More Tenerife

Persephone... Cruiser/Racer
Nigel & Karen Goodhew...
Tue 13 Dec 2016 18:16
Our little car is a cheerful red Opel Corsa. Our first outing in it pretty much trumped the hitherto dramatic scenery experiences of Lanzarote. And it all started by accident. We could not find the main trunk road leading north west out of Santa Cruz, and found ourselves funnelled onto the main road south instead. The switchback road we found to remedy the situation and climb into the central part of the island and its fantastic natural park, made the climb Tim undertook last month on Lanzarote, look like a nursery slope! So memo to self; I must encourage Tim to bring his bike out to Tenerife to expand his Strava "heat map" and enjoy some great climbs.

We explored the various aspects and sectors of the national park, the wooded corona park and then the fabulously strange volcanic interior heights. Much of the central zone of Tenerife is higher than 1100m and the piece de resistance is mount Tiede at 3718m, the highest mountain in Spain. To say that the landscape is dramatic and unusual really falls short of a worthy description. It's almost other worldly, like the moon, or Mars. Awe inspiring, in a way which set me off wistfully wondering how the Earth constantly surprises us.

Then, by way of contrast, we drove down to the southern coastal resorts of Los Christianos and Playa de las Americas, - nice enough places, but not perhaps totally our cup of tea- before joining the rush our dash along the motorway back to Santa Cruz.

Yesterdays road trip was a shorter affair, exploring some of the northern interior. The views from the various stopping points along the vertiginous mountain road are stupendous.

Today, we visited Puerto Cruz on the north western coast, mingled with the predominantly german holiday clientele and enjoyed a beer overlooking the beach lido created by Cesar Manrique....the celebrated Lanzarotean artist, whose style is immediately recognisable to the cognoscenti....white painted concrete curved structures, pools, edifices etc. Almost art deco and very interesting in the Canarian landscape, contrasting the black volcanic stone.

In other news, Persephone needs to be hauled out to check the "p" bracket...the support for the propeller shaft under the boat....as there seems to be a slight leak and we want to reassure ourselves that everything is ok before moving on. The lift is just after 9 tomorrow morning, and we will report how things go.

Sent from my iPad