Gym & Tonic

After shutting down both the laptops yesterday morning, Phil& I jumped in the car and went to the Gym & Tonic health club in the hotel grounds. And yes. you do read me right, the gym building is in a complex which would entail only a 10 minute walk but our gym kit bags are heavy and we intended to go off site after our workout so it made sense to the car. It was easy to get a title for my blog posting today and my photo explains why. The gym complex has got some very negative reviews on the Trip advisor website and on first appearance, it is obvious that the building, that houses both the gym and the pool, was built some time in the 60's. The equipment is similar to what you might exect to find in a secondary school, basic and very outdated, as is the interior of the gym and the changing rooms. It is certainly old fashioned and very tired looking but in a weird kind a way, it was quite quaint and rather endearing. And thats me saying that, me that is used to state of the arc equipment from years of using at David Lloyd and DW.

Phil managed to do 2k on the rowing machine and 30 minutes of weights and I did a 3k run. True, the gym hall was hot because there was no air con and neither was there any flat screen TV's with built in audio sound. But hey ho, at least we got a workout, in fact we had the workout hall to ourselves. And we also had the jacuzzi to ourselves for a while. We had a little plunge in the pool and then we finished off in the steam room. There is a steam in the sauna in both the ladies and mens changing rooms so we couldn't steam together which was a shame. The changing rooms were basic but had everything you needed, hot water and hairdryers, the staff were friendly and I really can't understand some of the negative feedback that I’ve read on the internet. It certainly gave us a chance to work off our breakfast, although we're on a mini-break I can't let Phil step off the diet wagon for one single minute, he's worked so hard to get this far and so have I!

Yesterday was another glorious day and after we'd showered and changed, we got in the car and drove to the church in the village to look around the graveyard. Phil's ancestors on his mum's side of the family originated from Lincolnshire and he wanted to see if he could find any gravestones belonging to his family. Before we lived together, Phil spent thousands of hours researching his family tree but he's hasn't done any work on it for years, which is a shame but there just hasn't been the time, been too busy building up our property portfolio. Anyway, we spent an hour in Stoke grave yard and Phil found one grave stone that he thinks belonged to his mum's family. I was bored after 10 minutes, grave yards are not really my thing and after nearly an hour of hanging around, I finally managed to prise Phil away.

We went back to the room to dump our bags and I got changed into a summer dress. When I was ready, we got back into the car and headed for the A1 to fill up with petrol. We hoped that the garage would have an ATM machine but no such luck and we ended up having to drive into Grantham to get some cash. In the end, Phil got cash out from an ATM in Sainsbury’s. These rural village are very beautiful but they have f**k all facilities. Grantham and the A1 were really busy; we were hoping to stumble across a little village pub for lunch, but we didn't fine any watering holes, despite driving around little lanes for nearly an hour. In the end, we heading back to Rochford Hall and went to the bar for a snack. We just about made it in time because the bistro closed at 2pm. Phil went for the salmon fishcake and I choose the ploughman's but Phil didn't like his fish cake so I had to swap, so in the end we had a smedley of both dishes.

The day was glorious, after lunch Phil retreated to our room while I loitered in the front entrance grounds because there was a wedding and I wanted to see the bride and the bridesmaids. I got to see both, but alas, the bride wasn't particularly beautiful and neither was her dress. But hey, I shouldn't be such a bitch, the venue was stunning and as long as the bride felt the same and enjoyed her day, that's all that matters. It was a civil ceremony which took place in the conservatory and I saw her walk down and meet her husband-to-be. It was funny the wedding march song was 'Some Like You' by Adele from the album 21. This is my favourite record at the moment and I play it all the time in my new car. But I thought it was a bit of a weird choice because Adele is singing about a long lost past love and the lyrics are about all about heartbreak and regret'. Still, each to his own.

Phil wanted to write some more of his book which was fine but I couldn't bear to stay in our cold, uncharismatic room on such a glorious day so I changed into my denim shorts, grabbed a magazine and went out on the front lawns to sunbathe. I felt a little out of place as I was all by myself and the front of Rochford Hall is so amazing and when you think of all its history, it seemed almost disrespectable to be half naked on lawns with signs that told you not to walk on the grass. Hey ho, I did an hour, read the Times, read my magazine, phoned Harriet and listened to the bagpipes at the wedding drinks reception. I had a lovely time.

