Leaving the grassy banks of the beach i followed the road which ran alongside the water opposite the island. When i reached the shingle spit tat joined the island to the mainland at low tide i headed across. It seemed to take considerably longer to walk across than it looked.
Waiting on the island was rich long. Rich like myself was walking around Britain to raise funds for the post traumatic stress disorder society. Unlike me he was walking clockwise visiting all the war memorials along the way and including the islands. It would take rich 4 years to complete his challenge.
Meeting with rich was simply amazing because unlike anyone else I'd met during my journey, rich had experienced the same hardships, was enjoying the adventure and had the same state of mind as myself. As we hiked together around the island together looking for the special cave we exchanged stories becoming strong friends and although we'd soon be parting company i knew we'd still keep in touch.
The special cave I'd been looking for was on the far side of the island and only accessible at low tide. The cave itself although pretty impressive was made more interesting by the life sized cave painting of christ on the cross. It had been painted by a local school teacher one night. Locals at first thought it was a sign from god but when it was revealed that the teacher had in fact created the masterpiece he was initially ostracised.
After locating the cave rich and i continued to circumnavigate the island together looking for more caves and chatting about our respective experiences. On our way round we came across a large cave obscured from the shore by a huge pile of rocks. I climbed up ahead to investigate rich followed up behind. Behind the rocks we found a large cave and sheltering in the cave we found a goat and its kid. It was certainly for me a special moment.
By the time rich and i had hiked over the boulders strewn along the shore and passed the lighthouse the tide had receded fully. The spit was no longer a thin stretch of shingle but a sandy bed had now been revealed which meant the walk back to the mainland was considerably shorter and easier than the hike out to the island.
Our union was short but an experience I'm sure neither of us would forget and as i continued on to campbeltown only a few miles away i wondered where and in fact if we would meet again.
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