School swimming with my rubbish blue hat....
Then after school it was gymnastics, lift sharing with Sasha. We're starting to practice our routines for the upcoming competition.
Wednesday
Team Kennet was very late starting due to a football tournament running late. At least we had tour guide Ned on hand to show us the abridged highlights of Park House as we waited. I'm enjoying working with my friends in our competition group.
Thursday
So it was finally the last day of term and a very momentous occasion in our household. I bought home the mythical, fabled Golden Time Certificate! We all actually believed that no such thing actually existed as Ned never got one during all his years at John Rankin. So here it is:
You better take it all in as it will probably be the only one I ever get.
So with the flight being 4 hours, it was way past midnight by the time we landed. Add to that collecting the bags, finding the hire car (a massive 9 seater van actually) and driving to the villa it was seriously late when we arrived. Still, it had to be done....Mum was the first one on the pool at 3:30 AM.
Saturday
So after such a late night and pool based nonsense we weren't up particulalry early.
I loved my room, I even had my own desk to write at:
Then of course we had the lovely pool:
We made a trip out to the supermarket for some supplies and eventually had breakfast out on the balcony overlooking the sea....lovely.
We then took a trip out to the village centre, Callao Salvaje, and the beach. The beach had black sand which looked a little weird to be honest? Still, we didn't mind and went for a swim. The waves were crashing in and it was pretty lively to say the least.
We didn't do much in the evening apart from some table tennis and pool back at the villa. The standard of pool playing was pretty poor to begin with but certainly improved over the course of the week.
Sunday
We got the snorkelling gear out and headed for a place just up the coast called El Puertito. Apparenlty if you get there early enough you spot turtles......we didn't get there early enough. We did however see loads and loads of fish going about their business. Getting in and out of the water was a little tricky with the waves coming in and out over the rock slabs we were on. We headed back to Callao Salvaje to take a leisurley meal at the beachside restaurant we had seen yesterday. We spent the afternoon and evening larking about in the pool back at the villa. Sadly, Turdy the inflatable Turtle succumbed to three years worth of holidays and one of his legs somehow detached itself. He went flat instantly......but the severed leg did make for a rather splendid looking hat!
Monday
One of the only things on our agenda this week was a visit to Mount Teide. The volcanic mountain at the middle of the island. The journey there took a little while but it was a pretty interesting route, past all the banana plantations lower down before the switchback roads as we gained a lot of height. We knew we must be pretty high up when the shadowy areas behind rock formations were covered in frost.
At a very high 3,718 to it's peak, we were relieved to find that there was a cable car, even if Dad wasn't.
We got there nice and early and were on about the second trip up......and up it certainly was up! The cabin swung pretty wildly as it rolled over the pylons which certainly added to the excitment levels.
When we arrived at the top and got out, it has to be said, it was pretty cold:
So thats why there were plenty of enthusiastic european types in full on puffa coat mode.
It was so cold that there was actually snow lurking in shaded areas...great, snowball fight time! We went for a walk around, yeah I suppose the view was pretty good really but I felt the whole thing was a little underwhelming to be honest with you.
The tut shop back down at the bottom was very cool though......
After another afternoon spent round the pool, trying to get through our ice cream supply in the freezer we took a trip down to Costa Adeje. This was a very different prospect to our more civilised villa set up. It was pretty full on, neon signs, lots of people, restaurants and all the rest of it.
Tuesday
We dropped by the village again to pick up a replacement Turdy, we'd spotted a shop That was selling exactly the same one. We were pretty excited about that and couldn't wait to try him out in the pool.
It made my feet look filthy!
Wednesday
It was a lovely cake too!
Thursday
We took a leisurely trip north to Alcala, where there are a number of rock pools, a bit like the Treyarnon Bay one. The tide was coming inand was already too high for one of them, this one looked way too shallow to be of any real use other than a bit of paddling:
I stayed in for so long that the water eventually got up to my shoulders and had a lvely swim. Andy was loving it too.
