Thurs 18^th & Friday 19^th Nov.

We spent the two days exploring the island by car.

On Thursday we headed north to Las Palmas which was very straightforward until we hit the streets of the city and things began to go awry. We had decided to break with tradition and purchased a proper map of the island instead of relying on the usual tourist maps and we finally located the marina where the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) was assembled, but it was a devil of a job to find our way in by road, only to find that there was no parking at all and so we had to come back out, park the car and find our way back again on foot!

Immediately met several people we knew including the rally organisers both of whom managed to spare us a few of their precious minutes. The ARC is a rally of 250 yachts all heading across the Atlantic, leaving this Sunday and heading for St Lucia, which may or may not be ready to receive them following the recent hurricane damage.

We wandered around looking at some of the yachts and visited various chandleries and picked up a few items that we were after. Sarah headed off to El Corte Ingles while James and I settled down to some lunch overlooking the marina.

We headed home in mid afternoon, but made a lengthy stop at a huge Carrefour hyper store along the way to stock up for the next few days and the crossing to Tenerife on Sunday. (Yes the same day as the ARC sets out for the Caribbean...)

The evening ended with a full game of Mexican Train where Sarah pretty much humiliated both me and James.

On Friday we headed west to Port Mogan via Porto Rico. The latter was dire and we did not bother to stop and explore the place as it made all previous tacky resorts look good.

Port Mogan was very different, but as we made our way into the town we found the place gridlocked and packed with pedestrians. It was at this point that Sarah enquired of us if it was Friday today! She had just remembered reading that Friday was the day to avoid at all costs and anyone staying here would be advised to leave for the morning at least! The whole town is given over to a travelling market with endless stalls all selling the same very overpriced leather goods and jewellery etc. We located the marina but the only way to get there was to copy a local driver and to ignore the road closed signs and shoot down a closed access road which was fine until it lead us to a police road block. Sarah was despatched to enquire about access to the marina and they helpfully let us enter the nearby car park.

There is no doubt that this is a very pretty town and has much to commend it, but as it was heaving with people from all over the island, it was not much fun. The marina (who had refused our booking as they were full) resembled an old and crazed goldfish bowl and clearly is only a shadow of its former glory. Never have we have been so pleased to have been turned away as there is no security at all and the bars etc all surround the boats who cannot get any peace at all, day or night.

Had a coffee and headed north into the hinterland, with a view to driving up into the mountains vaguely towards a village called Tejeda. This turned out to be the absolute highlight of the entire visit to these islands. The road twists and climbs inexorably up a narrow road, frequently only just wide enough for one small vehicle, with breathtaking sheer drops falling away all around. We made frequent stops to photograph the incredible views and the winding road below us, but then only a mile or so further up, the view improved still further. Sadly low clouds began soon to diminish the photos, but upwards we still climbed. It was several hours of this before we found the village we were seeking, but we still had to find a way down into the village from the road we were on! We negotiated our way down a very narrow street much to the concern of a builder up a ladder and ended up in a wonderful little restaurant with a great view back across one of the valleys.

After our late lunch, James still felt that we had not had enough of an adventure and selected an equally exciting and unlikely return route which took us up and over another range of the mountains in the centre of the island. Here the contrast between different sides of the range was stunning, as we had risen up from bare brown rocks, to greener areas with  fir trees and some cultivation and then suddenly it was all deciduous trees in their full autumn colours and swirling white clouds below us soaring upwards on thermals along with several large birds of prey!

We were very impressed with it all and the undoubted beauty of the island as well as the ability of our Nissan Pixo, but we could not help having a sneaking admiration of the odd hikers and cyclists who were doing all this under their own power.

By 6.00 pm we were safely back on board Serafina and sifting through the photos (which are never as good as the view that you hoped you had captured) to put on the website. www.rhbell.com