I went back to the room and Phil was so deeply engrossed in his writing, he hardly noticed my return. I didn't mind, I had my laptop and a high speed internet connection. Phil was so cold that at 5pm he had to go for a walk around the grounds to warm himself up. Honestly, you wouldn't believe how cold it is in room 36. While he was out, he spotted 2 pheasants in the memorial garden trying to get it on and he also heard the bagpipes man as he played the wedding party into the reception. When he got back, we drank some wine, watched a bit of telly then at 6'ish we got ready for dinner.

As lunch wasn't really spectacular, standard pub grub really with slightly slow service but that was probably due to the wedding party, I can't say I had a high expectations for dinner. But I was pleasantly surprised; when you think we've only paid £120 for our stay which includes 2 nights accommodation, 2 breakfasts and a 3 course dinner in a spectacular location, its begging a lot expect 5 star. But the food was really good, not spectacular, as was the service. We had a drink out on the terrace before dinner.

All things considerd we've had a great little mini break. Its nice doing something a little bit out of the ordinairy and stepping aside from our normal routine. Rochford Hall certainly doesn't deserve the slagging off its gets on the net. We would probably come again but perhaps I would try and stay mid week and try and get upgrade to a Mansion room. Its been well worth the money. Now I must pack our bags and get ready to head home.

A mini-break at Stock Rochford Hall

This little mini-break has been booked for a while and I'd almost forgotten about it. Indeed, at the time of booking, I hadn't even realised that it was the bank holiday weekend. Maybe if I had of done, because of concerns about traffic jams, then perhaps I would have chosen another weekend. We went to get on the M1 at junction 14 and when we drove over the bridge we saw that traffic was at a standstill. Not a great start, but the sun was shining, Phil had his earphones plugged in, so we decided to drive the back way which was fine. A little slower and a little longer, but actually, I enjoyed driving through the different villages, it made a nice change from the motorway.

At the time of booking, the plan was to stay 2 nights and then drop by Phil's mum and dad who are only 20 minutes away and take them out for a special Easter Sunday lunch. But all that has had to change and I had to cancel the table, because for the last 3 weeks, Phil's dad has not been very well. It all started before we went away on holiday. Apparently George was mixing up a mix of weed killer for the lawn and somehow (and don't ask me how) it blew up in his face and he inhaled the stuff. You'd think this was no big deal but inhaling the poison made him very poorly indeed. He had a terrible cough which stopped him from sleeping, he lost his appetite and as a result had no energy. We hadn't realised how bad things were until last weekend. Phil's mum phoned to say that she had eventually made him go the doctor who prescribed antibiotics. More trauma followed as he was allergic to the antibiotics and suffered quite a bad reaction. So it was back to the docs for George and another course of different antibiotics. Bet also said that George had a couple of falls and because he hadn't been able to drive, she had been virtually housebound for 3 weeks. I immediately offered to go down to get some shopping, but of course she wasn't having any of it. One thing she did talk about on the phone was coming to live in one of our ground floor flats, so at long last, both she and Phil's dad realise that finally they need some help.

Anyway, because of all of this, we decided yesterday, rather than drive straight to the hotel, we would first go to visit Phil's mum and dad. Made sense really because we had to literally drive straight back their house to get to the hotel. The plan was to mow their lawn for them and do any little jobs in the house that needed to be done. We arrived just after half one only to find that George had already mowed the lawn. Bet said that it had taken him 3 days and made him feel unwell again. Phil's mum is just as bad; I'd cooked a lasagne and taken it down just to save her from cooking for a couple of days but then she goes and invites us for a roast dinner on Sunday. Whatever are we going to do with the pair of them?? I am not sure but the time has come for something to be done, they can't be left alone to their own devices. We reprogrammed their TV, because of the digital switch-over they had lost all their channels. We had tea and homemade cake and after a couple of hours, we said our good byes and drove to the hotel.

