Tenerife, Canary Islands (22nd - 29 April)

Arrival
Following the theme of islands for 09 we landed at Tenerife south airport after an uneventful flight on Monarch Airlines. Monarch prove to be cheap, but a bit nicer than Ryan Air since you are allocated seats.

A 90min ride on a public bus took us around the island on new motorways to our accommodation in the north. We had planned on buying a Bono Bus pass for 12€ to get us onto the bus cheaply but despite 3 idle information staff in the shiney refurbished airport the bus pass agent had gone home.

Apartmentos Casablanca in Puerto De La Cruz was rated 7th/643 places on Tenerife and was a bargain at only around £30/night. The apartment was big and had a great pool. Temperatures here hover around 20C so its never too cold, or too hot.

Day 1 - Poolside
We woke early on our first morning to the sound of the neighbours being sick. The next hours were spent worrying about the food/water etc in Tenerife but it turned out it was just some over-enthusiastic partygoers. The rest of day one was spent lounging by the pool, reading books, and unevenly applying sunscreen (as hand prints later showed).

Day 2 - Hiking the Barranco de Masca

Having completed the Thames Path as a warm up it was time for some serious hiking. The Rother hiking guide to Tenerife boasts 52 different hikes on the island, including a Top 10 of unforgettable day walks. Time to knock some off...

A bus trip to Santiago del Teide got us close enough to Masca. An hour of walking narrow roads with nail-biting hairpins took us over a pass (950m elevation) and down to Masca. Walking on the road was surprisingly pleasant and we covered the distance in quick-march. The views were breathtaking and the neighbouring island of La Gomera could be seen on the horizon.

Masca was quaint but, most importantly, sold ferry tickets from the landing at the bottom of the gorge to the nearby village of Los Gigantes. It was 1:30pm when we purchased the tickets for the final (4:30pm) sailing of the day. The storekeeper looked at us, looked at his watch, and looked us over once more before taking the money for the ferry tickets.

The actual hiking trail begins at the bottom of Masca village and slowly winds its way down the barranaco (gorge) towards the sea. The cliffs on either side tower several hundred meters overhead. We saw a handful of walkers during the day but mostly it was just parrots, lizards and cactus's to keep us company. At its deepest the gorge is several hundred meters lower than the surrounding cliffs yet only about 20m across. At the sea the cliffs are over 600m high - more than triple the height of the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland for comparison.

After 2 1/2hrs the roar of the sea could be heard and the valley suddenly broadened out to the azure ocean. There was time for a well deserved dip in the balmy calm sea before jumping on our boat and enjoying a complimentary cerveza to cap off the day.


Day 3 - Hiking the Cumbre Dorsal

A bus trip through banana plantations and up the Orotava Valley took us to La Caldera and the start of a leisurely 1 1/2hr stroll through cloud forest (this was intended to be our 'rest' day). However we couldn't resist the temptation at the first turnoff to be lead astray and we switched onto the more exciting steep 1,000m ascent across the backbone of the island, which is an old Pilgram trail. We emerged from dense fog in the pines and in stark contrast above the clouds was a spectular view across volcanic slopes and at the top of the pass a vista down to the sea and Gran Canaria in the distance.

After a quick lunch of baguette, pate and water we headed down the slopes of the south side of the island. Our sneakers met our match on the loose scree and only jury-rigged walking sticks saved us from repeated falls. The last of the 1,600m vertical decent into Arafo almost proved exhausting for some and public seating in the town was greatly appreciated.

Three hours of waiting, busing, changing buses, and walking took us back to the apartment at nightfall.


Day 4 - Poolside

Nursing aching joints but now sporting a modest tan we decided it was time to get some sun. Unfortunately the sun didn't come to the party and we spent much of the day sitting on the deck.

Day 5 - Hiking Teide national park

We were up early to catch the once daily public bus up to Teide National Park. Pico del Teide is the jewel in the crown of Tenerife. An enormous 3,700m high volcano thrusting up from the rim of 15km wide caldera crater. A cable car carries visitors up to 3,500m but the final 200m ascent requires a permit be obtained from the capital, Santa Cruz. Not ones for bureaucracy we jumped on the cable car up to 3,500m and after admiring the view, started our decent to El Portillo.



It was a reasonably ambitious 4-5hr 1,500 decent and desert walk to reach the road and catch the one daily bus back out of the park, although much The decent of Pico was relatively easy going, especially with the hiking sticks we created previously. Views were breathtaking but the final 7.5km across the crater desert were most memorable - no people, just a sliver of trod ground to mark the trail.

The visitors centre at El Portillo heralded the end of the wilderness and a short wait for the bus down the mountain.

We jumped off the bus La Orotava to visit the Doce Casas, a collection of stunning colonial houses in the fertile La Orotava valley. These houses now mostly house tourist crafts so are open to view. They had a great old world feel and I would imagine are not dissimilar to Spanish manor houses in South America.



