Islay in the spring sunshine
 

I hope to add words when I've time. But some of the photos are good.

http://tinyurl.com/4thw3f

Islay ikeslay eryslay uchslay.
Ankslay, eilaslay!

Does no-one like my photos?

I do. They are very evocative of the place and time. Thanks for sharing.

They make me even keener to visit Islay.
Now have a look at my Arran pictures ;-)
http://sylvia.photoblog.me.uk/c1512668.html

We too had lovely weather.

They are lovely Sheila ! It must have been wonderful. Must get round to going there myself !

Was the sleeper one of your party ? :-)

Off on hol myself on Saturday. Do you have any festival plans this year ?

Your photos are nice too, MissPrism - very evocative.

Oh, just found this, thanks for topping it.

They have master classes in drinking there?

The distilleries have open days? Does that mean you can't go just any time?

Any chance of catching a pipe band (or any other music, for that matter) the end of July?

More please.

Some lovely photos Sheila. The ones of the Cliffs of Smaul and Paps of Jura are particularly stunning. :-) Looks lioke you had a fine day.

Sheila, Thanks for sharing these great photos! My cousin's wife is from Islay so I'll forward them to her. And my husband has been a fan of Islay Malt since our first trip to Scotland.

Yes, I loved the Smaull and Oa photos. It looks like we share a love of celtic cross photos, as well :)

Sorry, sheila, I somehow missed this post the first time round. Thanks for the great pictures! Looks like you had perfect weather and plenty of interesting activities on Islay!!

But I DID say I liked them very much! :)

The link isn't working for me :(

Here is a group of photos from the same trip which includes a number of the island itself but also many pics of people as the group was set up for the 6 of us to share our photos with each other!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/islay2008/pool/

I've still got to add most of mine, when I get a chance!

Well, I know it WAS working.

Try this:-

http://tinyurl.com/6fagvu

Yours are lovely and somewhat more copious than mine(Keith's).

I particularly like the first oystercatcher and the first seal.

We need to speak about a matter of mutual acquaintance.

Kavey, great pictures and it looks like a fun group and a great time. With a group like that, you can take pictures as long as you like without making anyone impatient, wonderful.

I am hoping to get to Islay next month, but I just learned it is recommended to book ferry tickets in advance, and the sailings I had hoped for are showing as unavailable. Do these normally sell out? Are there tickets set aside to be purchased at the dock? Or should I try to change around my dates?

Yeah, 5 of the 6 of us were already into photography and the 6th didn't mind us taking our time at all anyway!

Sheila, that link worked... a very nice collection.

I've only sorted my point and shoot pics so far (which weren't very numerous) so really need to download and process the photos I took on my main camera as some point!

:)

Nikki, I would be surprised if sailings sold out completely in non-festival weeks but then again it is high season.

Would recommend phoning CalMac directly as they are a very helpful bunch.

Kavey, thanks, I called as you suggested and learned that one of the sailings we wanted was still available but one was not, so we'll be taking a later one back and have to change our plans for where to spend that night. I'm glad I read the tip about reserving ahead or we would have had to swim.

Kavey, I REALLY enjoyed the photos! One outstanding shot after another, and some fun group pix also. As more pictures are added, will the same link include them?

It really looks like Islay has it all...

Sheila:

Thanks for sharing your lovely photos.