Kilimanjaro Sucess

Jen had some great news for us last week at Peter Vardy HQ. She successfully summited Mount Kilimanjaro! 

"All the team would like to thank Peter Vardy for the transportation for the training weekends to enable this epic adventure to happen.  It was one of the hardest but most brilliant weeks of my life."

Here is a video of her epic adventure:

Climbing Snowdon

The final leg of my great drive took place last week end.  From Scafell we took the windy A595 onto the A590, enjoying Lake District scenery before hitting the M6 until junction 20a where 20 miles on the M56 takes up into North Wales.  The A494 joins the A55 and more breath-taking scenery awaits.  My passengers are very happy with the comfort and ride, stating that they are not sure if it my driving or the car that is to congratulate. The road runs along the coast providing a wonderful backdrop for the drive.  

We join the A5 for a couple of minutes before picking up signs for Llamberis and the A4244. Traffic was very quiet on this Saturday morning and the car again did us proud.  Our ETA of 12:00 was beaten by 30 min and we took to the mountain kitted and watered.

The Llamberis trek is one of the longest but easiest routes, hopefully emulating aspect of Kilimanjaro. Three hours and up and two down resulted in a well-deserved pint (not for me), before returning home, reversing much of the above route.

The weather began to cloud over producing a moody backdrop of lakes and mountains. Queen entertained us as we pulled in loose ends as this was the last time we would be together before meeting in Tanzania.

There will be no blog for the next few weeks, however I will be doing a lot of filming as we climb, leaving the beloved GTC in Heathrow car park.

Thanks again Peter Vardy for this great car!   

Climbing Scafell Pike

After sitting on my drive for a week, the GTC was ready for a run. Time to complete part 2 of 3 of my ultimate drive! Scafell is the highest Peak in England, however is not even classified as a mountain as it is less than 1000m. This week on the way to Scafell I would be testing out the car with 4 passengers.  The route takes us from the M6 along the A595 before negotiating 10 miles of back roads to Wasdale Head.

8am: All hikers arrived; we jumped in the car and were away. The motorway drive as always was a delight. My passengers (3 in the back) were quite surprised by the amount of room.  Even with the extra weight the 1.6 engine and turbo accelerated as if the car was empty.  Once off the M6, we hit the 85 mile A595, also known as the Cumbrian coast road, boasting spectacular views over the Irish Sea. It is mostly single carriage way, winding through picturesque hamlets and the odd farm.  My back seat drivers as well as pointing out the route, loved the comfort during cornering and general road handling of the car.  We arrived at Wasdale head for mid day after an unexpected road closure, ready for the climb climb.

Two and a half hours up and one and a half hour down deserves a great pint! (Driver was T-total).

The return journey was as pleasant as the outward trip, with the excepting of the odd tractor slowing progress down. All except the driver fell asleep which I guess is a real testament to the space and suspension in this GTC. 

Overall another excellent drive - thank you Peter Vardy!