Tenerife

(To see the full size photos, just click on them!)

It's sunny, there is land nowhere to be seen, just the wake of gloucester doing 26 knots, having spent the last 2 days in Tenerife. Last sunday (3 days ago) at sea, the club swinger (Physical training instructor) organised the first flight-deck sports of the deployment: Bucketball. The 2 stokers teams fought hard but lost, but then they didn't have me playing, as I was taking photographs and films... and also getting sunburnt. I then made a not so impressive decision to get my hair cut short... but not as short as it eventually turned out to be. This will become apparant in the photos. (Unfortunately I look a little "special" now... Or ill. Not to worry, I hope to blend my head back to normal over the next few days....)
We docked in Santa Cruz, Tenerife for 2 days, although on the first day I was duty, so couldn't go exploring at all. So I had 1 day in Tenerife basically, and my mission was to explore as much of it as I could. I accumulated a group of 6 of us together, we headed into town, and bought 2 hire cars for £70! We then headed straight for Volcano Teide, which is 3719m high, but we could drive up for the majority of it, and it also provided us with one of the most scenic tours I've ever done. Infact, for when the scenery wasn't absolutely stunning, I was reviewing the hire car as if I was a top gear presenter... anyway, you can see a few of my photos below. I took absolutely hundreds though!
And, it was pretty much the best road I've ever driven on. I just wish I had some nifty sports car and not a Fiat Panda. I am never going to buy a 1 litre car. Ever.

We didn't actually do the whole 3719m, since at the top the air was SO thin I was getting really dizzy and faint. It was icy cold and wet, so we basically walked around the summit for a bit, probably about 3600 metres up. But to get to the top was a very dangerous path. Honest. I'm not a cop-out! And then just when I thought I was getting far enough away from the UK to be completely satisfied, bumped into a couple in their 60s.... from Pompey. It always happens!
On the way down from the volcano, which was a long winding drive, we stopped off for a hamburger in a really picturesque little village called Santiago del Teide- completely deserted of tourists, and then we drove on round to the north side of Tenerife, to Puerto De-la Cruz. I did have a couple of heart-stopping moments in the journey, coping with drivng on the right side of the road... which inevitably led to some bad driving decisions! Nevertheless- Puerto was very nice, quite a holiday resort but not too tourist-y. We then drove back round, stopped at La Laguna, which was a complete dive, and then were back at the ship in Santa Cruz by 11pm. An absolutely brilliant day- only marred by the fact that we appear to have dragged the portsmouth weatherfront with us! For long periods it was all overcast and murky while we were there.

So, onwards I go. Not feeling an ounce of homesickness so far- maybe because of my excitement about everything- maybe because I've pretty much brought my house with me, or perhaps another reason but it means I'm having a whale (-pun, har har) of a time! -and I'm enjoying my job which is always good when you're away for so long. The atmosphere with people onboard is very much more relaxed and everyone was pleased to have a good run ashore in Tenerife.

These panoramic photos were taken at about 2000m half way up the volcano. The other photos are of 5 of us chilling in Puerto De La Cruz, and a long straight road in the middle of a giant volcanic field of rock, above these is the ship alongside in Santa Cruz. The photo below these is Volcano Teide from a level road at about 2000m above sea level.

Here is the 6 nomads wandering round Tenerife in a hire car for the day... (Well no, actually Puns couldn't say no to stopping for a Sangria at an english bar playing english music... we were served by a girl from Oldham. Oh dear). The cap I am wearing is a SLOW NORRIS cap that I bought from a merchandise store in Santa Cruz. Slow Norris are massive in spain these days... Left to right: Puns, Olly, Pat, Chris, Ras and myself (with no hair).


And the last picture is a view back down the cable car line from about 3600m up Volcano Teide.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, 17 June 2009 at 17.6.09 and is filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.

4 responses to "Tenerife"

  1. Great photos, the car goes with your haircut- bit short on possibilities.

    Anonymous
    18/6/09 07:50

  2. I've never seen a head as white as yours

    Gemma
    19/6/09 16:01

  3. Looks fantastic - glad you're having fun! Take care xx

    (halloumi)

    Anonymous
    21/6/09 22:21

  4. Halloumi!?

    ...mmmmm

    Doug
    21/6/09 22:50

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