Friday
Our last day in the villa but not the last day of our holiday!
We knew we were back home as we entered the murky grey clouds. They went really low though, we only just saw the runway before we touched down.
Then after school it was gymnastics, lift sharing with Sasha. We're starting to practice our routines for the upcoming competition.
Wednesday
Team Kennet was very late starting due to a football tournament running late. At least we had tour guide Ned on hand to show us the abridged highlights of Park House as we waited. I'm enjoying working with my friends in our competition group.
Thursday
So it was finally the last day of term and a very momentous occasion in our household. I bought home the mythical, fabled Golden Time Certificate! We all actually believed that no such thing actually existed as Ned never got one during all his years at John Rankin. So here it is:
Friday
I'd got Mum to arrange a Morning with Amy for my first day off. Brilliant, we had a great morning.
I'd got Mum to arrange a Morning with Amy for my first day off. Brilliant, we had a great morning.
Mum came to pick me up after lunch and once Dad had finished work it was time for holiday to Tenerife.
We packed the car, went to pick Andy up and headed for Gatwick. We were down numbers for this years trip as Kimi and Marny weren't coming which was a real shame.
We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, despite Andy flapping when the traffic got a bit slow on the M25 for a stretch.
We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, despite Andy flapping when the traffic got a bit slow on the M25 for a stretch.
We had time for a bite to eat, especially as the flight ended up being delayed anyway.
By the time we did board and get on our way it was pretty late,Ned decided to take a snooze with his head in his rucksack, resting on the tray table:
Saturday
So after such a late night and pool based nonsense we weren't up particulalry early.
I loved my room, I even had my own desk to write at:
We then took a trip out to the village centre, Callao Salvaje, and the beach. The beach had black sand which looked a little weird to be honest? Still, we didn't mind and went for a swim. The waves were crashing in and it was pretty lively to say the least.
We didn't do much in the evening apart from some table tennis and pool back at the villa. The standard of pool playing was pretty poor to begin with but certainly improved over the course of the week.
Sunday
We got the snorkelling gear out and headed for a place just up the coast called El Puertito. Apparenlty if you get there early enough you spot turtles......we didn't get there early enough. We did however see loads and loads of fish going about their business. Getting in and out of the water was a little tricky with the waves coming in and out over the rock slabs we were on. We headed back to Callao Salvaje to take a leisurley meal at the beachside restaurant we had seen yesterday. We spent the afternoon and evening larking about in the pool back at the villa. Sadly, Turdy the inflatable Turtle succumbed to three years worth of holidays and one of his legs somehow detached itself. He went flat instantly......but the severed leg did make for a rather splendid looking hat!
Monday
One of the only things on our agenda this week was a visit to Mount Teide. The volcanic mountain at the middle of the island. The journey there took a little while but it was a pretty interesting route, past all the banana plantations lower down before the switchback roads as we gained a lot of height. We knew we must be pretty high up when the shadowy areas behind rock formations were covered in frost.
At a very high 3,718 to it's peak, we were relieved to find that there was a cable car, even if Dad wasn't.
We got there nice and early and were on about the second trip up......and up it certainly was up! The cabin swung pretty wildly as it rolled over the pylons which certainly added to the excitment levels.
When we arrived at the top and got out, it has to be said, it was pretty cold:
It was so cold that there was actually snow lurking in shaded areas...great, snowball fight time! We went for a walk around, yeah I suppose the view was pretty good really but I felt the whole thing was a little underwhelming to be honest with you.
The tut shop back down at the bottom was very cool though......
After another afternoon spent round the pool, trying to get through our ice cream supply in the freezer we took a trip down to Costa Adeje. This was a very different prospect to our more civilised villa set up. It was pretty full on, neon signs, lots of people, restaurants and all the rest of it.
We had a lovely sunset swim though:
Tuesday
We dropped by the village again to pick up a replacement Turdy, we'd spotted a shop That was selling exactly the same one. We were pretty excited about that and couldn't wait to try him out in the pool.
