We expected today to be long and hilly so we started early for us – 08:20. It was not fully light & there was a heavy mist.
As Jerez was our far point we retraced our route as far as Arcos on quiet roads. We made good progress through the mist and were both covered in condensation.
At Jedula and stopped for breakfast – the standard cheese on toast as the waitress didn’t understand how I asked for eggs !
Getting on my bike after breakfast I noticed a rear puncture. So it was bags off to investigate. A large glass shard was the cause – grrrr…
Puncture repaired & on the road again to Arcos where the traffic was heavy. Out of Arcos we found one of our roads just didn’t exist ! Rerouting required…
From Arcos our new route was hilly and on a main road. It was reasonably quiet but Sazz decided quieter roads were needed. So we detoured onto “C” roads.
The “C” roads then turned into a miserable bumpy dirt track. Sazz said this was great fun and part of the adventure. I just felt it was like riding a fully laden touring bike over a ploughed field. Hence no photos.
Anyway we made it to El Bosque about 3:30ish. We sat on a bench and used booking.com to find a room. For €42 the hotel El Tabanco seemed a bargin. It turned out to be a little tired but with friendly staff.
Nice views from one of the smoother sections of dirt road
Lazy start and breakfast at a street cafe… So far during our travels my Spanish has not been received well by the locals. Despite my best efforts nobody’s understood a word I’ve said and then had to ask (in English) what I want.
…until today. I ordered cheese on toast and two coffees for breakfast. Not only did the guy understand me but he complimented me on my Spanish !
…and again at lunch. We had drinks and tapas in a back street bar and again the guy understood me.
The Sherry education started here…
Following a long lunch discussing our route to Rhonda we decided on a tour of the Tio Pepe winery for the afternoon.
Tio Pepe ? Looks remarkably like Stewart Holdsworth to me !
Really interesting tour… did you know there are only two grape varieties used to make sherry. Also Sherry is a protected name like champagne. Anyway they’ve got quite a bit of Sherry here…
Rows of sherry casks – oldest at the bottom & youngest at the top. There’s a decanting process. Sherry is taken from the bottom casks. Then younger Sherry is decanted into the older Sherry barrels to refill them. 500 litres per barrel – now that’s a session ?
Thought she preferred (snatching) milk…
We then went for a tasting… ?
Good measures ?
I’ll not bore you with the tasting notes but interestingly Croft is the only one that the Spanish don’t drink. It’s produced and exported solely for the UK !
Then it got a little silly. Brits abroad…
My farorite was the Croft – I’m such a philistine We then went for a cultural tour of the sites before more beer and tapas…
….or “I’m going to get a taxi and you can’t stop me.“
Todays mileage: 40
Total mileage: 146
Disasters: Zero ?
An early (for us) start today at 9:30am with Jerez as our target. Nothing special or spectacular about the mornings cycling, it was just pleasent rolling countryside.
Quiet roads & considerate drivers ?
We stopped for a late breakfast at a roadside cafe on the ring road round Arcos de la Fontera. It didn’t look much but the guy was lovely and really welcoming. He got us a toasted cheese sandwich but also brought tomato & tomato sauce. Now that’s not the Heinz type but proper pureed tomatoes. A lovely brunch for €6. Great value that would even make a Yorkshireman smile !
Arcos de la Frontera
From Arcos we got lucky with some cycle paths along what could have been busy roads. Then we followed a “service” road parallel to the motorway. This was really quiet and took us to the outskirts of Jerez where we passed the famous racing circuit.
Tonight Matthew I am Valentio Rossi – Sadly there was security on the gates so I couldn’t get in for a look round ☹
After this it started to get busy. I used Windy maps to navigate to our flat for the next two days. Windy’s navigation worked well and took us down cycle paths right into the centre. Well done Windy but really well done Spain for having such great cycle paths. Have to say Sarah doesn’t like busy roads. Her catch phrase of the day was “I’m going to get a taxi and you can’t stop me” (Now Sarah says I need to qualify this – busy = big fast lorries on narrow roads. )
Our apartment for two nights is lovely and very near to the centre of town. Again €70 for two nights is great value.
We wandered out for food & had a lovely meal at this spot.
Then a drink outside a local bar – the tree gives a clue to the climate here…
The airbnb apartment was lovely – right in the centre of the Old Town. The only problem was it was right near the town clock who’s bell chimed every hour. This made for a broken nights sleep. The decor was a throwback to the 70’s but for €40 we couldn’t complain.
Phil would love the decor here…
We slept in late and had breakfast on our roof terrace.
After a lazy breakfast we walked up to the fort and paid €2 for a look round.
Inside the fort was Wolfgang Berus coffin. Haven’t a clue who he is so I’m going to google him when I’ve a minute…
Wolfgang Berus coffin. Could do with a clean!
We then started todays ride. We’d chosen the Via Verde de la Sierra. It’s a 25 mile long cycle path from Olvera to Puerto Serrano.
If Carlsberg did cycle paths this would be it….
No cars ✔
Stunning scenery ✔
Eagles flying above you ✔
Bars on route ✔
Blazing sunshine ✔
30 tunnel and 4 viaducts ✔
25 miles long ✔
DOWN HILL ALL THE WAY ✔
Tunnels were great – about a 15°C temperature drop inside…
Oh and did I mention it was down hill all way ? Originally designed to be a railway but never finished and turned into a cycle/walking path. If you’re a cyclist & in this area then the Via Verde de la Sierra is a must !
Proper down hill all the way ?
On reaching Puerto Serrano we discovered there wasn’t much accommodation. Provably because its a bit of a hole & no-one would want to stay there. So we pushed on to Villamartin where we got a 1 bed apartment for the night.
We booked it through Booking.com which was easy. They gave us a confirmation, the door code and maps to get there – what could go wrong…
Well the door code didn’t work & the contact we called no hablo englasie.
Anyway he obviously understood we couldn’t get in & came round. All sorted in a ground floor flat. Clean and a querky design – the only thing I don’t like are the plasticised paper sheets on the bed. Never had these before & really not comfy – feels like I’m sleeping in a bastard paper bag ?
Our evening meal was at the Los Cazadores resturant. It was a husband & wife operation – she cooked & he did everything else. The food was lovely but he was the most miserable unwelcomeing bastard possible. Now I was thinking Brits & Brexit but he was miserable to the locals as well. The bill was only €37 including beers & wine so I suppose courtesy was extra.
The mornings cycling was as good as you can get. Quiet roads through some stunning scenery. El Chorro is beautiful.
El Chorro gorge…
We had breakfast at Ardales and considered our route – the roads I’d chosen were a little busy. The compromise was a little longer but used some tracks, minor roads and about 19 miles on the main road.
Now the last section on main road was reasonably quiet but all up hill.
So it was a fuck off big hill in the sun – I got heat stroke. Definitly ruined the evening !
Anyway our £40 AirB&B was a lovely house in the old town.
Both of us didn’t have the best nights sleep for no particular reason so we woke late ~9am Spanish time. After final packing and pumping tyres it was time to store the bike boxes for the two weeks.
We hit the road about 10:20. Luckly it’s sunday & the streets were relatively quiet. We’re using Maps.me on my phone with pre-prepared route overlays (kml files). This made navigating city streets relatively easy.
We were stopped by a man with a gun for 10 mins while the Malaga half marathon went by.
Malaga half marathon…
We continued through urban sprawl till Pizarra where we stopped for some lunch. It was a busy locals cafe with three large horses tethered outside – suppose that beats the drink driving rules.
Now my Spanish is pretty shit but we managed to order two coffees and two cheese toasties. Coffees were lovely – almost up to Costa Fryers standards !
