I just returned from a very pleasant week-long trip to the island of Islay in Scotland, organized by the Wildlife Sound Recording Society. I have previously attended many WSRS meetings (blog posts here, here and here) and I knew I wouldn't be disappointed, so on Saturday morning I joined Richard Youell as we (read: he) drove up from Cambridge to Kennacraig. The 500+ miles and ferry to Islay took us more than 14 hours, but the week ahead was well worth it.

It did not initially seem so though. The forecast looked great a week earlier, but as soon as we got there the rain and wind started. The first few days were dedicated to photography and exploring the island, since it wasn't possible to record anything. This wasn't all that bad, but at one point we started to feel guilty about not doing any proper recording. A few visits to the 8 whisky distilleries on the island definitely helped.