We took a trip up the coast to El Gigantes, 'the giants' named after the big old cliffs. Nwe parked down by the marina, actually on the sea wall which seemed rather a tight manouvering space in our big old bus.
We peered over the harbour wall down inpto the water and noticed loads of very hopeful looking fish. As luck would have it we had a massive sackload of some of the poorest tasting crisp type snacks we'd ever had. The fish seemed to love them though, especially if we crushed them up first. It also was enough to tempt a massive stingray that Ned noticed first, skimming along the bottom of the crystal clear water. We took a wander through the town to the small beach at the foot of the cliffs. The sand was black again:
I loved laying on the beach reading my book after i'd had a nice swim.
Mum took a selfie with us while Dad and Andy were floundering about with their snorkels on:
It was a really cool place, we rounded the afternoon off with a nice ice cream.
We had an early Halloween sweet hunt as we realised we'd be staying in the hotel by the real halloween night. It was really good, but we certainly my missed the added excitement of having Kimi and Marny around:Wednesday
Dads birthday today, we gave him his token 'something to unwrap on holiday' presents and his cards.
We had a quiet morning around the villa before heading off for the main event...our boat trip.
Dad had found a place that were prepared to let us onto the open ocean in our very own motor boat. We found the couple running the outfit on the pontoon in the marina. They kitted us out with life jackets and an emergency phone (that an Italian family had apparently cleaned of credit the other week ringing their family back home). Dad got a quick lesson on how the controls worked (which I don't think he really listened to) and we were towed out to the open water. First on the agenda was to head to sea, about a mile to the offshore fish farm, the boat people told us that this was a great place to spot dolphins if we were lucky. Our boat wasn't that big or fast but it certainly felt it as we jumped the waves on our way out to sea. Best of all though us kids got to drive it, we couldn't believe how cool it was. We made it to the fish farm in no time and saw a few other bigger boats circling about...we thought that must be a good sign so moved in closer for a better look. Our boat was much more nimble than the bigger ones so we got ourselves into the best positions andwatched the sea.......we didn't have to wait long. There were loads of dolphins, popping up andthen diving down again. We couldn't believe it, there were so many and most of the bigger boats had moved on and missed them. Once we'd had our fill of dolphins we carried on North up the coast and found a quieter cove to park the boat up and get in for a bit of a swim. The water was so clear and so deep it was lovely even though getting back into the boat was a bit problematic. We headed further out to sea and headed south again, passing by the fish farms and going further south again. We saw some lovely catamarans and then some jet skis that were really going for it. Our two hours were nearly up so we headed back to the marina. It was so amazing, especially driving the boat. We told the people all about our trip and they were so pleased about the dolphin spotting.
We wandered back through the marina area and found a top quality shopping establishment.....they sold lovely Spanish Style flamenco dresses....only 8 euros! I've always wanted one of them. I also got a matching hair grip for another 4 euros on top. I declined the shoes and also made sure that i bought the dress a size up to ensure maximum value. The shopkeeper thought this was all very shrewd. Ned also bought a pair of very high quality 'Oakey' sunglasses to replace the pair that fell to pieces earlier in the week.
We made Dad stop the bus on the way back at the supermarket to get him a birthday cake from the rather lovely looking bakery we'd seen on ourshopping trip earlier in the week. Ome massive chocolate and oreo gooey gateaux piped with 'Happy Birthday Daddy' (which we had to write down for the piping lady) and we smuggled it back into the bus.
We went back to the villa and hit the pool.....Ned was performing various leaps and stunts on Turdy mk2......until he managed to pop it! Oops.
For our evening meal we ordered an Indian takeaway for delivery, well it was Dads birthday so we gave him the night off from cooking duties.we weren't really looking forward to it, but it turned out to be really lovely!