As we’d a few miles in our legs by now (no breakfast) we ordered the same again – or so we thought. Two takeaway coffees and two wrapped toasties were delivered – not sure what we said to order that ! Anyway coffees were drunk and toasties saved for later.
Second round was takeaway – maybe it was a hint !
From Pizarra the traffic thinned and we started climbing into the mountains. Hot going – Garmin said 24°C.
Talking of traffic I have to say that the Spanish are very courteous and respectful drivers. Everyone slowed to pass us and gave us plenty of room.
We saw loads of club cyclists so I think the route we’d picked was a popular cycling route with numerous signs on giving cyclists room. Such a contrast to the UK.
The road to El Chorro… note the shadows and blue sky ?Crossing the dam at El Chorro…
El Chorro’s small but quite busy with tourists. The draw is walking and climbing. El Caminito del Rey is the famous walk which passes through stunning scenery, at times on elevated walkways along shear rock faces.
Part of the Caminito del Rey walk… we didn’t have time to do this so the photos ripped off google images ?
We’d booked the hotel La Garganta while having lunch. It turned out to be lovely – a hotel with character. The room is over two floors with a spiral staircase up to the bedroom & bathroom. Trouble is the spiral staircase is TINY. How you’d get a suitcase up is beyond me…
…and it didn’t help that the top step was lose & wobbled !
Another quirk of the hotel room was the shower. A precarious climb in when wet & the highest water pressure I’ve ever experienced in a domestic supply – great for massaging aching limbs but far too strong for the family jewels ?
10/10 for style but 2/10 for access…
The hotel restaurant was lovely but again my Spanish let me down. I tried to order a jug of water for the table “jarra de agua” but the waitress couldn’t understand my pronunciation. Made her laugh anyway before coming back in perfect english. Well it wasn’t perfect but better vocabulary than a few brits I know.
Todays journey to Malaga started with an unhappy face. Jess didn’t want us to leave her. Nice to know but I’m sure she’ll be spoiled rotten by Keith & Joanne.
The journey to East Midlands airport went smoothly with the only hiccup – being charged £5 for rapid drop off. Rip-off Britain – Grrrrr
The airport itself was quiet & baggage check-in was smooth with no queuing. Surprising given we had two bikes.
At the outsized baggage desk I went first. Lucky I did because the computer selected my box for a random inspection. Mines a bike box Allan so was easily opened. Sarah’s bikes taped up in a cardboard box which would have been a nightmare to open & re-tape after.
After the bikes & bags had gone down the conveyor for a good kicking we went outside and ate our lunch on a concrete anti terrorist block. Not the best location but away from the great unwashed in the terminal.
We went through security (randomly picked for a scan) and through to duty free shops. Here Rip-off Britain went into overdrive with a bag of M&M’s retailing at £6.
The flight was only 2/3 full and pretty uneventful. Malaga airport was efficient except for the Spanish immigration officer who threw our passports back at us. A consequence of Brexit I would imagine. But pretty disappointing as I’d said hello and thank you in my best Spanish ?
The plan was to get a bus from the airport to our hotel in Malaga. The internet said it was “Linea A”. In the end this worked well but not till after a little asking around.
The hotel is basic but clean with friendly staff. A randon drunk guy helped with the biked up the stairs to the hotel reception. Friendly and articulate (in English) unlike your average uk pisshead. I tipped him €5 which he was well happy with.
Bike rebuilding…
We built the bikes up and then went for a quick meal.
The day started with a hearty breakfast and a chat with our new Kiwi friends that we met in the bar last night.
After sayimg our goodbyse and telling the manager about the beadside lamp that was arking we set off about 9:30.
We were looking forward to today because it was essentially a downhill ride – see the strava profile below…
Lovely route through beautiful countryside with the return of trees – I love trees.
We met up with Richard & Helen at Bonar Bridge for lunch.
Lunch at Bonar Bridge…
After Bonar Bridge the route took us on the main A roads towards Inverness. We made it as far as Tain, called it a day and got the train the last 20 miles. It was busy traffic and loads of big wagons.
Phil, a friend who lives in inverness came and picked us up ftom Inverness and we had a very pleasant night at his house in Gorthleck – thanks Phil ?
Anyway a summary of today’s route…
And that’s the end of our trip. So far this blog is rambling words written while half asleep after a days cycling. Hopefully I’ll put together some useful info on Orkneys and Shetland soon.
Yesterday’s short day threw our plan out the window. We had a rethink over breakfast…
What a difference the weather makes. Dry & little wind today so the new plan was to get some miles done. The options were Altnaharra, Crask or (at a push) Lairg. Several phone calls later and were booked into the Crask Inn. We started off about 9am.
Not much to tell really – pleasent and uneventful days cycling through beautiful countryside. As with all phone photos they don’t do the scenery justice.
Around Betty Hill…On the road side at Betty HillLunch at Tongue ?Typical cycling…The road just short of Crask…Bothy – could have saved money and stayed there but Sarah said it smelt of shit…Arrival at the Crask Inn and an NC1 sign…
Anyway a summary of todays route…
The Crask inn is lovely. Ill write more on that when less tired…
It was a windy and wet night and neither of us slept well. We were up by 8am, showered and got the tent down before the rain started.
The couple who ran the camp site took pity on us and gave us breakfast – eggs and toast. Really nice people as we’d only got two jelly babies to keep us going till Thurso !
They’d got two beautiful dogs who took an interest in our breakfast. The Husky’s eyes looked mean but she was soft as grease really ?
We started cycling in windy but dry conditions. The sections on the main road were grim because of traffic. The back roads were hilly but scenic.
Dunnet Head in the distance.
Then the rain started, the wind increased and it became colder. Cycling became a real sense of humour test ?
We stopped at a small shop (porta-cabin) for takeaway hot chocolate and macaroni cheese & beans pie. While we were refuelling in the lee of the cabin (by the bins) we decided we weren’t going to make Tongue today. Several Google searches and phone calls later & we were booked in at the Melvich Hotel – at about half our original target distance.
It was now about 1pm and that only left us about 12 miles for the day ? As if to vindicate our decision the rain eased.
We met two interesting cyclists on route. A girl called Hanna who does LEJOG every year on her own and a guy from Suffolk who was touring Scotland for a month. The guy from Suffolk was camping and wasn’t too happy as it had rained for nearly all his trip !
Anyway a summary of todays route…
Day 9: Kirkwall, Orkneys to Dunnet Head on the Mainland…
Baldricks plan for the day was cycle down the east coast of Orkney, across the Churchill barriers and down to Burwick to get the foot ferry to JoG. From JoG a short cycle to Dunnet Head camp site.
It turned into a game of two halves. The ride to the ferry was great with some interesting stuff on route. Tje the weather crapped out and it was a real sense of humour test to the the camp site.
Easy cycling out of Kirkwall to the first Churchill barrier
Churchill barrier
There are four Churchill barriers with info boards at each.
On the first island making up the barriers is the Italian Chapel. This is a small church constructed by Italian PoW’s during WW2.
A block ship – the Reginald…
Block ships were sunk to prevent German U boat attacks until the barries were built. Interestingly this one featured in Eurithmics music video “Here Comes The Rain Again”
Info on the block ships…
Then onto the ferry. Nice views of Duncansby Head but the weather’s crapping out…
Duncansby Head.Obligatory photograph at JoG
Then the weather really crapped out for our cycle to Dunnet Head. The head wind was horrendous and we ended up getting there about 8pm.
We just got the tent up before the rain really came down. We were shattered and ate ready meals in the tent before a broken nights sleep because of the wind.
