Blog

Whilst sitting here musing in my ‘duplex’ in Gran Canaria, I am reflecting on, why here? Come to that everything is reflecting thanks to the INCESSANT RAIN! Ah yes, I came here to escape the English winter. I am reliably informed that during the first two days of last week we received a whole year’s quantity of rain. Since then we have had three sunny days and dull cloud for the rest of the time. Now, according to the weather bureau we have our very own depression. Oh lucky us, it’s caused by the weather…. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to hear that a Canary Island hurricane is brewing up just in time for the Christmas Season. In fact I have already made preparations naming, it aptly for this island, “Puff, the Magic Drag-Queen” Yesterday the authorities announced that all the schools on the island would be closed today because of the extreme weather forecast (I thought it was only the NUT’s...

I have now been on the island for two months, which is a third of my sentence served. Mr Innes at the Car Club has quite rightly taken me to task for not posting anything on here for several weeks and I should have enough time spare to do so. I have settled in really quite well and developed a weekly routine. I have joined a very well equipped gym and go there Monday and Friday mornings, and depending on other activities some Wednesdays. I go into the interior of the island once a week and walk around the mountains which are beautiful with some great views. The island is very varied in its vegetation with the north being really quite green and the south, very barren. I have fallen in with a group of classic car enthusiasts and attended a couple of their Sunday displays for the general public (similar to the shopping/garden centre event the MGCC do). There are some...

On arriving on Gran Canaria I wasn’t totally convinced that staying for six months was really a very good idea. Certainly you can’t fault the climate, with the onset of winter the temperature has dropped to mid/high twenties, but the tourist industry here is so big that most of the islands culture is difficult to find. However, I am beginning to find my way around and the interior of the island is excellent for walking, climbing and generally exploring. The island has three separate climatic systems; the south of the island is very similar to mid-north Africa, the centre of the island receives a little rain and a great deal of cloud and the north of the island is Mediterranean. The centre is mountainous with the highest point just under 2000 metres. The mountains are fairly barren but have deep valleys that are well populated with tropical vegetation and pine woods. The wild life (as opposed to the night life which is...