There are a couple of routes to choose from when you drive by car from the north of England or Glasgow to Kennacraig. The most obvious one is the route passing Loch Lomond on the A82 followed by the A83 which starts at Tarbet. A few well known places/landmarks on this route are Loch Lomond, the Rest and be Thankful pass followed by the beautiful drive along Loch Fyne, Inveraray and Loch Fyne Whiskies and Tarbert. I'm sure most tourists will take one or more breaks along this route, either to rest and/or to admire the beautiful landscape. Over the years we have this habit, I guess that's not different from other people, to stop at the same places every time. One of these places where we always take a break is a parking area a few miles south of Tarbet at Loch Lomond, opposite Rob Roy's Prison. At the back of this parking place is a lovely single track road with beautiful views over the loch. Only about thirty metres down this road, on your left, you can find a very old and beautifully shaped Oak Tree which grows a few metres from the shore. Every time I intend to make a picture of this tree and every time I forget.

Last week I found a Photo Blog of Mirko Herzner who made the same journey from Glasgow to Islay and stopped at exactly the same places as we usually do. Mirko recognised the beautiful tree at Loch Lomond, took a great picture and published it on his blog. He is posting one picture everyday so far of his trip to Islay. Mirko told me that around this time next week he will start posting pictures of Islay too. As you will notice on Mirko's blog he didn't have blue skies and sunshine but he managed to capture a beautiful (autumn) atmosphere in his pictures. After I found his blog I contacted Mirko and he was kind enough to write some lines for the blog and to include one his pictures of the American Monument: Continue reading.....

A trip to Islay was on my holiday list for quite some time as I am both a whisky enthusiast and an amateur photographer. In mid-september 2008 I was finally able to visit this beautiful island and every single one of my expectations were exceeded. The landscape is amazing, the weather not half as bad as imagined and the whisky even more delicious when tasted at its production sites. But most impressive were the people of Islay and Jura who were always open for a chat and shared some of their lives on the islands with me.

I can highly recommend a visit and regular return to Mirko's Photo blog to see al his impressive pictures. When you enter his blog you can click on "next day" on the right and browse through his pictures or click on the picture itself. I am very curious to see his other Islay Pictures and next time I will take a picture of that beautiful tree at Loch Lomond and post it on the blog.

Tag: photography pictures journey loch lomond blog