Tenerife summary

So the Canary Island trip is over.  Aside from the passport business, it is certainly an adventure that I would look to repeat or expand upon.  Some of the memorable things:

1.  Hills are your friends -- so my son-in-law says and every cycle trip I had to remind myself of that 'truism'.  Make no mistake, I do not like hills.  The Portugal tour a year ago helped me to tolerate hills -- mountains, but not even that was like Tenerife.  There were no flat stretches of road more than about 200m.  The hardest one for me was the road by the banana plantation.  On the first day, Monday, it nearly killed me and I had to rest at the top to stop my legs from shaking and feeling like I was going to collapse.  Yesterday, I did it twice, along with other ascents and the second time felt better than the first.  I had jokingly said after Monday that if I did that ride every day I would be in shape fairly soon.  Well, I certainly got a good start on that.  I will miss that the bicycle won't be part of every day when I get home.  OK, hills are the kind of friends that (slowly) grow on you.

2.  Dried fruit is a true treat.  For each lunch and supper, there was a lovely selection of prunes, dates, figs, raisins and apricots.  Most of the dates and figs I have encountered were smooshed together or so hard that you could barely get your knife to chop them.  Those were only distant relatives of the beautiful looking and very tasty items offered beside the cheeses.  What a lovely combination.  And sometimes, the fruit was rehydrated in a syrup or sauce to accompany a meat dish or support some fruit compote.  I shall be adding this to my menus.

3.  Bananas are big business.  I have never seen plantations of this fruit under burlap.  Some of the fruit is grown in the blue plastic bags and some is just out in the open.  Plantations are in irrigated terraces surrounded by concrete walls to protect the trees from wind and banana thieves!


4.  Volcanos make amazing islands.  All of the Canaries are volcanic and the last eruption on Tenerife was about a hundred years ago.  Congratulations to the builders on this island for using the natural materials.  Our resort had amazing walls built of the black igneous rock.  The paths were done with patterned concrete to emulate the walls.

5.  Palm trees are fabulous.  About 4 years ago, Kieran became fascinated by palm trees and would watch them excitedly.  Now TovaElise is discovering the fascinating interplay of light and movement of palms swaying in ocean breezes.  There were actually date palms at the resort, but no one seemed anxious to pick and enjoy them.

6.  Time with family tops everything, and going to an all-inclusive resort makes sure that everyone can be pampered.  Thanks RIU BuenaVista for putting us into a great villa.  TovaElise is almost 6 months old and a happy, healthy girl growing astonishingly.  She is strong standing on her legs easily.  Most of the time she sits independently.  Her grip is very strong and you know it when she grabs!  She laughs easily and does not make strange, though when she gets tired, only Mom will do.  A wonderful time!

"Yes, it's here"

That was the sweetest morning salutation in a long time because it meant I had not lost my passport.

I discovered the item missing last evening after Rich, Jennie and TovaElise went to bed and I was packing.  It was not in the safe in my closet where it should have been.  I searched through all the paperwork again.  I went up to the front desk to ask if had been left in the room where I had first checked in.  "No, our cleaning staff always checks the whole room including the safe".  We called the Canadian consulate and since it was a Saturday night we had to call Ottawa direct where they have 24hr emergency answering.  That lady could only suggest that I start the lost passport procedure which would have to go through Madrid on Monday morning.  If she started it last night, it would mean that even if the document was found, it would no longer be valid.  I said no.  I went back to the room to think and realised that I had left the original room in pristine condition and there might be a chance that the passport was still there.  Needless to say, it was a very long, unsettled night and at 6:30 this morning I was camped out by the first room making sure no one left early and I missed them.  Well, a light came on about 7:15 and at 7:30, which I deemed to be a half-way acceptable time, I knocked on the door.

It was a pair of lovely older English ladies who could understand my request and checked immediately.  They had no used the safe at all and then came that wonderful sentence quoted in the title.  A HUGE WAVE OF RELIEF!  I hurried down to our villa and was able to relate to Rich and Jenn that all was well.

