A FORMER resident travelled thousands of miles to Bahrain to fulfil his mother's dying wish for her ashes to be scattered at Awali Golf Club - the same spot where she said goodbye to her husband in the 60s.

Briton Mike Gaunt and his wife Julie West-Jordan made a heartfelt journey last week with the sole mission to "reunite" his parents - John and June.

The former St Christopher's School deputy head wanted to honour the love his parents had for each other and for the country they lived in for more than 10 years.

His father worked as an engineer with Bapco during the 50s and mid-60s, but died in a work site accident in 1966 and his ashes were scattered at the club, where he regularly played golf.

"We could not take his body back to the UK and decided to scatter his ashes in Bahrain," Mr Gaunt told the GDN from the island of Alderney, where he lives and works as a school headmaster.

"My mother kept saying after her death she wanted her ashes to be taken to Bahrain because she loved the country and also because my father was buried here in 1966."

After his father's death, Mr Gaunt and his mother moved back to the UK, but he returned in 1987 with his wife and two children, Rachel and John, where they stayed for 21 years.

He said the "emotional connection" he had with Bahrain was so strong that he just had to come back.

He described the agony he went through when he was informed about his mother's death last July, but said she was cremated so he could plan a proper trip to Bahrain to honour her memory.

"My mother died last July and I was in Portugal visiting my father-in-law, when my daughter informed us that she had passed away," he said.

Utopia

"She died of a heart attack while she was having a great day in North Wales.

"We kept her ashes as she wanted them to be scattered at Awali Golf Club, where my father used to play golf.

"It was emotional but I am delighted despite knowing it sounds strange, that I was finally able to do this for my mother."

St Christopher's Cathedral dean Reverend Christopher Butt presided over the ceremony and helped Mr Gaunt and his wife scatter the ashes at the club on Thursday.

A plaque bearing the name of the couple, John and June Gaunt, was also placed in the Christian cemetery at Salmabad.

"She always said her time in Bahrain had been the happiest in her life," added Mr Gaunt.

"She called it a little utopia."

sandy@gdn.com.bh