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12 | InTouch SUMMER 2024 REVVING UP FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE WEEKEND AT SILVERSTONE With car racing in her blood, and her uncle as a former Formula One driver, her trip to Silverstone was destined to be a winner! Denise Ganley shares her travel adventures with us. FEATURE Last year our two daughters headed off for a month in Europe and to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. They went as VIP guests of my uncle, Howden Ganley. He was a Formula One driver in the 1970’s, designed and built race cars through his company Tiga and was a director of Silverstone Circuits for a number of years. He is one of only six Kiwis who have scored F1 championship points. The girls had a great time and with all the photos they sent us we began thinking we should have gone too. So this year we decided it was our turn. Our last trip had been 10 years ago when we hired a wheelchair accessible motorhome, but this was no longer A trip to the British Grand Prix available, so we hired a wheelchair accessible car, and I set about planning an itinerary and booking accessible hotels. We always travel with Air NZ as we find them to be good regarding the wheelchair and using the Eagle Lift hoist to get on and off the plane. We decided to go via Singapore for a couple of nights to break up the journey. Singapore was hot and humid but easy to get around with their MRT underground which is all wheelchair accessible and cheap to use. From there we travelled to London where we had three nights at the Tower Bridge Hotel. We bought a hop on/ off bus tour and used that over a couple of days to see the sights. It’s a great way to get around London, although there was some confusion over power wheelchairs and batteries, and I was kicked off a couple of the buses by the drivers. We found out later that there had been a company directive about scooters and lithium batteries exploding and there was clearly some confusion about where I fitted into all of that. From London we caught the train to Portsmouth as that is where Angel Car Hire is based. They delivered us a Peugeot Expert van with a fold down ramp. It was a little rough riding for me in the back and the rental cost was quite high, but it was always going to be easier to have our own transport. As a fan of Rick Stein I was determined to visit Padstow in Cornwall to sample the famous fish and chips which I’ve seen so much of on TV. From there we headed up to Bath. The old Roman baths have been fitted with lifts and ramps so all quite accessible. Then it was on to Gloucester to visit Above: Enjoying lunch at the Henley Regatta.