So now I am here on Norwegian flying back to Gatwick.  Hope to get another blog (telling of the last part of the stay on Tenerife together with some pictures) done before landing.

It's all up and down

The only complaint I have about the RIU Buenavista is the internet access.  The 'download rigor mortis' commercial certainly applies here as you wait for at least a minute for each connection.  Today we have had enough and bought a week of internet from a local hotspot that we get nicely on the patio of our villa.  So, I am sitting here on the deck, listening to the ocean and looking at the lights of the boats on the sea  -- not a hard life.

We had requested adjoining rooms, but they don't have any.  Instead they offered us a villa -- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a big living area and a little kitchen with a lovely deck/patio all around facing the ocean.  In fact, that's where I am now.

Tenerife is the all up and down mentioned in the title.  There is a central volcano peak -- high enough to have snow even now and then numerous smaller peaks all around.  There are a few beaches, but for the most part the shoreline is volcanic rocks jutting into the sea.

I have a cruiser bicycle and it serves me fine.  Mostly I am in the lowest gear grinding up the hills.  The main road is quite narrow without a shoulder and with quite a dropoff so I don't ride there though some cyclists do.  The cars are very considerate but I am just not comfortable enough to have them going by.

If you have mobility issues, this is not the resort for you.  The hotel is on many different levels with ramps and stairs everywhere.  The pools are on different levels and the walkways around are kept open and clean.  I have never seen a zamboni for pool decks before!

The resort is at least 50% Scandanavians -- Norwegians, Swedes, Finns and Danes.  Then there are some Brits and some Germans.  Me, the Canadian, is a novelty.  The grounds are groomed, the palm trees kept beautifully trimmed, the hedges clipped, but the most striking features are the volcanic stone walls -- everywhere, many over 2 m tall.  They are done with minimal mortar to give the impression of dry stone structures.  The same patterning is reflected in the textured concrete walkways which makes for a great deal of gray!

sorry, no pictures yet.

First Impression

Well, this is the slowest internet connection I have EVER seen.  So this will be quick to try and get it to work.

First impressions of Tenerife --WEIRD.  Island looks like somebody took a huge excavator and just dropped bucket loads on the place.  Strange mountain formations!!  The natural vegetation seems to be scrub, but there are amazing plantings of cacti and then there are the banana plantations -- some under burlap it seems.

It will be an interesting week.

Waiting on Richard, Jennie and TovaElise.  We requested adjoining rooms which they do not have so they had us across the courtyard from each other, but have offered us a villa (2 bedrooms and 2 baths, living room and kitchen) and I took them up on it.

Millions of kids here -- kids club happening now -- noisy but fun.  Great place.

sorry no pictures -- internet won't upload from my phone.

Flying Very High

So this is a first.  Here I am at cruising altitude and connected to the internet.  Norwegian charges for coffee and movies but the wifi is free -- strange.

Another first on this flight.  I changed my seat assignment of 23A to get an aisle seat and I like being at the back so I can stand easily (and use the washroom).  30D was available with no one else booked in the trio of seats, so it looked like a good spot.  We boarded from the back of the plane and upon getting to my seat in the second last row, I was greeted by a man across the aisle, one row back at the rear of the aircraft.  He was a little strange and I thought he might be mentally challenged and so was obliging when he asked my name, and asked him his.  Well, he was drunk and started to be vulgar towards the flight attendant.  She warned him, the head steward warned him, and we pulled over to a side parking spot and they asked me and the couple in front of him to please just go forward in the plane and they took him off.  Never seen that before.  Naturally we had already lost time as they tried to subdue him and when he was removed they had to start the paperwork for the flight again, so eventually it was 1.5 hrs later than scheduled that we finally got a spot in the queue and headed off.

This is the second incident of disruptive behaviour that I have encountered on this journey.  At the train station in Tonbridge the other day, the train before mine was delayed for about 15 min while an individual was ejected and then the train was allowed to leave.  I wonder if this kind of thing is on the increase or if I have just never been exposed to it before.