Day 6 - Santa Cruz, Playa de las Americas and our departure

A brief stop at Santa Cruz was in order to learn a bit about the indigenous people. The museum of Nature and Humanity was pretty impressive and contains much of what remains of the Gaunche civilisation (mostly in mummified form). Modern disease all but wiped out the local population and it sounds like conquistadors took care of the rest in typical fashion.

Santa Cruz itself was nice, but really just another small city. Modern street art is done well by the Spanish.

Our last stop-off was Playa de las Americas, the purpose built resort town in the sunny south of the island. It met all our expectations with translucent white tourists sculling San Miguel beer at cafes offering a "full English" for breakfast and everything deep-fried.

Back at the airport we farewelled Tenerife and flew off into the sunset.

Thames Path Walk (9th - 17 April)

The Thames Path is a national trail stretching 300km from the source of the Thames river in the Cotswolds to the Thames barrier on the eastern edge of London. The recommended 14 day walk sounded pretty easy so we modified the schedule a little... by removing 6 days. This revised timetable, with accommodation pre-booked, proved grueling to say the least. After 75km of slog in the first 36hrs of the trip we scaled back our ambitions plans and settled on 26km/day walking with boats, buses and the back-seat of friends cars making up the balance.

A day by day, blow by blow, blister by blister account is provided as follows:

Day 1: Kemble to Lechlade
Distance: 38km

The start of the Thames is marked by a pile of stones in quiet field, deep in the Cotswolds. The point where the water becomes a stream depends on the water-table. The upper reaches of the river were very pleasant with the crystal clear water proving drinkable.

Rain during the morning meant wet fields, wet sneakers, and therefore wet feet at the start of a long walk. 3 pairs of socks later an agreeable solution of using plastic bags inside the sodden shoes prevented further blisters.

The day ended at Lechlade, where about 500m prior, the Thames became a navigable river.


Day 2: Lechlade to Eynsham
Distance: 38km

We set off early after a "full English" at our coaching inn. We meandered alongside the Thames through quiet peaceful fields with the occasional swan for company. This stretch of the river bears the marks of Britain's last line of defence in WWII, using pill-boxes along the river to prevent invasion of the midlands.

The end of the day saw us walking through fields giving fright to skittish wild deer. We arrived at our accommodation after dark - and thoroughly exhausted.





Day 3: Rest (Blenheim Palace)

Wet cotton socks finally got the better of us and we were lucky enough to substitute a day of walking with a day at Blenheim palace with Jane, Rob and Justin. The palace has been on the list for a while so we decided it was an unmissable detour. After all 5 kiwis reluctantly handed over the £17.50/pp entrance fee we were expecting big things. The palace lived up to expectations and while its not quite Versailles, its a pretty good shot at it. The place and grounds were impressive but as usual the "multi-media experience" proved more painful than enlightening.

That evening we were joined by Chris, Cate, Paul and Lizzie in Dorchester - a one horse town with 3 pubs. The nine of us gave all the bars a good workout and reason for staying open late.


Day 4: Reading to Sonning
Distance: 6km

Fairing better than the others in the morning we were still in no shape for a lengthy hike. We squeezed into the back of Paul's car and covered most of the days mileage in a 30min drive to Reading. The walk from Reading proved uneventful but the character of the river was beginning to change and take on a more industrial feel.

Day 5: Sonning to Little Marlow
Distance: 28km

The walk from Sonning to Little Marlow was great. The riverbank sported more people walking their dogs, but most of the day proved peaceful. The township of Henley on Thames, famous for its rowing regattas, was far more attractive than we had imagined. Lots of true Brits strutting around in blazers and traveling up and down the river in classic wooden boats.

Day 6: Little Marlow to Windsor
Distance: 30km

Arriving at Maidenhead mid-morning marked the end of the scenic part of the Thames and the true beginning of the Thames known by most. The highlight of today was seeing the 2012 Olympic rowing lakes. Windsor also proved imposing on the skyline but the heavily trafficked footpaths tended to slow progress.









Day 7: Windsor to Hampton (and boat to Westminster)
Distance: 26km

Staines proved as appealing as its name and thus, with jets for Heathrow rumbling overhead, we decided to travel beyond Hampton Court on the river instead of beside it. The 3hr boat trip provided a welcome respite for weary feet. Early on the boat trip we passed through the final of dozens of locks on the river and entered into the tidal section of the Thames.

Day 8: Tower Bridge to Thames Barrier
Distance: 20km

Having walked the Westminster to Tower Bridge leg innumerable times before we started our final leg of the walk at Tower Bridge. The walk through the old East End docklands proved uneventful. While pockets of history remain on the riverside the bulk of this old industrial stretch of the Thames has been given over to unappealing housing or continued industry.

Conveyor belts thundered overhead as we pressed on towards the Millennium dome. The footpath in this area obviously had a refit for the millennium celebrations. Unfortunately the gardeners haven't been back and a combination of weeds and graffiti is slowly reclaiming what was once theirs. Innumerable CCTV cameras and high barbed wire fences didn't add to the allure of this stretch.

Our sodden and malfunctioning camera reluctantly captured the completion of our walk at the Thames barrier. The nearest tube stop was 4km back up the river beside the Millennium Dome... bugger.