Arriving in La Gomera we  all felt a little excited , the first Canaries port that looked at all appealing!

A shore party was despatched to find the tourist information. After a time, despite the lack of enthusiasm of the information girl..... no we have no maps , no there are no walks , no I have no bus information Doug won her round and we  arrived back on board with timetables and walking routes . Tomorrow  would be  fun.

We arrived at the bus station with seconds to spare for the 11 am bus up to the top of the island, and were rewarded with dramatic  views on all sides and the amazing sight of Mount Tiede on Tenereife at 3717m the highest mountain in Spain!

A 10km path down through laurel forests and past a huge Cirque with a 200 m waterfall made for an amazing day out. Only the lack of refreshment at the end  was a slight disappointment.

The next morning Pete, whose knees had suffered on the previous days steep downward route, and Avril, decided to stay and do a few boat jobs. Doug and I were keen to do a slightly more demanding route from the same start point but heading down to the opposite side of the island . We were confidant that we could do this in time to catch the 4 pm ferry or bus back to San Sebastian!!

How wrong we were!

We added on a couple of kilometers here and there, due to my infamous map reading, and to avoid  getting stuck in the middle of a group of germans. As a consequence we also ended up completely missing our planned escape route identified in case we ran out of time!! No surprises to anyone who has been walking with me before.

At 3:15 we were jogging down a steep path still harbouring the idea of the 4 pm ferry. We met a couple on their way up who were tutting and shaking their heads , it had taken them 3 hours to get up from the ferry port.

 

Only when it became too steep to even identify the path ahead as we peered over the edge did we accept the inevitable and decide that there was always a taxi.

We stumbled into town and a well deserved beer. Arriving back to Island Wanderer about 7:30 where Avril and Pete had made a delicious and very welcome dinner including the long awaited chocolate brownies . Great end to a great day!

 

Sadly we had to leave and yesterday we had a leisurely start leaving around 10 am for a motor across to Tenereife. Doug and Avril in hot competition

to get the  next catch

 

A lovely day topped by the a pod of pilot whales who lolled around either side of us and then followed us for  20 minutes before disappearing  beneath the waves.

Mid afternoon we settled into San Miguel marina. Apparently there are  fray bentos steak and kidney pies here , everything  for the discerning tourist.

 

Shortly now we are departing for the finest sandy beach in the canaries for a swim, dinner,  before a night sail planning to arrive in Las Palmas tomorrow morning. The final destination before the start of the ARC .