We are staying at Stoke Rochord Hall near Grantham in Lincolnshire http://www.stockrochfordhall.co.uk/. Stoke Rochford Hall is impressive; it has a long drive up to the hotel which leads through the park and over the bridge, then you do a right angled turn to the east through the iron gates to the main house itself. We checked in okay, the only problem being that we couldn't get a table for dinner in the restaurant until 8.30pm which was way too late for us. As dinner is included in our deal, well dinner for one night we managed to change it to this evening and have booked for 7pm.

Our room, room 36 is in the Old Stable Courtyard and not in the main house itself. I did tell a little fib in an email and try and get us an upgrade, as I'd heard the mansion rooms in the main house are fair superior to all the other accommodation on site but my luck was out as there are 2 wedding parties staying this weekend. Never mind, always worth a try, if you don't ask, you don't get. We were a little disappointed with our room; it was okay. A double rather than king-size bed, a pokey bathroom with no bath, only a shower and the tiniest TV I've ever seen. Also it was bloody freezing despite being so warm outside.

It was nearly teatime and as we'd only had a light lunch, we were both starving. From trawling through the trip advisor website I'd already read that there was a good restaurant in the nearby village of Skillington called The Cross Swords Inn. As the sun was still shining we decided to walk to the village. It took 15 minutes just to get out of the grounds but we walked to the main gate and turned right. It was really hot and we had no water and after about 40 minutes with no civilisation in sight, I'll admit, I was ready to give up and turn back. But not our Phil though, he was determined to find food not to mention a cold pint of beer!

We got to a main road and then saw a sign for Skillington and turned left. Another 20 minutes and we were in the village. The restaurant that I'd chosen was almost the first building we saw but unfortunately it didn't open until 6pm. Luckily, just around the corner there was another pub which was open, so we got a drink and sat outside on the village green. We finished our drinks and went back to The Cross Swords Inn and were the first customers through the door.

The inn (http://www.thecross-swordsinn.co.uk/) is run and owned by Harold & Linda Wood and what a lovely couple they were. They've had the inn for 20 years, Linda does the front of house and Harold is the chef. The menu was good, not cheap but we didn't care, we were hungry. I went for the rib eye steak and Phil went for the steak pie with veggies and roast potatoes. It was absolutely excellent and we would certainly recommend a visit. We finished our wine and after settling the bill, Linda said that Harold had got the car out and would drive us back to Rochford Hall. The car turned out to be a Jaguar and we didn't leave the premises before taking a look at one of their guest rooms in the courtyard. Harold & Linda have 3 rooms and another nearly finished. The room was delightful, far superior to our room in the old stable courtyard. But how lovely of Harold to take us home, what a kind gesture, and to be honest I didn't really relish the hour's walk home after a bottle of red and a full stomach. Once back to the room it was some telly and then shut eye.

Not certain what the plans for today are. We've already been down to the main house for breakfast and very nice it was too. There was a good quality selection of fresh fruit and yoghurt and an excellent selection of your good old English fare. Phil is currently working on his book on his laptop and we are just letting our breakfast settle and then we're going to try out the hotel's gym and pool. Then who knows, we'll probably head out in the car and explore the local area.

Good Friday & a Good Week

Phil quite often tells me that I have the “life of Riley” and mostly I refute this but I do think this week he may just have a point, this week I have had it real easy. The weather has been lovely and this always lifts my soul. Every one needs good girlfriends and this week I have been able to meet up with 3 of mine. On Monday I started the day off my with usual trip to the gym followed by Asda, then after lunch I went to Willen to have a cup of tea with the lovely Vanessa. I hadn't seen her for a while so it was good to catch up with all of the Ford news.

On Tuesday after my gym session I decided to work on the gardens. I started on the front garden which was easy. A bit of chopping with the hedge trimmer then I was on my hands and knees getting the moss out of the block paving. Fortunately I'd had the hindsight to spray it at the weekend with weed killer so the green stuff came out quite easily but boy what a tedious job. I finished up with a good sweep of the drive and a polish of the front door and it was job done. After lunch, chicken chilli men without the chicken, I decided to attack the back garden. Now this wasn't as straight forward as we haven't touched the back since last autumn and it was a mess. It doesn't help that I hate gardening with a passion and I have no natural gardening skills. And I mean none whatsoever. If I had my way I would have astra turf, slabs and concrete with the odd pot but this garden was fairly established when we moved in so it made sense to keep what we already had.

