Friday 29th December

There is a fair amount of cloud around today but lots of sunny periods as well with temperatures of 21C. Much concern was expressed early on about the state of the Test Match at the MCG and with a lot of the day being lost to bad weather and Australia reaching 103-2 at stumps, it was agreed that it was now quite difficult for England to push for a win on Day 5. We shall see.

Having resisted the temptation to text Joe Root with some tactical advice, yet another leisurely breakfast was partaken on the balcony watching a few yachts sail serenely by. No hurry to do anything on the island of La Gomera where I have a feeling the word manana was first coined!

We decided to walk down to the village of Playa de Santiago and purchase a few essentials and in particular a sun hat for Ray who has managed to leave several good examples of sun hats in Rackham where, for two obvious reasons, they are clearly not needed at present. As some of our readers may be aware the walk down to the village from El Balcon de Santa Anna is very steep, quite long and the knees do not like it. However, it was negotiated successfully without too much fuss and we quickly purchased the essentials. I say quickly but this means apart from the sun hat which was located quickly but we were unlucky to be in a queue behind a local lady (rather strangely dressed like a female Santa Claus) who took an age to pay for her purchases, amongst which were at least 6 purses! We both wondered why anyone would want to buy that many purses at the same time.

We checked out the latest local attraction which is a new butchers shop (very good) and headed for a cafe on the front for a cappuccino which was lovingly prepared. After a bit of people watching we walked along the front with the intention of checking out a potential lunch spot, La Chalana, which had been recommended on the ubiquitous TripAdvisor. La Chalana is basically a large hut right on the beach and we decided to give it a go. Prawns in Garlic sauce, Tomato and Onion salad washed down with a very decent local white wine was just the thing. The hut quickly filled up and it was obvious that it had a loyal following of regulars and all of the food looked good.

Now there was nearly a domestic! Ray had decided that in order to burn off the lunch calories we should walk back up aforementioned long and steep path which resulted in much muttering and grumbling from the LLW. Finally it was agreed that we should do this and after a fair amount of huffing, puffing and yet more muttering we reached the summit and marital harmony was restored.

Back at the apartment it is time for reading on the balcony and gazing out onto the Atlantic.

Thursday 28th December

Christmas Day was spent with Fiona and David and the rest of Rosemary’s family in Woldingham and we were treated to a feast cooked perfectly by David. A good day was enjoyed by all.

We were booked into the Sofitel at Gatwick North ready for an early morning flight on Boxing Day and as we checked in the receptionist informed us that we had been chosen as the “guests of the day” and were upgraded to a superior room and entitled to free food and drinks. The room upgrade was very nice but the free food and wine was completely wasted on us as we could not face any more  food or drink!

Next morning we were up bright and early for our flight to Tenerife South and inspite of a 30 minute delay whilst they unloaded bags belonging to someone who did not turn up at the gate (why would anyone do that?), we arrived at Tenerife South on time.

Brilliant sunshine and 21C greeted us which immediately cheered us up after the grey cold weather we had left behind. However, we were disconcerted by the news that the 14:00 ferry was not running, only the 18:30 and 19:30 ferries were running and we were booked on the 18:30.  Not to worry we knew a good restaurant very close to the port and off we set in the transfer companies bus only to be informed that the Armas ferry (i.e. the 18:30) had broken down and we had to go on the 19:30 Fred Olsen ferry.

We enjoyed an excellent very leisurely seafood lunch and then spent some time on the beach reading. It would have been nice to swim but all of our swimming gear was in the coach!

We were asked to meet the guide at the ferry port at 18:30 and we arrived early heading for the cafe at the terminal building. Surprise, surprise there was the 18:30 ferry loading and getting ready to leave. The guide said that the ferry had been broken earlier but had now been mended although later she changed her story and said that the company management had decided upon the change. We have history with this transfer company and on a few occasions in the past they have been economical with the truth! The sailing to San Sebastian on La Gomera was smooth and quick but the bus scheduled to take us to Playa de Santiago had a fault and had to be changed. After about a 30 min delay we were on our way and soon sorted out in our apartment.

The tribulations of the transfer were soon forgotten when we woke up to the glorious views and the warmth of La Gomera

Breakfast was partaken on the balcony and then we walked down to the infinity pool where we read and swam for a few hours. Ray is reading a very interesting novel called Winter in Madrid by CJ Samsom a Scottish writer who worked as a solicitor in Sussex and lives there. A very sad and dramatic portrayal of the Spanish civil war and WW2 in Spain and their effect on four Brits.

The LLW speciality lunch was soon in evidence but today the tuna salad was minus the lettuce! La Gomera is remote and depends upon supplies from Tenerife and with the holidays supplies are only just starting again.

Day 2 was very much the same and we are now feeling very relaxed. Another beautiful morning and we were cheered by the news from the MCG and Cook's 200 but less pleased with the football result!

Whale watching has been booked for Saturday and we hope for as good a trip as last time when we saw dozens of Pilot Whales and lots of Dolphins. Apparently the Pilot Whales are resident around La Gomera now so sightings are lately frequent.

This evening we are dining in the site restaurant where Canarian rabbit is on the menu - a favourite of both of us.