Cazadores, Gran Canaria

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 pretty wild) consists of lizards, small mammals, nothing much larger than a rabbit, birds of prey, woodpeckers, green parrots and wood pigeon. There are no insects or reptiles here that have dangerous bites, stings or that try to eat you, a few humans might try, but …..

I now have a book of some twenty-five different walks scattered around the island (the walks not the book) that I purchased from one of the hiking companies on the island. They run guided walks, but the value for money was not impressive whereas the book is really all you need unless you want to be part of a group. Bridget has been enjoying a well deserved rest most of the time with the occasional run-out to the interior. The roads, with the exception of the main coastal motorway, are narrow, winding and often steep. You need good brakes and that is what made me realise that Bridget’s felt a little spongy. I decided to bleed the brakes but as with most work it is a lot easier if you can raise the car off the ground. I was told about a car restoration company working from premises near the airport and took Bridget there. Bleeding the brakes is no more than a 20 minute job at the most so I expected to be back on the beech by lunchtime.

I was just walking away from the vehicle when they lifted the hoist and I heard the garage owner say “What’s that?” I turned just as he reached out and touched the front offside wheel. It wobbled like a loose tooth. Clearly the bearing was totally shot and yet earlier in the week another garage had carried out a check and correction for her tracking! How they had missed the problem with her bearing I do not know. Fortunately I had a spare bearing set that the garage will fit on Monday. The nearside front one is also going, but will last until a replacement arrives from Moss. So for now I shall get plenty of walking until Bridget is fit once more

2 Comments

  • Tony Thomas

    hello roy lovely meeting you in gran canaria I have made several calls to classic car dealers and the general opinion is to get the exposure necessary use the mg club as you thought and that on their web site it could get a lot of interest in the mean time I will be on the case .regards tony

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