Going to Islay

 Right we've got upwards of 1500 pictures left to go through before we've caught up to today so let's get on with the next stage of the trip - Islay Whisky festival, and the journey to and from.

Pitched up for our first night camping

All the crew for Rice 'n' Three

The landmark dead tree has fallen down!

A lovely pint

Walking up Braithwaite

Such a glorious view

Looking back up the valley

After leaving Plymouth I drove to my mum's house with the aim of dropping off the child seat and a load of other stuff that we wouldn't need for the main camping trip. Ryan was hoping to get the train to the station near my mum however there were huge problems for him and in the end I collected him from Crewe but that worked out fine. We made our way to our first campsite and pitched up, however his tent was huge and would take up too much space once we reached the island so another plan would be needed. That evening we met up with James and Seb and Rob for dinner however I didn't get ANY pictures! It was a lovely time though. The next day we were back in Manchester to meet up with a load of ex colleagues for Rice 'n' Three and randomly while we were gathering before going in more people I knew arrived and joined us which was brilliant. After a very tasty curry we hit the road again this time aiming for Keswick which we reached in good time, camping at the Castlerigg Farm campsite then walking down the hill to the Twa Dogs for a pint (after a very nice camp meal of noodles and sausages). The walk back up the hill was pretty intense as Ryan walks very fast indeed. The next day we met my mate Rob, another ex colleague, and while Ryan had to work in a cafe I went for a strenuous and awesome walk up Braithwaite with Rob. I bought new walking boots for this, and also picked up a lightweight bivvy and bedroll for Ryan which he ended up liking so much he bought it off me. This meant that we could leave his very large tent and air bed at Rob's while we went further north.

Outside at the Clootie Dumpling

A very beautiful spot for lunch and a chill

Camping just round from the ferry terminal

Beer, sun, rocks and MIDGES!

Beautiful start to the next day

CalMac Breakfast of Champions

On the water

There's Islay - home away from home

Kilchoman Culleen Skink - very nice!

Camping spot first night on the island

Ryan cooked an awesome breakfast

That night we stayed at Rob's place and did some washing of clothes, had a lovely meal and some very nice beers, and were off after breakfast further north to the Clootie Dumpling, a cafe in Dunkeld run by another ex-colleague of mine called Mike. We had cake and coffee here while disturbing their cleaning and cooking day, then hit the road again aiming for the ferry. We stopped at the head of a beautiful loch for lunch, then headed on further west. On the way there were road closures for repairs and then sadly another caused by a fatal accident but we found our way around without trouble and camped just off the loch near the ferry terminal in a beautiful spot but SO many midges it was incredible - you could hear them bouncing off the tent! We did sleep well and we were up early and in plenty of time to get to the first ferry of the day. Ryan got on as a foot passenger and bought breakfast while I waited to board and then it was a very calm and easy trip across. As we were packing up to leave the ferry Ryan's screen on his laptop broke however which caused a lot of trouble but we were able to arrange for a new screen to be collected by Lee who was joining us in the next day or so and he brought that with him. Once we sorted that we headed up to Kilchoman for Culleen Skink (as is traditional) and then after some more exploring we camped out the head of Loch Indaal in a location that ended up returning to a few times. My usual camping spot wasn't available as the farmer has now ploughed that field. After a very good night sleep we were up lazily and Ryan cooked breakfast of black pudding, onions and egg. Super tasty!