The cake was the main event of course:
Thursday
We took a leisurely trip north to Alcala, where there are a number of rock pools, a bit like the Treyarnon Bay one. The tide was coming inand was already too high for one of them, this one looked way too shallow to be of any real use other than a bit of paddling:
However the water was making it's way in as the tide got higher:
We had our lunch in a really nice looking cafe overlooking the beach. It took a while to fet our food but it was a nice place to sit for a while. Once lunch was done it wasback onto the beach, the pools were all swamped by the incoming tide and Ned was getting stuck in to some pretty wild looking bodysurfing. I swam a long way out, past the breaking waves and bobbed about for a while before heading back to my towel and my book on the beach.
We went out for a meal in the evning in the village. We found a little play park,some friendly cats and Dad pulled a ridiculous wheelspin in the bus for reasons best known to himself. As was the norm in Tenerife, Panda was a real hit with the waiters whenever we went out. This time he got himself his own chair, place setting and very nearly my drink!
Friday
Our last day in the villa but not the last day of our holiday!
We packed up, played our last few games of pool and then locked up and left. We were headed for Siam Park, the waterpark. After a lap around the perimeter looking for a parking place Dad took the law into his own hands and sneaked into the carpark through the exit. Not only did this save us three whole Euros it meant we got to reverse the loaded up bus right up against a well shaded wall thus protecting our Ipads and halloween goodies from thieves and harsh sun. He was very pleased wiith himself. We made our way round to the entrance gate where quite a queue had developed half an hour before the park even opened. It was the first time we'd been among any real crowds all week, being used to our nice villa in a very pleasant area.
Once the gates opened we were relieved to find out that our pre booked discount tickets were actually legit and we were in, sorted ourselves out a fast pass each (at Dads insistance) and got our stuff stowed away in a locker before getting all German like and reserving sunbeds by the beach pool. The first slide we came accross was the Naga Racer....it was a brilliant 6 lane head first one. Next up was the Jungle Snakes, a more traditional tube ride slide which I wasn't so fussed on (don't like the dark ones). Then it was a lap of the lzay river which was really long. The others went on some really big scary ones without me for a bit before we hit the wave pool. It was amazing, its nothing like other wave pools we've been in that produce gradually bigger waves. This one just fired a massive wave straight at you, it was amazing and really powerfull. Once we'd been battered senseless and knocked over a number of times we decided have some lunch and regroup to form our plan for the rest of the day.
So, waterpark assault phase two.......
Another go on the Naga Racer to kick things off followed by another lap of the lazy river, but this time we took the additional loop of the rapids section. This involved a tight weaving bit of lazy river that lead to an upwards conveyor belt. It was soo cool, you stayed sat in your ring all the way to the top. Then it was another section of meandering lazy river for a bit before the rapids! A downhill section in shallow water. There were banked corners, drops and even a couple of jumps and it was epic. It finished off going under a great big tunnel beneath the aquarium tank with massive sharks in it. Next we went to the Lost City, a water playground with a massive monkey head water bucket that tipped up and soaked everyone. Then there were a few more goes on some big scarey ones for the braver members of the group before we found the Sawasdee area, mini versions of the big scary rides....I loved it and got a lot braver. So we went for the Mekong Rapids which was a four at a time flume....it was a littke scary but I loved it, so fast! With my new found braveness they convinced me to go onSingha with them...it was fast, noisy and pretty wild with it firing you up uphill sections of track like a rollercoaster. Dad and Andy then went on the biggest slide, the tower of power we were interested to hear all about but the feneral consensus seemed to that it wasn't as good as it looked. The rest of the day turned into a blur of rides, we started using our fast passes to fly past loads of bored and jealous looking people. It was brilliant, we went on so much and most of the time the attendants didn't bother to tick our wristbands off at all. As usual with us lot at these sort of things we got there when it opened and we left when they kicked us out. In fact just after that as we managed to make one more sneaky lap of the lazy river.
With no villa to go back to we made our way to the hotel we'd booked for two nights. Mum wanted to be near the airport so it was easy for our homeward bound journey....it was certainly near, in fact Dad had got a good visual of it when we flew over to land last week.
