Gran Canaria

For the non boating people, no we didn't motor down there from Penarth. The storms that just keep coming in across the Atlantic would have made it a very unpleasant and downright dangerous thing to try. The little Boeing 737 was maybe not the safest way to travel but way better than a Biscay trip in such weather by Nordhavn 47.

8 metre high waves forecast today - and it has been calming down a little!

So, we got our fix of winter sun in the last 2 weeks and enjoyed our first ever trip to Gran Canaria. What is worth reporting on?

Well, one of the day trips was to Las Palmas harbour as a potential future winter berth. For boaters, it is known as the place where the "Atlantic Rally for Cruisers" starts from. This is a sailing yacht "rally" where people depart together to head across the Atlantic - see ARC website . For a first hand account of what the place is like at that time, look at  ARC Blog - the BMW folks might well recognise this as Bob & Lin Griffiths notes from their recent travels. Others might know Bob from earlier posts as a trolley shopper sort of person. Enough said. An ARC tradition is to paint a little image on the harbour wall before departure - some are very artistic:

You might find a slightly less artistic example in Bob's blog somewhere.

Our first walk along the sea front reminded us of poor Patrick left in Penarth as the guard penguin:

We loved Puerto Mogan:

and the tourist trap stalls set up high in the mountain pass roads like this one:

The country may be nearly bankrupt but road construction continues apace:

Guess we should thank the German blog readers for funding it? Could you also resurface some of the UK's potholed roads for us please?

So, what about the "more subversive thoughts" you ask. You don't want a boring Travelogue kind of update with lots of touristy pictures that anyone could take? OK, we will prepare something in the next post to appease those people who enjoy a more warped reflection on life (Norman Lazarus, you know who that means...).