Todays plan – breakfast, find some Twatt, cycle to Lerwick. Look round Lerwick and catch ferry to Kirkwall. Albert Hotel for the night. Simples…
We started out of Brae with the sun and wind on our backs. We averaged over 13 mph from Brae to Voe. This isn’t bad when carrying 20kg of luggage. All down to the tail wind – not my legs !
First stop was another honesty cafe for a rather nice slice of pear and cinnamon cake.
This stop also had goats. We made a friend…
So far a pleasent days cycling but I was getting excited because it happened again…
After Twatt it was only about 12 miles to Lerwick. There were some long hills but stunning scenery…
We had a lovely meal in C’est la Vie french cafe. It wasn’t cheap but “proper” food. I had Tartiflette & Sazz had king prawns. Would recommend if you’re ever in the neighbourhood.
Then onto the ferry for a few hours of boredom only broken by a “fly by” of Fair lsle. Crap photo but they don’t clean the windows like the used too…
Fair Isle and the Skroo Northern Lighthouse..
Then it was a dash from the ferry to the Albert hotel for the first disaster of the holiday…
We arrived at the Albert at about 11:30. When we were finally shown our room it was a massive luxury room – price tag for the night £180. Seems I’ve messed up when booking Doh…
Now that would have been ok if we were there long enough to enjoy it. Sadly were arriving late & leaving early for the ferry to JoG… Anyway the bed was huge & comfy…
The idea was that today was a bit of a rest day for exploring the area round Brae. Weathers ok with light winds and no rain ?
After a lazy start we set off west up th A970 with the idea of lunch at Hillswick.
Normally we’d avoid cycling on A roads but this is a Shetland A road – single track and very little traffic.
The first interesting site was this road sign…
Sadly none in site
The next point of interest was Mavis Grind. This is a place where the Atlantic and North seas come within 100 yards of each other.
This was an important crossing point as the info board below explains…
We had lunch at the bay in Hillswick and what a beautiful bay it is…
On route we’d met a local and his kids who’d told us about a circulsr route home. This took us past the local woods ! Yes contrary to popular belief there are trees on Shetland – just very few & hidden from the wind in a small valley…
Some small trees hidden in a small depression…A summary of today’s route…
The day started by being kept awake by a group of chav scum Glaswegians partying in the adjacent youth hostel till the early hours… Grrrr ?
Baldrick has a cunning plan – a new plan…
After the rowdy night we hatched a new plan which involved not staying another night next to the Glaswegians. The new plan was to cycle without baggage to the top of Shetland to finish the NC1. Then cycle back (via campsite) and onto Brae with our baggage. This will be approximately 50 miles – another big day when carrying 20kg of kit.
Instead of booking camping we went for the 4* Brae hotel. With a weather front coming in it would give us a little luxury and an opportunity to wash some clothes.
On the road north…
We passed an honisty bus stop shop. After the chav scum weegies this again restored my faith in human nature ?
Just nice…Yes we did buy some cakes…
Then we came across a mockup of a viking long house & ship. No time to look round as were were on a big day again.
Saxavord space centre surprised me. Can’t see how they’ll launch from Shetland – its just too windy. Have they never tried to launch fire work rockets in a strong wind – doh… Anyway they do have a web site www.saxavord.com/ if you’re interested.
After many hills we finally reached it – the end of the NC1…
We’ve done it ! The road really did stop – we could go no further north.The beach here was stunning but no time for sunbathing…
The road really did stop – we could go no further north. So we turned round and set off for Brae via the camp site.
Our route took us past Sullom Voe oil terminal. This almost looked deserted apart from one flare stack burning.
Sullum Voe oil terminal…An information board by the teminal…
A long descent bought us into Brae to our 4* hotel – The Brae Hotel. We were greeted by a girl who had lived in Cockers until her partner got a job here. The hotel appeared clean but basic. She said the hotel was “quite busy” at the moment.
The first thing we noticed was our room key 226 also opened room 224 – a little worrying !
Then we noticed this…
Haven’t seen one of these since the 80’s…
We went down for dinner and were served by the receptionist who appears to do everything! In fact apart from the chef she was the only staff on in this ” busy” hotel.
The ferry to Shetland is really stress free. Turn up, friendly staff give you the crack & get on simples… The cabin we had was clean and well equipped with a shower & loo. All in good nick & not worn out.
The only problem with this ferry is there’s not enough time to sleep. You have to exit the ship at 7:30am.
Sarah had read in a cycling blog that the ferry breakfast was the best in Lerwick ! We headed to the restaurant with high hopes only to see that it was combinations of sausage, bacon or egg in a bun. Bit sad for Lerwick if that’s the best in town!
Our route today…
Lerwick to Unst – our route for the day. Shetland is windy and hilly. Both make a big difference when you’re touring. Today we were lucky and the wind was with us and the sun on our backs.
World record ?
As we got ready for todays cycle I realised that it was day 5 for this pair of cycling shorts – questipn for my cycling friends – is that a world record ? Not sure it’s one I want but we’ve had zero opportunities for washing and more importantly drying clothes. My merino tee shirt is also day 5 and showing sweat stains but no smell ?
Dissapointments…
Disappointments = 1 today. We got some snacks from a small garage on route. One part of my sugar intake was a Yorkie bar. I haven’t had one for a while and was really surprised how small they are now. The length seems the same but the chunks are so small now ☹
Little wins…
When we got off the ferry at Ulsta we got a Macaroni cheese and bean pie. Sounds grim but it was lush. If you ever see one try it.
Lush Scottish cuisine…
Shetland ponies…
Met these guts on route friendly & so small ?
Uyeasound Hostel and Camp site…
This is a beautiful location on the shore of Uyea Sound.
Uyea Sound
No warden just rock up and pitch your tent.
Cooking in the evening sun. Not that warm though !
Le petit Cafe – faith in human nature restored…
On the seafront just fifty yards from out tent was this honisty cafe. Le petit Cafe – an honesty cafe.
It was stuffed with everything from crisps to cans of duck casserole. It had a kettle for teas & coffees and loads of french biscuits. We brought some biscuits and the honesty draw was full of cash. Restores your faith in human nature ?
Day 4: A day in Kirkwall before the night ferry to Shetland…
Desasters: none – because we got a shower in the end ?
The rain from 4pm to about 9:30 was biblical. Then it stopped allowing us to get some food and a good nights sleep. Luckly the tent stayed dry.
We woke with the plan of a long shower and a lazy start. Then we had all day to look round Kirkwall before the night ferry to Shetland.
As with all our plans things didn’t go quite to plan… We were told that the drains were blocked and the shower block could not be used ! We could however use the toilets in the nearby leisure centre with the promise of a shower later (drains permitting). So feeling lighter but still smelling we set off to explore Kirkwall for the day…
Our first stop was the “Beiting and Brew” street food van for breakfast. This was a great recommendation from Pat. The locations not great – an industrial estate near the vets but well worth a visit if you’re in the area.
Bean burritos and paprika chips with garlic mayo ?
Well fuelled we set off for Kirkwall. Our first mission was to find the local bike shop to buy me some cycling gloves – I’d left mine on the washing line back in Cockers.
After the bike shop we walked round the rest of Kirkwall. This didn’t take long because its really not that big !
We just wandered round the shops in lovely sunshine. But you know when you start looking for something…
Nice Tee shirts.
…but when you zoom in on the top shirt ?
So that gave purpose to our wander round Kirkwall – we were now on a Twatt hunt ! We now searched all the souvenir (tat) shops for Twatt.
We did find Judith Glue’s shop sold all sorts of Twatt gifts…
That’s Christmas sorted ?
Now sorted for Twatt we headed back to the campsite for showers an a chill before food at the Kirkwall Hotel.
