dented: Islay and Jura were almost invisible in the haze! I could only ‘see’ Jura and the Paps because I knew what I had to look for. A bit of a disappointment after all the nice sunshine earlier in the day. As we got closer to Islay it became clear that I wasn't going to take any good pictures of the distilleries. The haze remained or turned ever denser. Still, it gave me some nice sunset pictures.

We arrived in Port Ellen almost an hour later than scheduled, so I drove straight over to Bridgend. I had booked a self-catering flat at Sornbank. Scott showed me into the flat and helped me to set up the wireless internet connection. A quick blog entry that I had arrived safely and then I was off to bed. Stepping out on my balcony over the River Sorn the next morning the weather looked quite promising. It was still quite hazy, but it looked like the sun was going to break through soon. Perfect for the first walk. I also had a visitor: A little bird arrived at the balcony and repeatedly flew against the window. I later found out it was a Grey Wagtail, a possible reason for its behaviour was that it was trying to fight a perceived rival. It was going to be a feature for most of the week, returning regularly most days.

If you are interested in more information about Islay, Colonsay and Jura you might also be interested in my Isle of Islay pages. There you will find many more pictures and further information about Islay, Jura and Colonsay.

Islay Walking Week 2007 -> Next: Lossit Walk