Winter Sun in the Canaries with Midi, Ase & Isobel

Winter Sun in the Canaries

We couldn't resist jumping in the hotel pool straight away! We had a great time practising our swimming and splashing around. 

We also loved relaxing on the sun loungers, soaking up the warm sun.

 

We were so lucky that our hotel was situated just a short walk from Costa Teguise beach. We enjoyed our morning strolls along the promenade, browsing the lovely souvenir shops, too.  

 

Down at the harbour the sea was glistening in the sun and some of the boats looked very impressive. We set sail and admired the beautiful scenery, eventually stopping near a small private beach. 

 

The boat offered a variety of water sports and our thrill-seeking group grabbed the opportunity to ride the bouncy banana boat and paddle in the kayaks. The boat also had a glass bottom and we sat below and watched all the fish as the crew fed them from above.

Every night at the hotel we were entertained by some spectacular live shows. We sang along to the well know ABBA hits and laughed our socks off at the hilarious comedian. 

Not to mention dancing the night away to the disco classics and enjoying a fabulous holiday cocktail! 

 

 Our day trip to the Timanfaya National Park and the lava fields,  formed during the 18th and 19th century volcanic eruptions was incredible. We visited El Golfo, also known as the Green Lagoon. This lake is formed in the crater of an old volcano and owes its colour to a type of algae that grows there. It was an amazing sight to see.

We stopped at the Camel Park where we had a very wobbly ride through the most incredible landscape. We felt like we were in the desert.

In the centre of the Fire Mountains we learnt about geothermal energy as the hot volcanic hole had water poured into it and within seconds a huge powerful jet of steam blew out of the hole.

To finish the day off we visited the Vineyards of La Geria for a buffet lunch and a spot of wine tasting. We especially enjoyed this bit!

Throughout the week we participated in all the activities on offer. Mark came 9th out of 21 in the darts tournament! What a great achievement.

 

When we weren't exploring you would find us at the the fabulous beach. We had great fun splashing and jumping the waves. 

We hopped on the bus to the local market which was a great opportunity for the group to buy gifts and souvenirs to take home. We sampled some of the local cakes, which were a delicious treat before admiring the beautiful church.

At the end of the week we were called up onto the stage and were presented with certificates and medals for taking part and winning the activities during our stay!

Bowling & Pool Competition with Nick, Candy & Rachel

Bowling & Pool Competition

It was game on as we excitedly made our way to the bowling alley for the first round  of our competition.

Everyone played incredibly well with some high scores and some awesome strikes. We kept note of the scores so they could be added to the next game. 

Keen to get the competition started we headed to the Pool and Snooker Club. We picked our ‘lucky’ cue’s and eagerly awaited the draw as to who was playing whom. It was a best of three, with the winners going through to the semi-finals. After some skilful potting and some accurate shots, we soon had our semi-finalists. 

When we weren't potting balls or knocking down pins we had fun in the arcades playing on the penny machines, shooting some baskets and playing air hockey. 

It was a tense match as everybody upped their game. The competition was extremely close between Stuart and Phil who played the best of seven games. We finally had our winner and we crowned Stuart champion for the men and Debbie was victorious for the girls. They were very gracious winners and gave their opponents a handshake and congratulated each other on a brilliant end to the competition. 

We took to the bowling alley for another nail biting few games. Practise definitely makes perfect as all of us achieved some really high scores! The competition was extremely close and only we knew the end result! 

 

Everyone was feeling slightly nervous as we announced the overall winners of our tournament.  Everyone was awarded with a medal and a certificate for their brilliant play and sportsmanship. With a huge drum roll the four trophies were then presented to Stuart and Debbie for winning the pool competition and to Ian and Carol for winning the bowling. Everyone clapped and cheered as they held their prize, high in the air.