I started with weeding the borders. I collected thousands of leaves and pulled out everything that looked like a weed. I wasn't sure actually what was a weed all bar the thistles but my strategy, if you can call it that, was if looked grotty, it got pulled. It was really hard work and 4 hours later I had filled our green bin. After weeding, I got out the mower and cut the grass which was quite satisfying. Next job was to rake out the moss with a screw driver, no easy feat. Last job of the day was to sweep the up all the moss and rearrange the patio furniture. I was knackered when I'd finished but very pleased with myself. I couldn't wait for Phil to see my results when he got home from work. Phil hates gardening so he was really pleased that I'd started. However, on closer inspection, his appreciated soon disappeared when he discovered that as well as getting rid of the weeds, I'd also got rid of some shrubs in the process. This was my biggest fear but too late now, the deed is done.

Phil went out for a beer with Jim on Tuesday night and I caught up with some soaps and did an hour of deep plunge squats. It didn't hurt at the time but oh my god, when I woke up on Wednesday I could hardly get out of my bed. I think my exertion in the garden was exercise enough and deep thrust squats was overload on my aging body. Just getting down the stairs was a nightmare. I was driving down to see Christine in Surrey and had planned to go to the gym beforehand but there was no chance of that. Instead, I did some domestics, packed an overnight bag and finally set off at half ten. Phil had programmed the crappy sat nav for me and I admit I was a little nervous about driving so far. I don't drive much on motorways and the M1, M25 and M23 was scary. But I took it steady, not really going above 60 which wasn't difficult, much as I love my new car, it hasn't got much poke.

I got to Charlwood in 2 hours which wasn't too bad considering Christine lives just 5 minutes from Gatwick. The dogs, Purdey and Buffey gave me a good welcome and I was surprised to see that Paul was down from Sheffield. The sun was glorious and we had lunch on the lawn, goats cheese tart and salad and a good bottle of chilled white which Paul & I polished off between us. I was curious to see what Christine had done to the cottage since Phil and I visited her last September. Lots of work has been done, new kitchen, new windows, landscaping in the garden, new fence and gate. The garden in particular looked lovely and it was obvious lots of love and care has gone into this project. Christine has still a way to go, new bathroom for one, more painting and decorating and some tweaking and general finishing off. But she'll get there I'm sure but it's fairly obvious that she is very happy in her new home which is good to see.

After lunch, we left the polish man laying her new patio in the back garden, I have to say I felt for him labouring so hard in the hot sun and popped into Horley. At least I think itwas Horley; we had a quick look around the shopping complex and then dropped Paul off at the train station as he was spending the evening in London with his daughters. We went back to the cottage to pick up the dogs and then drove to the woods. Christine said that the bluebells were a sight to see and she wasn't wrong. The main reason for walking the dogs in the woods, which is a walk Christine does every day, was to take me to see John's remembrance bench. With my really sore thigh muscles I really struggled with the inclines and declines and the stiles but I managed. John's bench is in a great expanse and it was good to take a few minutes out to remember him.

We had a good hours walk in the woods and It was almost half six by the time we got back to the cottage. Christine fixed us an appetitive and we had this by the pond. The Polish man was still labouring on the patio and I did feel guilty watching him work, while I supped away. Marius finally finished the patio at half seven, Christine paid him but then he couldn't find his van keys. Half an hour later he finally found them and when he left we had supper and cracked open the wine. The rest of the night was girlie chat and generally putting the worlds to right.

I was awake really early on Thursday morning, like before 6am. I don't now kwhether it was because it was a strange bed or the light pouring through the bedroom window but I really didn't want to wake that early. In need of tea, I crept downstairs and found the kettle and then took my brew back to bed. Around 8am Christine got up and we took the dogs for a walk around the football pitch and then stopped off at the village shop for newspapers. Paul was up when we got back looking and feeling very hungover, not surprising seeing as he didn't get back until 1am. I had some melon for breakfast with a cup of green tea and then just after 9am I said my goodbyes and headed for the M23. It was nice to see Christine and the cottage and I had a lovely time; sometimes its nice to do something different.