Checking out a very nice yacht

Visiting Bunnahabhain

Still house on the tour

The slightest sign of the shipwreck remains at bunna

Camping at Lagavulin

First in line, of course

Amazing dram to start the day

Queue starts to build, but it is very quiet

Piper opens the festivities

Cutting the ribbon to unleash the crowds

Down by Ardbeg again

Looking across Finlaggan

Machir Bay shipwreck is sinking as well

Camping at Loch Indaall again

We'd arrived on Islay with plenty of time to spare and had a completely free day before getting to Lagavulin for the first day of the festival. We decided to have a drive around and ended up over at Bunnahabhain which is in such a beautiful spot looking across towards Jura. As we arrived and were looking around we were invited to join a distillery tour that was just kicking off, perfect timing, and after that we headed round the headland to find the shipwreck however it really has disappeared now with just the smallest part of the prow sticking out of the water. After a relaxing time at Bunna we made our way slowly towards Lagavulin, via some cake, and pitched up late afternoon on the little green across from the distillery. During the night Lee arrived and he ended up sleeping in his car rather than pitching a tent which was very sensible. As is traditional I was first in line and the Stillman came out to give away a free dram of something very amazing to the few of us there early. The open day was announced by a piper and the Stillman cutting the rope and then bottles were purchased, some food eaten and we headed down the road to Ardbeg for the tour I had prebooked for the three of us. We then took a diversion to Finlaggan, had the usual presentation from the very odd but informative lady in the visitor centre and finally headed down to Machir Bay, after dropping in to Kilchoman again for Lee, to walk on the beach and see the shipwreck which is still there but also vanishing. While we were at Ardbeg we found out that Bruichladdich had turned into a 100% ticketed event and all the tickets were sold out! I was absolutely gutted and Lee and Ryan were hard-pressed to cheer me up. We decided against camping outside Laddich and went back to the head of Loch Indaal which was beautiful again and started to cheer me up.

Exploring the headland by the American Monument

This is the new Port Ellen distillery

Lee modelling my hat

Early start the next day

Lee BBQing the salmon steaks

Tall Ship arrives at Caol Ila

An icecream on the beach on Islay!

Camping place at Laphraoig

Deer saying good morning

First in line once again

Laphraoig still smoking away

The next morning we were in no rush; we'd heard that a bit later they would start letting people in to the event at Laddich as we decided to take the morning to walk up to the American Monument. It was a lovely day and we made it in good time, had a nice relaxing time hanging out up near the Monument, then walked slowly back to the car. We then drove over towards Bruichladdich and as we approached first of all I heard the pipe band start and then they opened the door for general admission! What a perfect turn of events. I was made up, and grinning like a loon, as I stood next to the pipers and soaked in the music. We then started hitting the whisky rather hard (we did see a lot of people I was looking forward to seeing before getting too drunk) but I don't remember much of the late afternoon. I woke early the next morning somehow with no hangover and after a while Lee also woke and joined me in breakfast of BBQ Salmon steaks washed down with Irn Bru - breakfast of champions indeed! Ryan once again had to work so we dropped him at a cafe then Lee and I made our way to Caol Ila where we were in time to see the Tall Ship arriving. We had some lunch, bought our bottles (WAY more expensive than I expected!) and then headed back to Bowmore to meet up with Ryan. It was such a beautiful day we had icecream on the beach! The next day was Laphraoig, and also the last distillery for Lee before he had to rush off back home sadly. We found a nice spot to camp under some trees and after dinner of pasta and sausages which went down very well we hid inside our tents from the mozzies and slept pretty well. The next morning we were first in line (though again, the routine has changed and rather than queuing by the shop you have to queue on the road which was a bit silly as the trucks were still coming in and out - I think "event organisers" have got hold of Feis and are imposing silly ideas sadly). Once more the queue was very disappointing - there really didn't seem to be that many people on the island this year, but we were photographed by the official photographer for being first and got our bottles then we dropped Lee at his car and waved him off. It had been awesome having him there but now it was only me and Ryan.

