Good Friday

Well today was the first time I’ve been out on a proper planned walk. I started exploring around the top of the Oa (I have no idea how you pronounce that), the large round peninsula at the south western corner of the main/larger part of Islay.

I parked at Kintra Farm, which has a campsite that’s open during the summer. I think this would be a great place to camp, beautiful beaches on your doorstep and easy access to Port Ellen for supplies. For the non-camping clientele, the airport and the Machrie golf course are also right next door!

I had thought that I’d head in the direction of Soldier’s Rock – an impressive sea stack that I’d really like to visit – without definitely deciding that I’d actually make it that far. I set off along the track from Kintra Farm, which is quite a decent gravelled track, good for walking – but then I bumped into the farmer on his quad bike, and he advised me to keep nearer to the coast because of the cows. There were some with calves, and they can become quite aggressive when defending their offspring. Fair enough.

Unfortunately there is a distinct absence of paths on Islay, and whilst the peat moor wasn’t particularly boggy, in places it had been really badly chewed up by the passage of the cows. I’ve decided today that cows and walkers don’t mix in multiple ways! Cows are definitely an issue with regard to some environmental considerations… I won’t dwell on that here.

It’s really hard going across chewed-up peat moor with no paths, so I concentrated on exploring the coves along the beach. Beautiful. I’ve also decided that the best way to explore Islay’s coastline is by boat. Just need to acquire a friend with a RIB…  :0)

Here are a few wave videos for you – when you’re feeling stressed, watch and relax. (Sorry for the howling wind sound effects, it may look lovely but it was actually Baltic!) 

And here are a few of the sights I saw today…

Beautiful Kintra beach.

Only my footsteps in the sand…

Waterfalls.

Some great rock patterns and erosion. Sorry you’ll probably have to tolerate quite a few rock photos over the coming months because I really like them!

Happy Easter everybody…

:0)