Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

My Kate died this January from a brain tumour. Over the 4 years of her illness we both lived our lives and pushed the boundaries as much as we could.  With the help of many people we made the time we had as good as possible

 

One of the charities to help us was Marie Curie who provided Kate with care in Holm Tower Hospice, Penarth.  This helped Kate in medical crises and gave me some relief when I was overwhelmed with exhaustion .. 

 

I decided to go on this trip, riding a motorbike solo from Cardiff to the Sinai, Egypt as an adventure and a way of regaining my life.  It seemed logical to use the journey to raise money to help people who find themselves in similar dire circumstances.

 

THE TRIP

I leave Cardiff late August and travel across Europe and the Balkans then into Turkey.  After Turkey I’ll enter Syria, then travel through Jordan and a detour into Lebanon, finaly into Egypt, where I’ll meet some friends.

 

I will spend about two weeks in Egypt travelling and then return.  My ideal route back was to be through Libya into Tunisia, then by ferry to Sicily.  I'm afraid this is not going to happen so I'm still thinking of how to get home.

 

Still it's a round trip of over 7000 miles.

 

At the moment I’m on a paper chase of visas, permits and other documentation, a challenge in it’s self.

 

 

Below is an extract of Kate’s obituary that was published in the Guardian’s ‘Other Lives’ section:

 

As an archaeological conservator, Kate conserved and managed many important historical objects and paintings but her greatest joy was the Newport Medieval Ship, found in June 2002. It was her last and most notable work. She was instrumental in ensuring its proper excavation, recovery and storage, as well as in caring for the artefacts.  She championed the international importance of the ship as the most complete fifteenth century vessel recovered in the UK [and was delighted when Timewatch chose to follow the research into its origins].  Appointed Ship Project leader in 2004, she won major funding from both the National Assembly for Wales and the Heritage Lottery Fund. She however always gave the greatest credit for the Ship’s successful rescue to the passion of the local community, who queued for hours for a glimpse of the site.  She was in turn held in great affection by the Friends of the Newport Ship.

 

 

Kate walked over many of the mountains of Britain with her husband Francis and various dogs.  She loved music, dancing and parties: she was in the words of one colleague “a boss who literally let her hair down” – she had beautiful hair which she always kept long. She brought up two children, Jamal and Soraya. Kate is also survived by her mother Pat Hunter and her sisters Liz and Lucy, towards whom she took her duties as eldest sister very seriously and lovingly from the start.  She will be remembered by all who knew her for her intelligence, loyalty, straightforwardness, professionalism and her sense of justice and duty.  I’ll remember her for her beauty.