Marni Motoring Madness - how I failed the Top Gear audition

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There is a mountain filled peninsula that lies to the south east of Kalamata. On this and previous trips here, the mountains loom high over the coastline, vast volcanic peaks reaching for the sky. We have often wanted to see them close up.

So we eschewed the normal British flask and picnic rug and set off. We drove down the main road that twisted, climbed and dived to keep in sight of the sea. It went quite high in places, affording spectacular views over the Messinian Gulf.

On our way back, we decided to take a "BrontoTour", getting off the beaten track to see the mountains close up: we had no idea how successful we would be.

On British maps, main roads are green or red, country lanes yellow and smaller lanes white. We interpreted our Greek map in the same way. So we took this "yellow" road that climbed and twisted into the mountains. We came across a delightful village, clinging to the hillside. Then we found our "white" lane.

When I was a teenager, the authorities built a new by pass, with the road surface made of concrete in neat, flat rectangles. This lane started off in concrete that was lumpy, rough and nothing like that bypass. Then, as we began to climb, the road turned into a dirt track, that would be impassable in the wet. It was single track, with a cliff face on one side and an unbarriered precipitous drop on the other.

By now the Panda was struggling but carrying on. The gradient became steeper, the hairpin bends hairier. The views were spectacular.

We were now very high and the top was in sight. But our little Panda had had enough and we stopped. Stopped in the middle of two bends, unable to go further, on a steep single track mud path, with no room to turn back.

The Top Gear team would somehow have carried on. Instead I had to very gingerly reverse downhill. The brakes were not super effective due to the road surface. As you might imagine, I was very mindful of the drop and went very carefully.

Anyway we eventually reached the comfort zine of a hairpin bend and stopped to both admire the view and my nerves. The accompanying photos were taken at this place; the creamy line is the road we had just driven up and needed to go back down.

The view down was Fab as well. So though feeling thwarted, we were delighted to sample the interior. And, in the end, we got well off the beaten track.