Just Following the Sun.

Day 2: West Mull.

Distance: 18.5 miles

Duration: 6 hrs 5 mins.

Lowest Temp: 4ºc

Weather: Warm but not bikini warm, followed by wet but not snorkelling wet.

Highest Alt: 200 ft.

Our Lord commanded his disciples, ‘Don’t take anything with you on the trip except a walking-stick – no bread, no beggar’s bag, no money in your pockets. Wear sandals, but don’t carry a spare shirt.’ From thatch to toe, I set off this morning with a hat, thermal top, fleece mid-layer, waterproof jacket, boxer shorts, thermal leggings, waterproof over-trousers, thermal socks, thick socks, and walking boots. In my left pocket I had a gps, in my right pocket I had a waterproof camera, and we’re not even going to start on the contents of my rucksack. In addition to all this, my Dad is taking his ‘driver support’ duties very seriously, and the boot of his car looks like the set of ‘Ready, Steady, Cook’. Not for the first time, I rather feel like I’m letting the side down.

You’ll think I’ve made this next bit up, but believe me. Just as I walked out of Fionnphort this morning, the clouds edged across and the sun came pouring out from the south eastern sky, and I thought to myself, ‘That’s handy, south and east is just exactly where I’m headed on this pilgrimage. As long as it stays fine I might not need my maps at all, I can just follow the sun.’ Three hours later there was no sun to follow.

Rain or no rain, I’m having such a wonderful time. About half way through the day I felt this great surge of thankfulness for all the people who are letting me have this experience: for Meymans, Dave, Delores, and all the other people in N9 whose days are much busier right now, all because I wanted to go for a walk; for Susie and The Bishop for allowing me to go off on this Sabbatical at all; I even felt a spasm of thankfulness for The Archdeacon, without whose encouragement I’d probably still be boring people with my great plans to walk from Iona to Lindisfarne. I felt such happiness that I started to smile – it was at precisely that moment that I discovered quite how chapped my lips were becoming, and what began as a big smile ended as a little swear.

Without doubt the highlight of the day came a mile into the walk when a car pulled up alongside me and the driver leaned across to ask, ‘Would you like a lift or are you happy walking?’. As you can imagine, this was exactly the moment I’d been waiting for, and I couldn’t resist replying: ‘Oh, I’m very happy walking, you see I’m on my way to Lindisfarne.’

Tomorrow I get up among the mountains. If there’s weather about, it’ll be sitting up there.

PS Delighted to see that as I make my journey across the north of Britain, Spurs are preparing to make their way across the north of London to Wembley. Cracking.