Nice food at the Kirkwall though a little pricey. Then off to the ferry terminal…
Coffee and porrage for breakfast before packing quickly to get on the road – the forecast says bad rain at 4pm.
The sunshine lasted till about mid-day by which time we’d seen…
Stones of Stenness where we met a woman called Elaine from Cockers – whats the chances…
Ness of Brodgar archaeological dig. This was the last day of the dig for some unknown reason. Really helpful and enthusiastic staff.
Ring of Brodgar stone circle. Not as good as the one in Keswick but what do I know…
The site of Skara Brae though we didn’t go in because we’d not booked ?
The Brough of Birsay island. Pretty rock cave.
Stones of Stennes…Ness of Brodgar archeological dig…Info on the Ness dig…
All very nice but none of that was top of my “to see” list. Top of my list was the village of Twatt. Being a 55 year old with the mental age of 16 I found that village name highly amusing and wanted to visit for a selfie. Sad I know…
Sarah, being a grown up wanted to stick to the EV route so we parted ways at Scorne and arranged to meet at The Barony.
I struck out on my own with a little snigger and had soon detoured to Twatt. Though there was no Twatt ! The map said it was there, the gps said i was there but there was no place names anywhere. Even Twatt farm had no sign.
I was distraught. How could the residents of Twatt not have signs ? We’re they so humourless to not be proud Twattians ?
Then I saw it – a faded sign on a church bench – Twatt church. I got my selfie ?
Twatt church – the only Twatt sign in Twatt…
Happy now I pushed on and caught up with Sarah just outside Northside to report on the lack of Twatt in Twatt…
It was at this point the headwind really kicked in and reduced us to a crawl in places. Progress was slow but the scenery was beautiful in a barren sort of way.
We got to a junction by a disused quarry and there it was…
A sign to the village with no name…
From here on it was just hard going. The wind seemed to be relentless and always in our face. The last 15 miles to Kirkwall were a sense of humour test…
We arrived at the camp site at 4pm and just got the tent up before the heavens opened. More biblical rain. Weve been stuck in the tent since then. This is how the rain radar sees our situation…
We woke around 7am after a broken nights sleep. I never seem to sleep well the first night under canvass and last night was no exception. There’d been light rain over night but the day was dry and overcast.
Today’s plan was for a day ride round Hoy. We’d booked tickets by phoning Orkney ferries yesterday afternoon. No on-line booking but all the info and timetables can be found at www.orkneyferries.co.uk/
It was a short and picture postcard pretty journey to Hoy through the western approaches to Scapa Flow.
We landed at Linksness and cycled down the island to the light house at Ruff of Cantick.
We followed the main road which was single track all the way ! The route is undulating with no really steep gradients. No trees but the scenery was beautiful and the road was super quiet
We had our lunch at the Cantick lighthouse. If Carlsberg did lunch spots…
Lunch at Cantick Lighthouse
There was only one road down the island so a circular route was out and we were forced to retrace our route.
On the way back we stopped at the Longhope lifeboat disaster memorial
Our weather luck ran out with about 8 miles to go. It was light drizzle & not a full Scottish downpour which continued till we returned to Stromness.
Pasta for tea washed down with some Morgans Spiced and Coke ?
The Inverness City Travelodge is super convenient for the station – only a two minute walk. For once getting on the train was zero hassle (apart from the poor design of bike rack)
Our journey starts in bright sunshine for the 4 hour journey up what will be part of our route home. A stress free and senic journey.
Thurso station – the real start to our journey…
Only a short ride out of Thurso to the ferry terminal at Scrabster. The ferry was also stress free – we were allowed to board first and exit before all the cars. On route we passed the Old Man of Hoy
Old Man of Hoy…
The Point of Ness camp site is our home for the next two nights. It’s only a mile out of Stromness so convenient after a days travelling.
Point of Ness camp site…
It’s a dry evening so we cooked at the tent after a trip to Stromness COOP. Chic pea curry, rice & naan followed by tea & chocolate fingers ?
After tea we went for a short cycle along the coastal path.
This walk took us past Point of Ness battery which is supposed to be one of the three best preserved in the uk. It looked very underwhelming to me but here’s a little info I found…
Orkney was the main base for the Royal Navy’s Fleet in both World Wars, and Ness Battery was a crucial part of the defences of the western approaches to Scapa Flow, one of the world’s finest anchorages.
In WWI Ness Battery was one of three batteries covering the Hoy Mouth from the north side. All were dismantled and the guns scrapped in the 1920s, but traces of the WWI battery are still to be seen today.
In WWII the site became a coast defence battery once more, armed with two 6-inch calibre guns. It housed a Fire Command, controlling all six batteries defending Hoy Sound.
The guns remained at Ness Battery until 1955, and the site was used by both Regular and Territorial Army units for training until 2001, when the site was sold by the Ministry of Defence to Orkney Islands Council, the present owner.
The campsite has a communal room with sofas, microwave, kettle and a telly. We sat in for an hour to charge phones and plan our trip to Hoy tomorrow. We can tell were quite far north now because when we came out for our first night under canvass (22:10) it was still very light !
Day one is the drive to Inverness. The plan is to stay overnight in Inverness and get the 7am train to Thurso and the ferry to Stromness for night one under canvass.
06:15am woke to the sound of rain. Not just a light summer shower but “biblical” rain and a small river running down the road. Not a good start…
09:30am more “biblical” rain around Lockerbie – I think we saw Noah’s Arc on the south bound carriageway ! After that the clouds seemed to lift & the drive to Inverness was pleasent with only sporadic “normal” rain…
After checking in to the Travelodge we went out to Gorthleck to see our friend Phil Mitchell for the evening. Good to catch up with Phil & we had a lovely meal at the Whitebridge hotel.
Not exactly an exciting cycle touring day but no disasters 🙂
We found the SW300 route from the following website https://sw3004.wixsite.com/southwest300 which is well worth a view. The guy who came up with this is a super athlete so there are planned routes for 2 to 6 days. The map below shows the SW300 route as defined on this site.
A zip file containing the KML or GPX file can be downloaded from the links below:
Well it’s circular so you can start where you want but if you’re travelling from the south then Dumfries is the first (and easiest) place you come to from the motorway. We were travelling from Cumbria so this worked well for us.
We parked in the rail station car park (postcode DG1 1NF). There is parking each side of the train line, we found it best to park in the area shown on the map below.
Where to park at Dumfries Station…
It has cameras so probably as safe as anywhere. There is a housing estate where you could park for free on the route out of Dumfries but you’d have to be careful not to upset the locals. If you’re cheeky you could get away with parking at the entrance to the station as shown below…
Cheeky parking ?
Direction…
Being circular you’ll probably get a head wind at some point so no real advantage either way. We chose to go anti-clockwise. For us, starting from Dumfries for us this was a good way to go as it got what I think is the hardest day out the way with fresh legs. The loop out to Elvanfoot and back is beautiful but a lot of ascent when carrying a tent !
Duration…
If you’re an endurance cyclist with an arse of leather and pistons for legs then 24 hours is the target. For mere mortals like me it takes significantly longer, and I want it to take longer. For us the point of doing this cycle was to see the Dumfries and Galloway area. You can’t really do this when you’re arse up, head down going as fast as you can !
So for the point of this blog I’m going to assume the reader is a mere mortal who wants to see the area too. So do it over a week or longer & you give yourself time to see this beautiful area.
Day 1: Dumfries to Sanquhar
Dumfries to Sanquhar
The route that loops out from Carronbridge round to Mennock via Elvanfoot is great and importantly has very light traffic. The same cannot be said for the route from Thornhill to Carronbridge which runs along the A76.