We found it relatively easily and checked in, which took a while. It looked pretty posh and swanky so we were happy with that. Our room was certainly very spacious and pleasant, with a nice big balcony overloking the pool and a good vantage point for viewing the passing aircraft making their final approach. We headed down to the dining room for our buffet supper.....it wasn't bad on the whole, at least there as help yourself ice cream and self serve squirty cream.
We found it relatively easily and checked in, which took a while. It looked pretty posh and swanky so we were happy with that. Our room was certainly very spacious and pleasant, with a nice big balcony overloking the pool and a good vantage point for viewing the passing aircraft making their final approach. We headed down to the dining room for our buffet supper.....it wasn't bad on the whole, at least there as help yourself ice cream and self serve squirty cream.
We were soon asleep after a pretty full on day, the planes didn't bother us.
Saturday
Well it was a cloudy day today, but not bad considering it had been lovely and sunny all week. The breakfast buffet was a lot more palatable than the evening version so that was a bonus. We settled back down the room, flicking through the numerous spanish channels until we came accross one in english...we were set for the day. Sadly the grown ups had other ideas so were forced out for a walk. It was rubbish, we only found a wafty little stoney beach and a rubbish marina. I dont know whywe couldn't watch tv instead. We went to the pool inthe afternoonbut the water seemed pretty cold. We played a few games on the outdoor pool table instead. Dad gave us a couple of euros which we managed to eek out for ages due to a combination of the wafty table and shoving our hands down the pockets to prevent the potted balls from disappearing.
Saturday
Well it was a cloudy day today, but not bad considering it had been lovely and sunny all week. The breakfast buffet was a lot more palatable than the evening version so that was a bonus. We settled back down the room, flicking through the numerous spanish channels until we came accross one in english...we were set for the day. Sadly the grown ups had other ideas so were forced out for a walk. It was rubbish, we only found a wafty little stoney beach and a rubbish marina. I dont know whywe couldn't watch tv instead. We went to the pool inthe afternoonbut the water seemed pretty cold. We played a few games on the outdoor pool table instead. Dad gave us a couple of euros which we managed to eek out for ages due to a combination of the wafty table and shoving our hands down the pockets to prevent the potted balls from disappearing.
We took a trip out to another nearby beach in the bus in the late afternoon. That was rubbish too, windy as anything and actually pretty cold. Back to the hotel then, when we parked up Dad decided not to bother with the hand brake for some reason? It was hilarious watchinghim chase thebusdown the road, stopping it just before it made contact with the bottle bank.
It was the real Halloween day too, so I wore my cat mask and Dad wore Neds vampire cape down to dinner. Dinner was much better than last night, there were a number of halloween themed embellishments on offer like severed fingers, spiders and eyeballs on the puuding items. The scary lunatic member of hotel staff was pretty terrifying though.
Sunday
Time to Fly home, so it was up earlyish, breakfast at the hotel (including making ourselves a packed lunch to smuggle out with us) pack up the van and get to the airport. Which obviously didn't take very long considering our proximity.
Sunday
Time to Fly home, so it was up earlyish, breakfast at the hotel (including making ourselves a packed lunch to smuggle out with us) pack up the van and get to the airport. Which obviously didn't take very long considering our proximity.
So a shame then that we had an almost two hour delay before we tookoffbecause of thick fog at Heathrow. We did get to make a visit tothe cockpit though to ask some questions and kll some time.
The view of Mount Teide was pretty impressive out of the plane window as we left:
Monday
We had an inset day, so spent the day chilling out and doing the washing with Mum. We did take a trip into town for some new school shoes. They are nice little lace ups,proper cool.
So, here's a video from Dads New video camera he got for his birthday:
tenerife 15 from Part Time on Vimeo.
We had an inset day, so spent the day chilling out and doing the washing with Mum. We did take a trip into town for some new school shoes. They are nice little lace ups,proper cool.
So, here's a video from Dads New video camera he got for his birthday:
tenerife 15 from Part Time on Vimeo.
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