Who'd have thunk it...

...that these little legs might carry me to the HIGHEST points of Scotland, England and Wales ALL within 24 hours (within 23 hours from base of Nevis to base of Snowdon and with 18 minutes to spare if you count the fact we did the original 3 peaks challenge which includes touching water at Fort William and Caernarfon)

WHOOOHOO ;o)

I do feel very proud of us - it was hard going....here's a report of activities from 1st-2nd June 2007

Ben Nevis - 4,347ft

Scotland - is BEAUTIFUL! We were incredibly lucky in that we actually found a day where it was sunny in Scotland so despite lots and lots and LOTS of sweatage, the clear skies and sunshine meant we got amazing views along the way to the top, from the (snow covered) top and all the way back down again. We even had to hike (uphill) through lots of snow which was very exciting...tho more pleasant on the way down, think everyone in the highlands heard me squealing 'whoooohooo'. We were up and down in 4 and a half hrs, my feet were crying to be let out of the walking boots (luckily, there's a stream at the bottom) and we had 5 mins to get back in the car and on the road to the Lakes where mountain no. 2 lives.

Scafell Pike - 2,995ft

Arrival at the base was at about 1.15am so despite there being a full moon (it was low and beautifully red), we basically did it in pitch darkness. Luckily, I had Mick and Tash's headlight with me AND even more luckily, Kimmy (fellow challenger) pointed out that I had the light facing up instead of down before we started....(hey, no sleep and feeling full of trepidation, remember!). The hike up was actually a lot easier than I remember and I think that had lots to do with the fact we could only see one or two steps ahead so could ignore quite how steep the mountain was. On the way down, you could see the skies starting to get lighter and birds waking up and I was even starting to feel a little smug ;o) Two down, one to go and in the cars we went.

Snowdon - 3,560ft

goodness, how much my feet were crying, I could see we were getting close and I was looking at them with sorrow and apologised for having to put two pairs of socks and boots again (in the car so we could jump out and start walking again!). It was daylight again (at 5.15am) and we started the hike up. The first part of Snowdon is all pretty flat (ahhh, how much do I love FLATNESS) and from the practice hike, there's a steep bit but not too bad.....well, after two mountains under our belt, the steep bit went on and on and ariston! I even started thinking we'd started climbing up a different mountain that was much bigger by accident! Thankfully, we made it up (through lots of mist) and very, very pleased to be on the final hike down! We reached the base (ecstatically) at 1.43pm on 2nd June. Back in the cars and on the road to touch water at Caernarfon. It goes without saying that by the time we got to water, I had my flip flops on ;o)

SO, we did it ;o) Through pain, sweat and the odd fall (thankfully just on my ass!), driving like demons on the road through HAIL and pretty rainbows and ending with a massive plate of sausage and mash and lots of beer (lost fluids were replenished - and, I might add, my jeans were not hanging off me much to my dismay!)

AND THROUGHOUT IT, there was MUSIC ;o) I can't tell you enough how much it helped - I had a massive playlist which started with Queen's 'Don't stop me now', included a bit of Run DMC, David B, Doobie Brothers, ZZ Top, some Frankie, a bit of Amy...Dolly...oh, I could go on and on.

So I say
Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing
Thanks for all the joy they’re bringing
Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me

And THANK YOU - for kind words, money, boots, blister plasters (not used!), t-shirts, backpack, gloves, headlights, socks and your songs.
Luna xxx

3 peaks challenge - BRING IT ON!!

Thankfully, the champers does get a bit of a polish before they can be drunk! 

Mr Mercier...I liked his tache 

Not yet ready grapes 

A glass of each, please....it would be rude not to! 

I can safely say that the champers is kept in very fitting accommodation! 

 

 

Some art in the cellars 

ooh, yes please! 

me, Joyous and Bex 

The crew - Jameson, Livvy, me, Joyous and Bex 

Joyous going back to her roots and hanging out in the Geordie section of Madame Pommery's cellar 

Bex by some magnums in waiting 

 

We visited around 5 (the memory's a little hazy!) champagne houses in two days, had tours around the cellars, learned how the bubbly stuff was made, tried out the vintages as well as the imperials and ate loads of yummy food...it was all just SO french ;o) 

The Munich crew head to the Champagne region for Bexley's 30th 

It's been a long day - spent mostly shopping and eating but we figured we deserved a treat on the way home....du pain, du vin, le fromage, le saucisson et la chocolat!