We changed the route to quieter roads that avoid the busy A76 section. Our detour is shown in blue.
Safer route via Drumlanrig Castle
The advantage of this route is its safer and takes in beautiful Drumlanrig Castle shown below.
Drumlanrig Castle
Day 2: Sanquhar to Girvan
Sanquhar to Girvan
Day two was a pleasant route on mostly quiet roads. The exception to this is a section on the busy A76 from just after Kirkconnel to New Cumnock. There’s no easy way round this but we did come up with a detour that reduced it by half. Its an easy detour & is shown below – the yellow arrow shows the original route and the blue shows our detour…
Detour to reduce time on the A76
Now the only downside of our route was staying in Girvan – its a hole with only four redeeming features:
The views of Ailsa Craig – especially when the sun is shining
Grazianos Chip shop – quality and great portions
Auld Acquaintance Restaurant – the owner and his wife are lovely and the food is great.
The Electric Brae visual illusion
It’s ok for a night, especially when the weathers good but don’t get too excited !
Day 3 Girvan to The Mull of Galloway
Girvan to the Mull of Galloway
Leaving Girvan there’s a busy section to Barhill. From Barhill over to Glenluce Abby is a great road with little traffic – you’ll really enjoy this section. The roads called the Forest Road and goes to Glenwhilly and New Luce. A slight warning the road is over high fell land with not much up there so take supplies. The route towards the Mull of Galloway is ok but busier.
Day 4 – Mull of Galloway towards Wigtown
Mull of Galloway towards Wigtown
You’re on an A road, the A747 down towards the Isle of Whithorn. Don’t worry we found this to be a quiet and beautiful cycle. If you could plan your journey an overnight in Isle of Whithorn would be recommended.
Day 5 – Wigtown to Kirkcudbright
We found a few navigational challenges on this day, namely the Wigtown to Creetown section and out of Gatehouse of Fleet to the quiet roads below the A75. The Wigtown to Creetown was our own fault so we’ll skip that…
Wigtown to Kirkudbright – our route.
The official route follows the B727 (old military road) out of Gatehouse of Fleet. This is a narrow and busy road so we found a diversion through the Cally Palace Hotel and Golf Course. The picture shows our route in red and the proper route in yellow. You can see where we got a short distance out of Gatehouse before turning round to find a quieter route. Please note that the blue dotted line marks where the route is “off road” on rough track. If its wet & you’re on a fragile bike with skinny road tyres this may not be the route for you. We did it on Dawes tourers with Schwalbe Marathon 34mm tyres & it was fine.
Detour via Cally Palace Golf Course
This detour wasn’t quick but it was a very pleasant and traffic free route. When we hit road again just before Girthon we tracked south to the coast via Knockbrex and Ingleston before joining the proper route at Borgue. This again was a really beautiful and quiet route
Day 6 – Kirkcudbright to Dumfries
Our last day we deviated from the official route significantly. We did this for two reasons. The first reason was that we needed the quickest route to Dumfries before a storm came in later in the day. The second reason was that we’d cycled this part of the route before and found it busy – I don’t like wet and busy…
Kirkudbright to Dumfries – a more direct but equally pleasant route
Our route is shown in red and the official route in yellow. Having done both now we think the red route using the B727 to be the nicest.
If you’re reading this you’re probably planning your own trip. I hope some of this helps but I’m sure you’ll enjoy it 🙂
Great night’s sleep & a really good breakfast at the Selkirk Arms. When I say the owner’s into cycling I mean in a BIG way. Even the breakfast menu had a suggested ride for the day…
The forecast for today was grim with a downpour around 1pm.
With this in mind we altered our route to a more direct one we’d done before that would be on quieter roads. The thought of wet roads, spray and big trucks did not appeal. One advantage of the poor weather was that we’d have a mega tail wind for the second time this holiday.
We set off about 9am and immediately benefited from the tail wind which blew us up the hills out of Kirkcudbright.
We followed Sustrans route 7 and made great time only stopping in Castle Douglas to see if we could find the gallery that Helen exhibits in. We did but only had time for a photo…
As we left Castle Douglas the drizzle started. It felt like we were racing the rain but with a great tail wind.
Lady luck was with us and we got back to the car in Dumfries just as the heavy rains started. Here’s our route…
As we were packing the bikes into the car I noticed that my dynamo hub was leaking grease – anyone have experience of this ?
We woke to a cold but dry day. Breakfast was a new culinary low even for us.
It was such a cullinary low that we had to stop in Wigtown for a decent breakfast. Wigtown is the bookshop capital of Scotland.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about Wigtown…
Today Wigtown is known as Scotland’s “book town” and is thus compared to Hay-on-Wye in Wales. However, in contrast to Hay-on-Wye, Wigtown’s status as a book town was planned, in order to regenerate a very depressed town (the main employers, the creamery and distillery, having closed in the 1990s), although the distillery (Bladnoch) has now re-opened and is distilling its own malt whisky. There was a national search in Scotland for a candidate town. The Wigtown Book Festival was first held in 1999 and has grown to be the second largest book festival in Scotland.
From Wigtown we had an easy cycle on quiet roads to Newton Stewart where we had some navigational fun avoiding the A75 death road. We eventually followed the Sustrans 7 cycle route to Creetown.
We refuelled with an egg sandwich and jelly babies at Creetowns only shop before a long section of wilderness to Gatehouse of Fleet.
Despite the hilly start the route to Gatehouse was great with one long section shut to motorised traffic for road works.
At Gatehouse we deviated from the SW300 route in favour of quieter roads mostly following the Sustrans route 7 again.
This took us down towards the coast and a view of the Islands of Fleet that Edna had recommended. A beautiful area well worth a visit.
Our route followed the green dots.
The next stop was Borgue for Jelly Babies and then Kirkcudbright where we’re treating ourselves to a night in the Selkirk Arms.
The Selkirk Arms is great. We were met by a guy who said the staff are all cycling mad. They were really helpful, gave us route info and even carried our bags to the room – I must have looked fucked !
Here’s us dressed for dinner in the clothes we slept in last night…
Great room but not sure about the wall paper!
I think we’ll be back here for a weekend cycling sometime soon ?
Awoke from our first night under canvas to a beautiful sunrise…
What the picture didn’t show was that it was a really cold morning and blowing a gale. Coffee and an army veg breakfast got us going & we were on the road by 9am.
Today’s story is about the tail wind we had for most of the day. Never in all my years cycling have I had such wind assistance ~25mph tail wind all the way to Isle of Whithorn. We flew… One of the many Strava segments shows us averaging over 17mph fully laden with tents etc… and that was without trying !
We must be getting slightly fitted because we overtook two other cycle tourists who were B&Bing ie. had minimal luggage. ?
The route today had us on quiet roads with some stunning scenery. The sun even came out for a while…
After the Isle of Whithorn the wind wasn’t with us anymore but it wasn’t against us either which was what we’d feared – we thought there had to be a penance for 30 miles of tailwind !
We called through Garlieston to get our evening meal and saw this…
Wikipedia has some interesting reading on Mulberry harbours if you’re interested.
From Garlieston it was a short ride to the Dunroaming caravan and camp site near Kirkinner.
The woman who ran the site was lovely – she gave us hot homemade soup and bread shortly after we arrived. We must have looked cold and knackered !
We set up camp, showered and set about cooking tonight feast ! Tonight I cooked Sarah Thai…
Soon after we were in bed because it’s too cold to be out !
Desasters: 1 …one big one – we forgot to buy some booze for the evening meal ?
The day started well because we couldn’t hear rain on the windows 🙂 After showering in our plastic shower cubicle we went down to see what breakfast had been left out for us.
