You have to rest sometimes

Day 4 was a rest day – both for the walkers and the guide. We managed a leisurely breakfast, a swim and an hour by the pool before a gentle stroll down to San Sebastian to see the sights and have lunch – excellent grilled sardines – and a slight less gentle climb back up the hill to the hotel.

Another couple of hours by the pool and it was time for dinner – it’s hard work but we are managing!

A walk in the park

By breakfast on day three, the continuing chatter of complaints from our fellow walkers about the ascending and descending trails was almost annoying as the nagging ache in my legs – and there was me thinking I was getting quite fit!

Can’t understand why you come on a walking holiday and then spend your time moaning about the walking. This is a great place for walking with a seemingly endless selection of walking routes – from the hardcore GR routes to gentle routes between the villages – admittedly still with a fair bit of up and down.

Our walk today started in the cloud and mist – almost heavy enough to be classed as rain – but by the time we had walked along the ridge from Arure towards the coast the sun was out

and – with no shade at all – it warmed up quickly. Luckily Juan Miguel took us to the only tree on the entire mountainside for our lunch stop. 

We finished with a mile long descent from about 700m down to sea level. We had time for a swim on the beach but decided to settle for a cold beer instead and a quick paddle before our ride home.

Hotel rooms - only 57 more to try!

Day two saw us walking in the National Park at Garajonay – almost entirely in forest and again always either steeply up or down - with a lunch stop at El Cedro for watercress soup and goat stew.

Amazing contrast from the arid landscape of the previous day and an introduction to the ‘horizontal rain’ which is caused by the mist and low cloud condensing on the leaves of the canopy and keeping the forest lush and green even though there had been no actual rain for months.

We returned to the hotel and our promised room change – room one had twin beds, room two had a double bed but nothing worked, we decided to accept a move to room three even though it had twin beds as it was the only thing they could offer. Unfortunately, the ceiling fan sounded like a Chinook helicopter taking off so within a couple of minutes we were on our way to room four. By this point we had had enough and decided to stay since it seems that the maintenance level in the whole hotel is fairly shabby.

While I can understand the challenges of maintaining all the basic systems of an old hotel, a place which charges these sort of prices could certainly do a lot better.

Still managed time for the pool and cold beer before dinner – which was again excellent – probably the best thing about the hotel.

Walking on La Gomera

Arriving for breakfast we met the other three members of the group, Hillary, Hester and Jill – ladies of a certain age - and were all fit and raring to go by the time our guide – Juan Miguel- arrived for our briefing meeting.

Off to the local market to pick up supplies for our picnic lunch before we got on the road northwards to the start of our first walk – billed as a gentle opening walk – only 5 miles/ 4 hours. Did I mention that the island is unseasonably hot due to the Scirocco wind blowing from the African Coast – it was 25C as we left the hotel and probably peaked at 30C or so after lunchtime. This made the gentle walk a little more challenging particularly when you consider the eroded volcanic landscape through which we descended towards our lunch stop at Benchijigua. 

Each day we have been treated to some great views of Mount Teide on Tenerife - some atmospheric as the mountain peaks out from above the clouds and others where it just seems to appear from nowhere as you round a bend in the track.

The temperature became more of an issue after lunch as we ascended thought the Santiago ravine with little or no shade on our way to Imada where thankfully there was a welcoming bar serving ice cold local beer – and our transport back to the Hotel.

A good introduction to an island where there are few flat surfaces – everything is either a steep climb or a steep descent -  but hotter than expected, and a bit later return so we missed our evening dip in the pool. Had to settle for a hot shower and a cold beer instead.

Back in the air

Our journey to the airport and the check-in went very smoothly but travelling during the week of a school holiday is a challenging experience. While most of the scabby wains were still sleeping in their buggies and baby seats, it was antics of their older siblings which proved challenging – and that’s not to mention the parents.

I know I have led a sheltered life but don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone in Scotland choose a bottle of Rosé with their egg and bacon breakfast roll. Still not sure what to make of the couple in the seats across from us who managed 6-7 rounds of ¼ bottles of red wine each on a 4 hour flight without moving from their seats. This shows a capacity for drink and bladder control which would impress even Jimmy C

Luckily the worst of Ophelia’s winds had passed by and our flight south was as comfortable as could be expected.

Arrived in Tenerife on time and, with four hours to kill before the La Gomera Ferry, we managed to squeeze in an excellent lunch on a fish restaurant – with a decent bottle of Albarino  -and an hour or so on a sun lounger of the beach.

We also met the other couple - Geoff & Sue who made up our tour group with three ladies who had arrived earlier still to meet – not sure we will be exchanging Christmas cards but early days.

We arrived at the Parador in San Sebastian just after 19.30 to find that we had been allocated a twin room – got switched to the last available double room in the house only to find that it was in the ‘unimproved’ wing of the hotel. With no immediate solution available, we decided to postpone the complaints till the morning and headed for a  quick shower and dinner – which was excellent .

Hopefully not another false start!

So, three months since we arrived in Edinburgh - and two months since my last post - where has the time gone?

As we await the arrival of the tail end of Ophelia which appears to have hit the area around our old home quite hard, we are packing our bags for a walking holiday on La Gomera and hoping that our flight will get off without any delay in the morning.

Thankfully it seems that most of our friends have survived the storm relatively unscathed - a few fallen trees, power outages etc,. Glad they are all safe and well.

Adjusting to city life

After more than 8 years at Moyhill - in what was originally intended as a short term break - we finally decided that it was time to pack up and move on. While there are many things about life at Moyhill that we will miss - not least the Burren and all the friends we made - there are a few that we'll be happy to leave behind.

We moved into our flat in Newhaven - on the outskirts of Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth - about 4 weeks ago and after a bit of unpacking we are now beginning to settle into city life again. Being able to walk - or take public transport - to pretty much anywhere is a real attraction even though the whole of Edinburgh is currently busier than Croke Park on an All-Ireland final day because of the Fringe and the International Festival which started just after we arrived.

We have a selection of pubs, restaurants and food shops within a short walk and even a decent gym to substitute for all that outdoor life. Linda was particularly attracted to the heated outdoor pool  - although it may have to warm up a little before she tries out the sun-loungers.

I can happily sit at the window and watch the marine traffic on the Forth and the coming and goings in the port of Leith - including the Cruise vessels which are calling in regularly - particularly during the Tattoo. Haven't seen any of the giant 5000 passenger vessels yet but we regularly see 2-3000 passenger ships  - just to add to the traffic congestion in town. I know that Jimmy C would enjoy the chance to interact with so many elderly Americans.

We've managed a number of shows in the fringe with a few more to come - funnily enough the best stand-up so far was Tommy Tiernan - an Irishman of course - I laughed so much I was crying for most of the performance.

Just to get away from the Fringe madness in town, we are heading south this week - a few chores in London, a number of friends to catch up with, a double 60th birthday party and some family visits as well. Can't wait to see how busy the motorways will be - I think the M 8 seems bad judging by the morning traffic reports just imagine how we will cope with the M 25 and the M 11.

Assume there will be a few stories to tell by the time we get back