North east Island and departure

We checked out at just before 10am and were off to Garachico on the north coast. The roads were very windy and hilly but the surfaces and widths were much better than I remember from doing it in 1978. It really is a wonderful run in a wonderful climate and with Teide in the background. Top Gear would love it, especially as there are not many cars around. We loved the place and very few tourists even though its not that far from Puerto de la Cruz; at one time we were within 15km of it but then we got back on the right road again. Hat means that we did almost circumnavigate the island but in two goes. We brought the satnav that we used in Australia and the USA because it has everywhere on it. We havent used it since we were away because it takes to long to boot up because it keeps going wrong on boot up. This time, it booted up first time which it had only done one on our entire tour last year. Second time again; in fact it hasn't played up once. What's going on? I think the secret is not to touch the top on off button at all, only the main switch.

We found a great place for lunch, they had a 3 course lunch with bread, ½ litre of water and ½ litre of red wine all for 10E and with a sea view, amazing. I didn't want to make the same mistake again and end up with a plate of bones so I chose the pork chops for my main. We both chose vegetable soup for our starter but when he brought them and stretched to serve he spilt mine all over Claire and in her handbag whilst he was serving her. The pork chops were good though, we got two each and could hardly manage them. It just shows what a difference it makes when you find somewhere a little off the beaten track of tourists.

We still had plenty of time so we reset the satnav for Los Gigantes on the west coast. Another good choice; we had a walk around and then a rest with a small beer each. Another lovely little place, but a few more tourists now as we are getting a little closer to Americanos again. Still, the road to it was fabulous along the coast, a real treat to drive if you are not stuck behind someone. Every time I caught someone up, I would stop to take a photo, there's no point winding myself up. We had a long walk around there and then found a nice little bar to have another drink with a sea view.

We still had plenty of time so we reset the satnav for Playa De San Juan and were there in a jiffy. Either I'm very good at picking places from the map or all the little towns along around here are the same. If we come back I would like to stay a few nights over the west and north coast because there must be so much to discover and there are no where near as many tourists as the main places so they have proper restaurants rather than breakfast and snack bars. Just remember that most the local dishes have lots of bones in them. We walked around the bay to a little port and beyond were two little bays with beaches surrounded by restaurants and bars and not too busy either. This place had proper black volcanic sand, not all that imported yellow stuff. Only trouble is, you try and walk on it when the suns out. Yet again, we found a nice little place overlooking one of the beaches for a drink and at last it was time to make our way to the airport. Strange really, we had one of our best travelling days on our last day; I guess it because we have lots of time to kill so we could take it easy.

By the way, I haven't been able to post yesterdays blog as our wifi was down in the evening and in the morning we left and the airport doesn't have it. That's why I am writing this new one now at the airport rather than posting the last one. I guess that they will both be posted when we get home on Sunday morning, so don't forget to look back and read the other one.