The drive back to MK took almost 2 hours. I was a little worried that there might be jams on the M25 with the imminent bank holiday weekend but it was fine, busy and a little slow but the main problem were the speed restrictions because of the road works. I was very relieved when I finally got home. After my night away or holiday as Phil referred to it there was jobs to be done. Unpacking, washing and a lasagne to cook. I just had enough time to drive to Peartree Bridge to get a large, cod and chips, Phil's favourite Thursday lunch. Phil came back at the normal time and I think he missed me, he seemed pleased to see me.

After lunch and a few more jobs, I drove over to Westcroft to see Jan I was very pleased to see that she is much, much better. She still has to take it easy and be careful not to overdue things but she is well on the road to recovery. She is frustrated with all the things that she wants to do but can't, but she's sensible and I just hope she doesn't rush back to work before she's ready. So all in all, as you might be able to tell, I've had a good week; reunions with girlfriends, lots of sunshine and lots of wine. It would have been nice to catch up with Sue but it wasn't to be. She phoned me on Monday to say that was hoping to get out to see me but Alan was having a really bad pain day. Hopefully there'll be a window of opportunity next week.

I'm excited today because we are going away for a couple of days. I found us a deal on the internet and so we're off. Our original plans for the weekend have changed slightly but I'll blog more about that when we get home. We're going to the gym for a quick workout first then home to pack a bag, grab a light lunch then we're heading north on the motorway.

Happy Easter everyone!

Girls night in

I don't know why, but for some reason, I have been a bit weepy since getting back from holiday. Probably my silly hormones playing up,I was watching the last episode of 'Benidorm' on Friday whilst doing the ironing and that made me cry. What is that all about? Speaking of hormones, Phil went to the doctor's on Friday to get the results of his last blood tests. It was good news; blood sugar levels were down as were his cholesterol. But the best result was learning that his PSA level has gone from 7.5 to 1 which is pretty amazing. For certain, this is mostly due to the hormone drug Casodex but I do think that his diet and exercise have also played a part. With the PSA level coming out so low, in fact almost normal, it makes me wonder whether Phil still needs to have a course of radiotherapy but that's something I need to research this week.

We were back at the gym on Saturday and surprisingly had a really good workout seeing we hadn't been for 10 days. I always think it takes so long to build up your fitness level and not much to loose it. Lunch was easy, veggie chilli and rice, same as we had for lunch on Friday. I had a text on my mobile from Ryanair to say that a courier would be delivering our lost luggage at 1.10pm. Umm very precise I thought but sure enough there was knock at the door, 20 minutes before the allocated slot. Phil was grumbling about making a claim but I can't be arsed, I am just very glad we got our bag back.

Of course, one returned case meant 5 loads of washing, drying and ironing which pretty much kept me occupied all afternoon, giving Phil time to work on his book. G came round for some tea before starting her shift, and as it was warm outside, Phil did her an omelette on the BBQ and home made chips. We'd not long waved her goodbye when she called on her mobile to say that the KA was making some strange noises when she parked in the multi storey. Phil went and collected the key and topped up her car with oil and water and we haven't heard anything since so we're assuming all was well and it get her back home. I sincerely hope so because she's just paid 350 quid to get it through its MOT.

On Saturday night I went over the road to Sandy's for a girlie cheese and wine girlie get together. Phil was slightly miffed because he wasn't invited but bar from David, Sandy's son, it was really just girls. Sandy had plates full of lovely cheese, breads and biscuits and loads of chopped fruit and a chocolate fountain and of course, loads of wine. All comfort foods, what more could a girl want? I had a nice time, chatting, eating and drinking. It was really quite civilised until we moved in the lounge for some karaoke. Oh dear. I told Phil I'd be home by 10 at the latest but it was actually 2pm when I got in, being the last guest to leave. Even Sandy had gone to bed! It just goes to show that I don’t' get out enough, but sod it, I make no apology (apart from to Phil whom I woke up when I fell into bed), you only get one life and it doesn't hurt to let your hair down once in a blue moon.

