As global warming makes the temperatures rise in some parts of the world it looks like Islay has got its fair share as well. According to a reliable source the temperatures were so high in the last week of May and beginning of June that everyone was walking around in shorts getting a tan. They even considered starting up coconut farming.. I wonder how the climate on Islay will look like in 50 years or so when global warming really sets off. One thing is sure though, it wont hurt the tourist industry on Islay.

The chough, a rare type of crow found only in a few areas of Scotland, is to be added to the list of species given special protection in the area around Loch Gruinart on Islay. In late February, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) began formal consultations with local farmers and land managers on the Scottish Executive’s proposals to add chough to the list of species protected by the Gruinart Flats Special Protection Area (SPA).

miles and miles and miles and miles...
if colnago can have details on a website for their grand fondo in september, then it's probably time we had something on the post for the gran fondo ardbeg. this year it will be held on sunday 6th august (we've tried to adhere to the first sunday in august as far as possible over the years), leaving from bruichladdich village at 10am in the morning and cycling about 150k round islay, with the old kiln cafe at ardbeg distillery (velo club headquarters) being the half-way point.

An interesting Islay travel report from the Scotsman: As the ferry steers its way through the Sound of Islay towards Port Askaig, you are sailing into a whole new world. On the right is Jura, home to 188 people and 5,000 red deer, the place George Orwell came to write 1984; to the left is Islay, which after the neat townships of Arran looks much more the way you imagine the Hebrides should look.