The flight to Tenerife is 4 hours and 15 minutes.  The plane is only about half full and this was the cheapest airfare to that location.  Norwegian must be heavily subsidised by their government.  I read in the magazine that they have just inaugurated direct flights from Oslo and Stockholm to NY, Ft. Lauderdale and LA on Dreamliners.  Who is making money here?

Well, If I can send a picture of myself while in flight, I should be able to find the shuttle to get me to the hotel.  Here's hoping!

Wrapping up England

So today was my last day here and there were lots of things to finish off.

I did the cycle ride to the airport and watched a plane fly right over my head.  I was down in Crawley before I changed direction and came back through Horley in order to head west.  Very soon one leaves town and is on the Surrey cycle path in the most pleasant rolling English countryside.  There are great houses with large estates and high walls and gates and fantastic views of the valleys, and then there are lesser houses in between -- some refurbished cottages from the old days and some newer homes.  It is a lovely variety as one rides along the little country lanes named for some of the great houses and lined on both sides with hedgerows very close to the road.  With the rain and the leaves, I was not anxious to take any paths which were not paved, and even these required very careful riding.  The symbol means "share the path" -- I wish we could get this in our area!

Today I had hills, I had wind, I had sunshine and I had serious rain.  I guess all that was missing was the hail that I had on Tuesday.  I had lunch at a pub which one gentleman recommended to me as 'spot on' -- and it was (steak and mushroom pie with great veggies).  I made several wrong turns because I didn't have my gps out all the time, but still managed to get the bike back to Redhill in mid afternoon which had been my plan.

Redhill has better shopping than Horley so I picked up some stuff -- baking sheets at the pound store and flip-flops at a store that sells trendy name brand pseudo sportswear (Quicksilver, etc).

Trained back to Horley and started to get my departure set up -- wake up call for 4 am and transfer for 4:15.  The flight is at 06:35.  Glad the airport is so close.  There will be a bag left here of the stuff that I will not need in the Canaries, and my weight limit is less for this segment of the vacation than across the Atlantic.  I will have one night here on the way back as I get to Gatwick too late on the Sunday night to get a flight home the same day.

Another good day --sense a theme.

NCN 2

When I think of some of my favourite rides -- Tamaki Drive, Rhine cyclepath, Cozumel Island -- they all have water in common.  So, it should come as no surprise that I chose the shore road along the Channel for today's ride.

It started off with a flat tire -- pumped up enough to get to the train and down to Brighton and then fixed by a nice guy in the Velo Vitality shop.  But once I started heading west (into the wind), it was lovely.  There were serious waves crashing onto the pebbled beaches and sea walls, but that did not stop the wet suit-clad surfers, not the kite sailor/surfers, or the little kids who are on half term vacation this week, who, despite their adults being dressed in hooded parkas, were running into the surf with shorts and bare feet.  I was thankful for my several layers.

NCN 2 is the Shore trail on which I rode from Brighton Pier to Worthing Pier, 20 km away.  It had an incredibly varied path -- along the sea on the sea wall, past hundreds of tiny 'cottages', past a number of amusement areas, through the busy port of Shoreham, over locks in a dock area, past warehouses and fancy summer houses.  It is an area of work and play and has been so for many, many years.  I just finished Pride and Prejudice this evening and had to smile at the talk of Brighton, then as now.

I promised myself fresh fish and the Blue Ocean cafe in Worthing was recommended by several of the people I asked.  They did not disappoint -- the chips may have been so-so, but the cod was fantastic!

The ride back to Brighton had the wind at my back, and was without the rain that had come down while I was lunching.  It is always easier (and faster) to return when one knows where the twists and turns happen.  I must admit that I have been very pleased with my new phone and the map features it has.  I love the little blue dot to show me where I am -- and the location of the train station that I want to reach.  More rain on the ride back, but it was just a short cycle from the Horley station back to the guest house.


Another great day! (Yes, I wore pink tights and everyone noticed me!)