Phil was up early to watch the Chinese Grand Prix. I stirred when he arose but managed to drift off for another couple of hours, eventually getting downstairs for 9am. I am not good without my beauty sleep, I need at least 8 hours and am grumpy if I don't get it. I bunged 2 chickens in the oven for our lunch which we had with salad and new potatoes. Both Phil and I have manged to loose 3 pounds of our holiday weight so that's good. Harriet had been to Whittlebury Hall with her work colleagues. The OU treated them to dinner, bed and breakfast and a free treatment and she got home just in time for lunch.

 

After lunch, Harriet dropped us off at David Lloyd and we walked to the cinema to see 'Tomorrow, When the War Began'. We made the 1pm viewing just in time, after getting snacks at Waitrose and our tickets. As the sun was shining outside, the cinema was fairly empty and we managed to get prime seats. The film was good and we both enjoyed it. The Australian accents were a bit crap and at first I thought it was a bit 'teeny' but after it got going, it was gripping. We had a lovely walk home along the canal afterwards and we finished our Sunday with Sunday papers and then watched several episodes of '24' series 6. All in all, a fairly relaxing weekend with great weather. I really can't complain.

Back home, back on the the diet

Just a quickie to say that we got back home safe and sound.  We had a fairly relaxed departure morning, breakfast and then packing and were picked up from Koala at 10am.   For the return transfer it was straight to the airport and we were at Las Palmas within half an hour.  The Ryanair check in queue was very long.  Not good for Phil, he doesn’t do queueing, in fact he doesn’t do airports and particularly return journeys.  We eventually checked in our one bag and barely had time to grab a Burger King only just making in to the gate for the last call which was just as well, because it gave Phil no time to whine. The flight was packed full and we were very lucky to get seats together.  I was glad when we touched base in Birmingham 30 minutes ahead of schedule.  All was going well until we saw all the bags come off the baggage carousel but no sign of our bag.  In the end, a Ryanair representative said that 25 bags had been kept back in Las Palmas because the plane was overweight.  Great, of course our bag had to be one of the 25.  It wasn’t such a big deal because Phil’s case was mostly full of dirty washing but it has also all of our toiletries, my make;up bag and the power lead to my laptop.  Fingers crossed it turns up today or tomorrow.  I’m guessing they will courier to us, I dunno, it’s been years since we lost luggage.

We called the hotel taxi shuttle once through customs and they said they we had to take a tram to the train station and wait half an hour for the pickup.  I wasn’t happy with this especially when they said it would cost 30 quid.  I said sod this and we caught a black cab from outside Arrivals.  Once again this was a rip off £25 for a nine minute journey time back to the Coventry Hill hotel to collect our car but what else could we do?   I hate being ripped off but at least the car was still where we left it, it started first time and we got back home just within the hour. 

Harriet was home and it was obvious that she had cleaned the house, which pleased me as you can imagine.  It was strange coming home from holiday and not having to load the washing machine.  Phil phoned George and found out the Wednesday night was cancelled but Phil phoned Steve, who has it happened, fancied a pint, so he picked Phil up and they went to The Black Horse for a couple. 

Needless to say Phil was very reluctant about going back to work this morning, especially after having such a nice time away.  The early alarm call was a bit of shock to the system but at least it will be a short working week.  We’ve been back less than 24 hours and already, its like we’ve never been away.  I’ve been to Asda, Tesco, the post office; I’ve made some soup and a big pot of chilli and rice. The fridge is stocked back up again with healthy stuff.  Both Phil & I have both put on 4 pounds this week which, I have to say, came as a bit of a surprise.  I don’t think we pigged out and we also had lots of love walks.  It’s back on the bike for Phil tonight and back to the gym regime for me tomorrow and I’m sure with some home cooking that the pounds will start to come off once again.