We found an old Tupperware box with four slices of bread, a half eaten block of cheese, some plastic ham and a tomato. Say no more…
By the time we’d packed and were ready to go the landlady surfaced to say goodbye. It seemed we were the only guests in what we christened Faulty Towers.
We left town on the busy A77 but the route soon turned off onto the slightly quieter A714. We followed the A714 to Barhill where we stopped for some food in a small convenience store / cafe. The owner was ex-services from Essex. We chatted with him about our route and about the lack of shops where we were going. There wasn’t much in his shop but we brought food for the evening.
The route from Barhill was much quieter over high fell land (so a fair bit of ascent). A really pretty route but was slightly spoiled by rain.
The route gently decended to Glenluce Abby where we had some lunch in light drizzle. From the Abby it was a quick run to the coast.
We then followed the coast road round to Ardwell where we were going to pitch the tent and then ride to the tip of Mull of Galloway without luggage.
This plan went to rat shit. We pitched the tent, had a brew and then we were both too tired to continue riding. Just CBA…
The campsite is right on the beach. It was windy so we used a boat for shelter.
Showers then food. Now when i said the shop didn’t have much in we ended up with Sarah having Uncle Bens rice and a tin of mackerel and I had a Pot Noodle and a cold steak pie. But after 40 hilly miles it tasted great.
Pudding was an army “boil in the bag” chocolate pudding. They look like shit (literally) but taste great.
The only thing we forgot was some booze. A nice bottle of red would have washed that lot down nicely…
Disasters: whole day really…. well apart from the evening meal that was very pleasant…
Lazy start today. Like the Tour de France we’re having a rest day. The forecast is miserable so we thought a day off was called for.
Though in true Sarah style a rest day actually means a 20ish mile cycle to electric brae which is an optical illusion on the A719 not far from Trumps golf course. Funnily she didn’t fancy my suggestion of an all day session ????
Breakfast was ok but the landlady couldn’t half talk… (again got her life story – starting to see a pattern here…) By the time we’d finished breakfast and kitted up in waterproofs it was about 11am. We set off in drizzle towards the A77, our road to the electric brae.
We quickly found the A77 miserable with heavy fast traffic. After one near miss with a van and trailer we got off and walked up the grass verge to the first road off the A77. Hearing locked wheels skidding behind you and then seeing a trailer snaking as it passes you is no fun !
We then used a back road to get to Turnbury and cycled passed Trumps golf course. I was going to get Sazz to video me standing at the sign pointing at “Trump” and making a “wanker” gesture with my other hand. I didn’t because there was a large man in a kilt guarding the entrance. If he was one of Trumps boys I might be mistaken for a black man & shot in the back. What devision and hatred that man has created. Grrr rant over
After Trump we stopped for lunch at Maidens and looked at our route. The only way to electric brae was down another A road – even Sarah didn’t fancy it ! We devised a quieter route home on quiet country lanes. A more pleasent journey home… We tried for a selfie but the rain had other ideas…
Having not made it to electric brae I’ve copied a little bit of info from Wikipedia…
Electic Brae:Though the road appears to be running uphill, a suitably free-running vehicle will slowly move off from a standstill. It was widely believed that vehicles were being propelled uphill by a mysterious magnetic force, but the road’s apparently uphill slope is an optical illusion. This runs the quarter mile from the bend overlooking Croy railway viaduct in the west to the wooded Craigencroy Glen to the east. Whilst there is this slope of 1 in 86 upwards from the bend to the Glen, the configuration of the land on either side of the road provides an optical illusion making it look as if the slope is going the other way. Therefore, a stationary car on the road with the brakes off will appear to move slowly uphill.
There are hundreds of gravity hills around the world. The explanation often given for the phenomenon is that of a visual illusion, similar to the well-known Ames room, in which balls can appear to roll against gravity
We were greeted by out talkative landlady the moment we returned. She offered to dry our wet gear. Very nice of her but, as we discovered later this was because there was no heating on in the hotel !
We asked about an earlier breakfast as we wanted to be on the road early tomorrow. I thought she’d say “oh what time do you want breakfast – no problem” instead she said she’d leave something out as she doesn’t get up till 8:30… As compensation she did knock a whole tenna off the bill !
Now if you don’t know Girvan its no exaggeration to say it’s a little run down. This didn’t fill us with hope for fine dining but TripAdvisor did list a couple of options that weren’t chippies or takeaways.
We fancied the Auld Aquaintance Fusion Bistro & a booking was made. It was a small place run by a husband and wife couple. They made us very welcome but I did have to go down the road to the CostCutter to get some booze. They were eager to please and the curries we ordered were freshly made to our liking. Now I like to think of myself as a bit of an onion bhaji connoisseur and these hit the spot. So worth a visit if you ever find yourself in Girvan.
Today’s route…
We’re now in bed hoping that the rain and howling wind stops before tomorrow else we may be getting the train home…
Disasters: 0 (actually there was one but Sarah says no one will want to read about it ???)
After a hard ride it can be a lottery on getting a good night’s sleep. Last night wasn’t great. Exercise, food and a couple of beers – you’d think it was a recipe for a brilliant night’s sleep but it doesn’t always work that way – anyone understand why ???
Waking early allowed time for planning. All forecasts say heavy rain tomorrow so we decided to hotel in Grivan for the next two nights. This would allow us to spend the rainy day in Girvan. We booked the Westcliffe Hotel over the phone.
We went for breakfast at 7:30am, and what a breakfast it was ! Porridge followed by a full Scottish – eggs, beans, mushrooms, fried bread, haggis, 4 rashes of bacon and 4 sausages ! Lovely breakfast but she could talk – we didn’t get out of breakfast till 9am having heard her entire family history and quite a bit about sheep !
The route from Sanquhar was lovely quiet roads until the section on the A76 which was no fun. We put a detour in as soon as we could just to get off it. Our detour took us the rest of the way to New Crummock where we stopped at a shop for water.
From New Cumnock we followed a quiet but hilly route towards the coast and were blessed with sunshine again. We stopped at a pub in Straiton for a refreshing pint in the Black Bull beer garden.
From Straiton it was only 14 miles to Grivan where we easily found our hotel. We showered and went for a walk around the harbour and seafront in the sunshine.
Fish and chips from Grazianos were massive.
While eating we watched the sun set behind the island of Ailsa Craig.
A little bit of info on AilsaCraig….
Aisle Craig is an island 10 miles west of Grivan. It is 4 km (2.5 mi) in circumference and rises to a height of 340 m (1,120 ft).
The now uninhabited island is formed from a magmatic pluton which “blue hone” microgranite has long been quarried to make curling stones
Likened by many to a giant currant bun on account of its near-vertical sides and rounded peak, Ailsa Craig (meaning “Fairy Rock” in Gaelic) is a place of history, folklore and legend. It’s also known as Paddy’s Milestone because it lies almost halfway between Belfast and Glasgow, occupying a lonely spot 10 miles to the west of the town of Girvan in the Firth of Clyde that once made it a haven for smugglers who stashed silk, spirits, tobacco and other contraband in the deep caves on its western fringes.
Disasters: 0 (though for a few minutes Sarah thought she’d only packed one shoe ???)
Saturday started early with a drive to Dumfries. We parked at the train station where the sign showed much rates for non-rail users and told us to pay in the ticket office.
On requesrting a weeks parking the really friendly guy in the ticket office asked if we were rail users. Dilemma time – do I lie or be honest ? The difference is 50p a day for rail users or £5 for non-rail users – a considerable difference that can be measured in multiple pints of beer and a curry !
