UK360 Day11: Three Uncles And A Little Lady

Kate Bartishel:  Ok – so neither Tony, John or Steve are actually my uncle but it makes Steve feel uncomfortable when I say it so I’ll continue. The amount of time we’re all spending together though, it’s only a matter of time before we start calling each other as Mum and Dad.

After receiving the 360 baton from Lou and Shelly at Cardiff Station on Wednesday night and having a rather late but lovely Turkish meal in Cardiff Bay we had a full day to look forward to on Day 11. With new socks for everyone (things had started to get a little stinky) we left Cardiff fire station and made our way to an early morning meeting at Velindre Hospital. We met some lovely Macmillan nurses…and even managed to convince them to hop up on to the roof for a few snaps. These ladies do such a wonderful job and meeting the charities we’re working for is such a big motivator. Did you know that since recession has gripped the UK, public donations have actually gone UP? Incredible.

From Velindre we hopped back to Cardiff Fire Station to meet some of the fire fighters, pose for some more snaps (Uncle T and Uncle J are loving the photo opportunities!) it was then time to hit the M4 where the boys assured me Martha would stop being grumpy and really start to enjoy herself….

Our second ‘Watch’ of the day was in Bristol, and although health and safety denied us a go on the poles (the tallest in the UK by the way) we had a lovely cuppa and got the guys ‘fired’ up about our trip. Sadly we had a date in Exeter so we said our goodbyes and hit the open road….after negotiating the same ring road three times Uncle T finally got his act together…honestly if he’d only listened to Uncle J in the first place…we were on our way to Exeter.

The drive down to Exeter is a beauty. I was slightly un-nerved by Steve being nice to me – this never happens – but still, it was a comfy drive. Uncle T had charge of the wheel today and he was absolutely loving the support from the white van men on the M5. I thought we’d lost Uncle John at one point…stopping for a wee in a lay-by he suddenly started running off to the hills…it turns out he just needed a bit more privacy. Phew.

Trying to find the Fire Fighters recuperation centre in the hills of Exeter was interesting. Sat nav seemed to be playing silly beggers and saw us driving down tiny pothole filled lanes barely wide enough for a car let alone Big M. We we’re on a tight scheduled as we knew Steph had put on a huge welcome crowd for us at Harcombe House but we seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into worzel gummidge land! Finally a very kind man told us we were way off track and escorted us to our destination!

Steph has clearly been working her socks off for us and we were all overwhelmed on our arrival to see people dressed up representing all the countries we were visiting, guys on unicycles, reps from the local fire station and all the staff at the centre waiting for us! We couldn’t have felt more welcome. Steph you are a legend! It shouldn’t be a surprise but we’re meeting so many generous, kind and dedicated individuals who all work everyday to make the lives of others that bit easier, that bit more comfortable and ensure people have all the information they need to cope with the sometimes difficult cards they are dealt.

We had a guided tour of Harcombe house from the lovely Nicky and it’s refreshing to see people really enjoying their jobs and putting everything they can in to it (to be honest if you didn’t love your job when you’re surrounded by this glorious countryside there would be something wrong with you!).

It’s been such a good day…and it’s hard to believe the 360 tour is nearing the finale, if the support we receive around the world is half as good as it’s been over the last 11 days then we’re in for a hell of a trip. Circumnavigation…BRING IT DOWN!

Bartishel

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