Goodbye Gran Caneria

So this is our last day of our holiday here in Maspalomas and I am ashamed to say that is has, been yet again another serene, gentle one.  I didn’t wake up until 8am after a 12 hour sleep and only then did I stir because Phil jumped in my bed beside me.  He’d been awake since 5am and was bored of reading his book I think. Bless him; after breakfast the genius in him awoke and he said he needed to work some more on his book.  That was fine by me, after a quick wash and change I headed out into the nearby complex apartment blocks in search of some fiction. It’s pointless in our complex, all of the paperbacks are in German but no worries, after half an hour of in and out of complex blocks pretending to be a guest thankfully I stumbled across a good selection of books in a nearby reception.  It saved the day because I can read 5 books a day and I’m on a 4 hour flight tomorrow so that’s at least 3 books and more if we are delayed.

As I said before, today certainly wasn’t strenuous but then again, none of our days here in Gran Canaria have been so why change the scenario for one’s last day, it wouldn’t make sense.  After  my book hunt and an hour sunbathing by the pool, I made Phil stop his writing and we got a taxi to the Rambo Shopping centre in Playa De Ingles where I picked up a couple of cartons of L&B fags, one for Sue and one for HH.   We then walked down through the town and onto the boulevard by the sand dunes.  I quite fancied some tapas but Phil spotted another Chinese, cheap as chips buffet, 6.95 euros per head and I have to say the food looked good.  As I said the other day, buffet grub is not a good option for Phil, but under my careful inspection he was quite good and well, who am I to deny him on his last day and his last supper.  The restaurant was immaculate, the view across the dunes and down to the ocean was lovely and the service was really good.  I didn’t fill my boots but I ate enough to suffice and after an hour or so we were on our way, walking to the end of the path. 

Last time we did this walk we headed in land onto roads and paths and it took an age to get back to the lighthouse.  This time, Phil begged me to walk across the sand dunes and I duly complied, however 30 minutes in, I realised what a bad idea this was.  It was middle of the day heat, we had no water and we made the mistake of walking amongst the dunes and the wild bushes rather than head down towards the sea.  Bad idea, the sand was so hot I couldn’t walk without my ballet pumps which was difficult, given that they were laden with sand.  But what was worse, was that we didn’t realise that the sand dunes were a haven attraction for nude gay men.  We must have seen over a hundred.  This freaked Phil just a little, he is just a scaredy cat sometimes.  What fascinated me most, was the amount of middle aged men that were walking around with a hat and a vest but with no pants with their dingly bits dangling, actually some weren’t dangling they were erect.  Now I am no prude, I can understand ‘en natural’ but why the vest, the hat and the rucksack.  We saw two young men having sex and poor Phil, by this time, was nearly hyperventilating!  I thinks what was worse, were the fully dressed middle aged blokes spying on the young blokes in the bushes.  Yuk, a bit freaky and I admit, even I was glad to make it to the ocean by Palm Beach hotel, albeit one and a half hours later.   It was a hot walk in more ways than one!

Luckily we were just in time, with only seconds to spare, to catch the free shuttle bus back to Koala apartments.  I can’t quite believe this is our last day and in fact our last evening, time seems to have flown.  Whilst trekking through the dunes we both said that we couldn’t remember the last time we came away on holiday without hiring either a bike or a car.  We certainly haven’t been that adventurous on this trip and I can only apologise if this blog has been a little flat.  But then in saying that, Phil said just last night, that he had really relaxed this week and had enjoyed have a ‘normal holiday’ so maybe I take back my apology; the main thing is that he has had a good week away and my most important objection has been achieved. Given everything, it was really important to me, that Phil had a nice holiday. It doesn’t matter for me so much but still, I have had a good time, in spite of my heavy cold.   Tomorrow we get the transfer pick up at 10am in readiness for a 12.20 pm flight back home.   So it will be Goodbye Gran Canarias, we’ve seen, we’ve done but I don’t think we’ve really conquered.  No, we haven’t that is for sure, but what we have done, we have enjoyed, and you can’t say better than that.   I don’t believe you can judge an island if you don’t venture far from your complex but we’ve enjoyed seeing the southern tip of GC and hopefully there will be other opportunities to come back in the future.  For now, I must shove stuff the dirty washing into my back pack and get ready for departure tomorrow.  Adios mon amigo, see you soon, back in the UK.  Just keep your fingers crossed we’re not delayed.  All being well, Phil is hoping we arrive back just in time for me to drop him off for his weekly rendezvous with the Wednesday night boys.  See, some things never change and that’s just fine by me.