I was honest for two reasons – 1. I’m crap at lying and 2. I was dressed head to toe in my best mamil lycra – a bit of a give away really !
The guy looked at me and said “I’ll put you through as a rail user” ? RESULT £3.50 rather than £35. What a lovely man and went (I felt) a little way to redress the shit service I’ve had on railways (in the UK) since the demise of British Rail.
The route out of Dumfries was easy and lead onto quiet undulating roads – pleasent cycling though it was taking a while to get used to the handling of a flexible steel Dawes that weighed as much as the sun !
The only thing of note before Thornhill was the number of Red Kites we saw. Beautiful birds…
We dropped into Thornhill for lunch at the Drumlanrig Restaurant. Pleasent staff but a standard “Scottish toastie” with no salad, a few chips and served with thin & flexible metal cutlery. Not great but fuelled us for the next leg of the journey…
While waiting for our toastie we looked at the route and decided it could be improved by missing the A76 section in favour of a visit to Drumlanrig castle. This we did…
Drumlanrig Castle
Next dilemma was…. 1. Head streight to Sanquhar or 2. Follow the route which does a big loop out to Elvanfoot over some big fuck off hills… we followed the route!
The route out to Elvanfoot rose gently with some lovely scenery to the Dalveen Pass and then levelled slightly to Elvanfoot where we stopped for a Marmite sandwich.
From Elvanfoot the route went to Leadhills and Wanlockshead which is the highest village in Scotland at 1531 feet. We did notice a number to people gold panning in the small rivers !
At Wanlockshead the weather changed to a headwind + rain – joy… The gradient also changed to a negative one for a long run down to Mennock. This descent would have been great on an unladen road bike in the dry but the wind and rain made it tricky. Just before Mennock tgrte was a large wild camp site with about 20ish tents & vans.
From Mennock it was an easy run to our digs for the night at Newark Farm B&B. We were greated by an elderly lady who pointed an infraread thermometer at our heads. Now this was worrying as we’d just cycled there and were sweaty hot ! Luckly we got the “green light” and were allowed in only to be warned about the big fuck off angry Great Dane that really would just attack if it got out !
The room is nice but dated. The old woman booked us a table at the Nithsdale restaurant and drove us there ! Pleasent food, a couple of pints and we were ready for bed – night all…
Cycling to work today I got bitten by a dog. Luckly it wasn’t a large dog so i only got a few puncture wounds on my calf. The worst of it was the owner didn’t give a shit and then refuse to put the dog on a lead !
…and this is the same video hosted on Vimeo as a test. ?
Our 2018 trip was great. We found Lanzarote to be so much more than an all-inclusive Blackpool in the sun that we had to come back. This is a blog of our trip – hopefully you’ll find it useful guide to some of Lanza’s hidden treasures…
The day started with a dash to return the hire car. All good with that process…. Cicar was the rental company we’d been advised to use – cheap prices and zero hassle. This turned out to be true – thanks Phil for the recommendation ?
After the walk back Sarah & I went straight to breakfast. Myrtle couldn’t quite make it out of bed so we got her some fruit.
After checking bags with the handy Jet2 service we went round the tat shops of Costa Teguise ? I looked for the positive in this – it got my step count up which gives extra G&T points for the afternoon ?
After a nice lunch I got a table in the shade by the bar. G&T + Private Eye, all was chilled until they turned on loud music. Now I’m not against music but this was pure Radio 1 shite… Hmmm… BP up another notch ?
Our transfer is 6pm with the flight at 8pm so it’s gonna be a late one. I may add to this later but to be honest reading about chillin by the pool is boring – sorry…
STOP PRESS… I’ve managed to sneak a Canarian snack past the diet police. These little parcels have a creamy tomato filling and go well with G&T.
So I got a a little worried that I was misleading you on the snack front so I did a little research….
They’re called empanadillas, Spanish for little pastry packages filled with meat, fish, vegetable or cheese. (Large, pie-size ones are called empanadas.)
Empanadillas have been popular in Spain since, maybe, the 7th or 8th century, when Arabs introduced them during the Moorish caliphate. (Known as sambousek, they are still popular in the Arab countries of the Middle East.)
In medieval times, Spain’s Sephardic Jews lived alongside the Moors in Córdoba, Sevilla, Toledo and many other towns. From their neighbors, they learned the art of making little savory pastries, which became part of cherished foods for special occasions.
After 1492 (the year Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand conquered the last Moorish kingdom of Granada; funded Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the unknown, and issued the expulsion order against Spain’s Jews), many of Spain’s Sephardim, forced to flee, were welcomed by the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey). There Moorish empanadillas met Turkish börek, also a filled pastry. The Spanish-speaking Jews (their lingo is Ladino) took on the Turkish name, but added the Spanish diminutive ending, calling their turnovers borekas or burekas.
So there you go a little bit of culture…
Time to leave for the airport so it’s bye bye to the wristband of unlimited Gin ?
Instead of returning the car we extended hire for another day. This gave us a chance for further exploration of the south west.
We first went to El Golfo and walked to the Black Beach. A pretty walk but nothing stunning. Best part of El Golfo was discovering Orio ice cream bars – just lush…. you gotta try one ?
Oreo ice cream bar – my new favourite…
We then followed the western coast down past the blow holes of Los Hervideros and the salt pans at La Hoya. Again pretty but nothing earth shattering.
We then made our way back to the hotel for a late (3pm) lunch.
Then we went to a local beach for Hazel to try snorkling for the first time. The bay had a sandy entry surrounded by rocks which was perfect for seeing a variety of fish. Photos below…
Luckly car keys did stay dry in the drybag…
A sea monster….
Some fine fish but poor photo…
After snorkling we walked to the nearest bar for a beer. Whilst chillin watching the world go by we noticed there was a large number of able bodied adults and kids riding about in mobility scooters !!! Was going to get photos but thought I’d get punched ?
Then back to the pool for more G&T’s & a chill out ?
Today’s plan was a road trip around parts of the island we haven’t seen yet, namely Teguise market, the secret forest, Haria and Caleta de Famara.
Teguise market was BIG ! Loads of stalls spread through the town centre. Tourist tat but some really nice stuff as well. Shopping not my thing but it was a nice atmosphere – no photos though…
Next we went to the Secret Forest. Not very secret if you ask me as we found it with Google in less than a minute ! It’s known as the Bosquecillo and is well hidden from view, situated on the top of the Montaña de Haría, to the side of the radar station. Now, you might be disappointed if you’re expecting a huge deep forest, but there is a really lovely area planted with trees, picnic tables, built in barbecues, a children’s play area and absolutely stunning panoramic views down to Famara.
After a short walk and lizard hunt we headed off to Haria where we had some Tapas in a local Sociedad that was recommended by diving Alan. The sociedad is an institution in Lanzarote. Indeed, they are throughout rural Spain. You’ll find one in each town or village, and it’s usually run by a family or a couple. They stand for election to the role every three years. The great benefit of this is that the proprietors are focused on offering good food and drink at great value, because by offering this, they can be assured of being re-elected in the future.
Today’s plan was to walk around the rim of a volcano, Montana Blanca to be specific.
Montana Blanca (Caldera Blanca on the map) is situated in the middle of the island and is one of Lanzarote’s highest volcanic mountains. It starts in the village of Montaña Blanca and goes along dirt trails around the volcano before leading you up the volcano itself.
The trails leading to the volcano are wide and easy. The initial part of the climb is on dirt trails, whereas the second part is on more technical trails. The path up to the mountain top can be a bit more complicated. The views up this track are beautiful, overlooking the mountain valley.
So the idea was for an early start to avoid walking in the midday heat. So we went easy on the cocktails and an early night was had by all.
