Ilse of Whiskey (Islay) 21 October - 24 October

This post is dedicated to Helen and Jane. I had been a bit reluctant to take the van over to the island, because I thought the combination of ferry + rubbish roads + location of the campsite would result in the whole exercise being a bit of a frustration.

So with only a days notice, the girls organised accommodation for three nights, somewhere to leave the van, a car and ferry for the lot of us. It was a very impressive effort.  Helen gets an extra gold star for driving us everywhere.

Our trip to Islay was really about one thing - whiskey. I'm going to assume that anyone who is interested in whiskey already knows the process by which it is made (which we were told many times), and anyone who isn't interested won't care, so I won't go into it here.

We also learnt more about the scale and might of the awesome empire that is Diageo. They own pretty much every major label of alcohol in the world - and this includes 21 distilleries in Scotland and Ireland. There are 5.2 million people in Scoltand, and Diageo own over 7 million whiskey barrels. However, we did join their 'friends of the single malt' (I think we have moved beyond being just friends now) which got us free entry into all of their single malt distilleries (which normally costs 6 pounds each) and we got to keep our whiskey tasting glasses too. We got 8 between us, and they normally sell for 5 pounds each, so we did pretty well.

Lagavullin distillery.

Those aren't all my glasses. 

Hmmmm - will they notice if I steal one of thier bottles?
We enjoyed ourselves alot here, we pondered asking them to light the fire adn go and get us some pizza.

Two thumbs up for leaving us alone in a room with all your booze!

This is the approved method of whiskey tasting.

Each of the distilleries had something special to offer. Our favourite was Lagavullin - when we got there they had finished the tours, but took us through to the tasting room anyway. There we got to try their range of whiskey plus all the Caol Ila ones too, because that distillery was shut. The she told us to enjoy ourselves, and left - with all the bottles sitting on the table. Choice.

Ardeg was the only distillery with a cafe (which seems like the others are missing a trick) and Bowmore was special to me because I ended up having 4 or 5 drams before breakfast (it was just down the road)

Apart from whiskey we also watched the All Blacks finally get the world cup. I don't think I would describe watching this as 'enjoyable' in any sense of the word - but a win is a win, so yay!

Watching the AB's. A bit nerve racking, except for Josh - ice cold. Note: fresh scones and cream prepared by Helen.

This is our reaction to the win. Not a lot of smiles - but we were very happy.

Me doing my 'Graham Henry ecstatic with joy' face. It was ALMOST an awesome photo but he turned away just as the photo was taken. Question - have my eyes always pointed in slightly different directions?

Yorkshire pudding and gravy (thanks Helen!), roast lamb and roast veggies. Yum!

This is what happens when I'm not watching. Guys - I'm right behind you!

Absinthe - tastes like bad idea with a long, lingering finish of regret.

We had lunch at 'The Holy Coo' which was just down the road. It was great.

Venison and strawberry casserole with red cabbage and chips, served in a massive Yorkshire pudding.

The lady who ran this place was very friendly, a great cook and a bit mad. Reminds me of someone.......

We also tried to go for a walk. I think the photos speak for themselves.

Started off OK....

....and it was very pretty....

...but it got quite muddy.

By the way, this isn't because of the mud, Jane always makes me carry her like this. 

This is Josh pretending to look cold, wet and a bit miserable....

....and this is Josh REALLY looking cold, wet and a bit miserable. Look at that face -  he doesn't like being cold .

Make sure you read the plaque.

Bowmore is the only distillery The Queen has visited - they put down a barrel just for her. I signed the book MorganR but got nothing!

The big copper stills are amazing - and so is the brass spirit safe in the background.

And this brings our trip to Scotland, and out time with Helen and Josh to a close. We are really, really glad they joined us for this leg of the trip. Mainly because they are such lovely people and Jane and myself were getting a touch of cabin fever. Also, we had not realised how remote Scotland is (the main road around the north east coast is single track) and how closed everything would be. This, plus the weather, meant we had to make our own fun a lot of the time which was clearly not a problem.

I think if we had not had them with us we probably would have abandoned Scotland, which would have been a huge shame - because without a doubt it is the prettiest and most dramatic scenery and most amazing driving of our trip so far. Thanks guys, and looking forward to seeing you in NZ!

Our last breakfast together - you may notice that my face has lost weight.

A rare shot of our van in action.

And back to where our adventure started and finished - the long term car park at Prestwick airport.