Islay

Today is the first full day of our holiday.  I failed to blip yesterday as there was some ferry disruption following on from the high winds and it wasn't the best weather out on deck.  The drive down to Kennacraig is beautiful and I deifnitley want to explore a bit of that pennisula further. 

This is our first visit to Islay, having had a rather full on few weeks, we had a lie in and then wandered to nearby Port Ellen for an explore. After checking out the high street (which took around 10 minutes!) we went to look at the beaches and check out the lighthouse. 

I love the Scottish islands, they are so peaceful and once again we had a beautiful beach to ourselves to sit in the sun and watch the world (or just the ferry) go by.  We came across a pack of feral goats, saw a fledging Oystercatcher with a wary mum in tow, surprised a hare who was having a nap and saw some of the biggest knotweed I'd ever seen.

In the evening we nipped down to the big strand which was a short drive from our cottage - a six mile long beach which looked like it has been enjoyed by people in cars, on bikes and kite-surfing.  We had it to ourselves with some magnificent views. 

Blip is of the Carraig Fhada lighthouse coming back from Singing sands, with Port Ellen in the background.