The early night didn’t help Hazel who had difficulty getting up for 7:30. When she did rise there was no smile on her face – working for a living is going to be a shock !
Hazel had been doing a sterling job as navigator to date but it was just too early for her today so Sazz was on Google maps today ? Surprisingly all went well & we arrived without incident…
We started walking with broken cloud which kept us cool for the walk.
We walked in for about 2 miles before starting the climb up the crater, the total distance was 6.6 miles. The following pictures don’t really do it justice – a great walk if your ever in Lanza
Lava tube – this is big enough for Sarah to climb into.
After the walk we revisited a “locals” bar we’d found in 2018 on the way back for food. Again the food was brilliant – and cheap. We’d really recommend this spot if you’re in the area – hopefully the map & screen shots should be enough to find it.
Today started with a little bit of a thick head after last night’s over indulgence ? Despite our lethargy we still managed to pick the hire car up at 9:30.
Today’s plan was to explore the north end of the island, driving through lava fields to Orzola.
Once out the bussel of Costa Teguise buildings were replaced with a lunar landscape of lava. Beautiful in a barren way…
Where the road met the sea we pulled over to take in the view of a small bay. The the girls got chatting to a couple who recommended we visit the following:
Up early, breakfast & ready for pickup at 8:45am by Peter from Calipso Diving. All good so far… Peter is an east Londoner who’s been here for 23 years. Seems a nice guy & not money orientated i.e. no big groups.
To cut a long story short Peter is the Dave L of the diving world. Lovely guy, knows his stuff but badly organised and his gear really wasn’t maintained. We didn’t dive with Peter because he’s messed up on the number of instructors he needed. We dived with his mate who was on holiday as well !
The gear was shit – my reg free flowed if not held and Sarah’s had loads of sand in which blew out when she turned the air on ! We did two dives – both shore dives. They would have been better as boat dives but he didn’t have one. Both LONG swims…For the divers we did two 30m dives with a 50min surface interval. Walm waters and great vis made it easy. There was loads of fish life but no Angle sharks this time.
After diving we had a late lunch & a snooze before hiring a car for tomorrow. We used Cicar which is Phil’s recommendation. We pick up a Fiat 500 at 9am tomorrow ?
What did Hazel do while we were diving I hear you ask… Typical student stuff – late start & an episode of love island ! Anyway pictures and videos of diving to come…
STOP PRESS…
We’ve got into the cocktails so any sensible stuff will be added tomorrow xx
…cos the moral of this story is that no matter how much they water down the cocktails – if you drink enough you’ll get pissed ?
After a good night’s sleep we surfaced for breakfast about 8am. We’ve decided the food isn’t as good as the last place but that’s a high bar.
Breakfast discussions centred around Sarah’s desire for Hazel to windsurf and Hazels desire not to windsurf !
Sarah then decided Hazel should do a try-dive, again somthing Hazel doesn’t want to do. I think Hazels regretting coming away with us already….
The days plan was to have a walk and see what’s around, which we did. On the seafront we hired a bike. This bike was as heavy as the sun – especially when I was the only one peddeling !
After an hours giggles riding this up and down the seafront we went in search of dive shops. We spoke to two and have booked with Calipso Diving for tomorrow.
After that we chilled by the pool for the afternoon with a few G&T’s…
A break in commissioning gave an opportunity to get away for a week ?.
Not much time for planning so went with what we knew – Lanzagrotty. Literally just picked a hotel in 10mins – none of my usual research which has made me nervous ?
This time we went for a hotel in Costa Tiguse, just the three of us as Hazel is back from Uni and needed a break after a terms partying !
The holiday didn’t start well with me massively mis-judging the time it would take to drive to Newcastle airport – we arrived way too early and ended up with over three hours to kill.This gave me time for a cheeky pint & for Hazel to decide she needs another bikini…
This and the bussel of a busy airport gave some serious people watching time…
…and the observation of the day is young women’s eyebrows – WTF are they doing ??? Stenciled, Sharpied bat wings above the eyes ?
To me they really do look ridiculous, especially combined with camel length eyelash extensions. Is it me just getting old or does anyone else think they look stupid ?
I’d have loved to provide some pictorial evidence but covertly photographing women is apparently frowned upon !
Anyway flight ok & arrived at hotel in time for the last of food and wine. Tired now so time for bed ???
So we decided to have a little winter sun – we deserved it ! After a frustrating time looking at all the holiday sites we booked a package holiday with Jet2. The hotel we chose was the Flora which is near the old harbour in Puerto del Carmen. With hindsight we think it was a good move being in town as we could easily walk to shops, bike hire, diving shops & bars. Anyway a little about Lanzarote….
The island of Lanzarote lies just 125 kilometres off Africa’s Saharan Coast and is the most easterly of the Canary Islands (Spain). The island is 60km long and 20 km wide, making it the fourth largest island in the Archipelago.
One of the first things that visitors notice is that nearly all of the buildings are white – this is largely thanks to the work of local artist, César Manrique, who worked tirelessly to protect the island’s traditional architectural style and avoid over-development.
Lanzarote has a Subtropical Desert climate with average daytime temperatures ranging from about 21°C in January to 29°C in August. The island receives, on average, just 18 days of rain per year, making it a very popular destination for sun-seekers.
Volcanic in original, large areas of the island are dominated by volcanic scenery; the spectacular Montañas del Fuego were created during the eruptions that took place between 1730 and 1736 when over 100 volcanoes erupted and devastating a large part of the South-west of the island. Even today, temperatures just below the surface reach over 400°C. Many of Lanzarote’s most popular tourist attractions are also volcanic in origin, including El Golfo (a flooded and partially eroded volcanic crater) and Jameos del Agua (part of one the World’s longest volcanic caves).
Unusually for a volcanic island, many of Lanzarote’s beaches are of golden sand (Playa Blanca, Papagayo, Famara) and even white sand (Caleton Blanco). As you night expect, much of the outdoor activities are based around the sea, with great surfing at Famara, windsurfing at Costa Teguise and several great scuba diving locations around the island.
We found Lanza an island of contrasts. On the coast you have lots of tourist development – the sort I don’t like; Irish bars, restaurants selling an all day “full English” and sports bars. Call me a travel snob but the point of going to a different country is to see and experience its culture ! It doesn’t take much effort to get away from the fat tattoo’d lager soaked tourists. Out of the towns the landscape changes quickly to a “lunar landscape” of volcanic activity which is brilliant to explore. Away from the coast the towns & villages are have a local feel with no “Full English” in sight.
The bottom line – we had a great time in Lanzarote and would go back as we feel there is more to discover. Links to each days blog below…
Day 8 – a day of travelling… The day started my meeting the good ladies from Jet2 who offer a free service to collect and check in hold luggage. A great service which saved us lugging bags through to the airport. A free service & we didn’t have to sign anything allowing them to sell our data – a rare thing these days… Funnily the girls didn’t see the funny side of my joke about using our bags as drugs mules – probably heard it before.
The tranquility of the hotel was replaced with the madness that is a busy international airport.
Unfortunaly the wristband didn’t work here so we had to hand over real money before getting food or drink !
Luckily the flight left almost on time & Sarah and I were sat together this time. The flight time was announced as 4 hours 50 minutes, almost an hour longer than on the way out. Something to do with the prevailing winds I think.
The flight was full but passed with only a small amount of turbulence, which is something I really hate.
Back to earth with a bump – 5 degrees and raining at Glasgow – joy…
Oh well that’s the end of playing with WordPress until the next adventure.
I think I’ve now got new blog notifications working now so add your email address & you should get notified next time I write some shit ?