A lady paddle boarding with her Jack Russell

Food at Bowmore

Teeny tiny grasshopper said hello

Waking up again at Loch Indaall

Tiny car ferry across to Jura

Nice to spend time with Konrad at his studio

The sun will never set on their memory

One of many gravestones

Ryan getting mobbed by mozzies

Walking to escape the mozzies

Front of the queue once again

Anthony giving a fascinating talk

Look at how clear the water is

Heading up to the lighthouse

Evening on the Jura Sound

The rest of the day I spent pottering around Bowmore (including picking up my bottle, which meant I didn't need to go to the open day on Wednesday). Sadly Bowmore had really scaled back their celebrations with no ticketed bottle, so no carpark queuing at all required. It was a beautiful day for the beach and I was even getting sunburned! Ryan worked in the cafe and we went for dinner at a hotel in Bowmore before heading back over to the camping spot at Loch Indaall for the night. The next day once again I dropped Ryan at the cafe and as we didn't need to go to Bowmore I headed on the little ferry to Jura to catch up with my mate Konrad and also visit the distillery there. It was a lovely visit, and a very chilled out drive around, but soon enough I headed back to pick up Ryan and we drove to Kilchoman to camp up by the gates. Once we were settled we headed down the road for a walk to find the cemetery for the soldiers and sailors who lost their lives in the Wars. This is something I've wanted to do before but never made time for so it was great to explore these solemn places and ponder the sacrifice made. There were many midges again that night and Ryan particularly was getting mobbed as we pitched up and soon enough we hid out in the tents then went to sleep. I was up again early the next morning and did my gate duty, opening the gate so the staff could get in and saying hi to a couple I recognised, and then we were all let down into the courtyard and again I was number one in the queue. We grabbed our bottles then went to the Owners Tasting with Anthony which was as always a huge amount of fun and very interesting to listen. After a really enjoyable time at Kilchoman we headed over to the Singing Sands and the lighthouse there to pass the time until our BBQ with Steve, Mary, Derek and Fiona. This was a lovely evening and it was getting dark when we arrived down once again at Bunna to pictch up for the next day.

Slightly chilly first thing

Queue building nicely

Another tasting

Heading out for the Whisky boat trip

Beautiful whisky, Beautiful view

Look, Dolphins!

Kildalton Cross

Just such a peaceful place, I love this place!

The next morning I was up and about early again and did my exercises stood near our tents when one of the funniest moments of the entire trip occurred. Two fishing boats were making their way down the sound and I was watching them while I jogged on the spot when a rich Scottish voice echoed across to me "You aren't going anywhere!" I must admit to laughing a lot. Anyway, once again I was first in queue, which I didn't expect, and the queue was really friendly with bottles being passed around. After we bought our bottles we headed to buy tickets for some events on the day; first of all the Master Distillers tasting and then a boat trip with drams in the afternoon. The overcast weather cleared up to what we had come to expect for this week and after our tasting, which was good but not as good as Kilchoman, we relaxed and chilled and dozed until it was time for the boat. This was an excellent trip and well worth it and I'll definitely do it again if I'm there with good weather and most excitingly we saw quite a few dolphins playing in our wake. Amazing. With our day at Bunnahabhain at an end we jumped in the car and drove to the complete opposite end of the island and went for a bit of a drive up past Ardbeg to Kildalton Cross. It was such a peaceful place we would have loved to camp there but it specifically requested you not so after a chill and a stroll we headed back to the distillery and camped in the garden of one of the empty cottages there.

The queue happened next to my chair

Ian getting the smokies on the go

Just so tasty!!

Mimes by the old Ardbeg still

Waiting for our ferry in a beer garden

The super moon rises over our campsite

A proper feed to say goodbye

The next morning I woke to find that I was actually going to be first in the queue again; there were a few people milling around but I'd left my chair out by Maisie the night before and people had decided to join the queue behind that! It was a long enough wait as there was a delay with the truck bringing the stage for the band but eventually we were able to get inside, once more first to buy a bottle, and then enjoyed the remainder of our time on the island by eating the most amazing Smokies which is absolutely my favourite part of the final Saturday of Feis. Sadly Ian is retired now and I think he will not be back again which makes me super happy that I made it over to catch him before he gave it a break. Ardbeg always put on a show and this year they had mimes walking around and all the staff were dressed as super heroes. It was a nice day but soon we had to get back across the island again for our ferry. We had time for a pint at the pub by the ferry terminal before we loaded up and headed back to the mainland. The drive back to Rob's to collect Ryan's stuff was really easy and we got that all sorted and packed and then very very fortunate to find a campsite (the owner said he was full but seemed to like us so let us in anyway - but then the campsite was nearly empty so who knows what he was on about) where we slept well before driving the short distance down to Blackpool. Breakfast at the station cafe was very good as always and then I waved Ryan off to catch his train down south while I prepared for a more leisurely journey (though I would be catching up with him again in a few days).

I think I'll leave the tale here - that has taken me all morning to write and with 73 photographs and a few videos I feel if you've made it this far you deserve a medal. Thanks, as always, for reading.