Sunday 12 April 2015

Welcome Back I hear you say. ( Part Two ) !!!

Hi All,
Before I continue with this blog there are a couple of omissions I need to put right.In Part One I forgot a few important people,they are Niamh and Jill,who work so hard behind the bar at the Blue Rock,and Dave ,Jills partner.I think I have everyone now,forgive me if not.
OK,having landed back in Manchester on the 6th of February we were already looking at going back to Corralejo soon.Having had such a brilliant time the sensible thing to do would be to get away from the cold and damp of the UK while we could.Neither Lisa or I had ever thought we would leave our beloved boat for so long and here we were considering it for the second time in a matter of weeks.We'd enquired about apartments and looked at flights before we had left Fuerteventura so it was just a matter of deciding if and when we should do it.We had a car booked with Enterprise at the Car Rental Village for when our plane touched down and Rob and Suzie were waiting for us at Lyme View,they'd lit the stove to warm Chyandour up and cooked a meal to warm us up,that's what friends are for.
The view from the bows of Chyandour over Lyme View Marina.Would you really want to spend three months looking at this?
After a couple of days getting Chyandour back to normal,we set off back down to Wimborne to see Gordon,sadly his condition had deteriorated and it was now just a matter of time.We spent a  few days with him and he'd retained his sense of humour but Lisa knew it would be unlikely we would see him again.By this time we had booked an apartment and flights back to Fuerteventura but we promised to go back to Wimborne on our return.
We got back to Lyme View and Chyandour on the 12th. of March and spent the following week visiting parts of the local area with Rob and Suzie,such as Poynton and Stockport,Lyme Park again and the local pubs.The sacrifices we make.Xzena and our Grandchildren paid us a visit and a good time was had by all,then,before we knew it,we were packing to go back to Corralejo for another month.
This time would be a bit different though,our apartment was nearer to the old town of Corralejo for one thing,we were familiar with the local bus services so getting about would be more fun and,of course,we knew more places and people than on our first visit.I'd had my phone unlocked so I could use a local Sim Card for phone calls and data.Calls to the UK being cheaper on a Spanish card.
As expected we had a great time on our second visit,the weather being somewhat better.It hadn't been cold by UK standards on our first visit but it had been cloudier and the locals considered it cold.Believe me when I say,20 degrees is not cold at any time,let alone in January.We did the usual things like walking on the beach and sunbathing,walked over the Volcano again,sampled the odd beer or two and enjoyed some lovely local food.Some of the people who we had met on our first visit would leave this time but everyone promised to keep in touch and I'm sure a lot of us will meet up again.One final thing about Corralejo,we enjoyed it so much that we are going back in January next year,for three months,to see if we like being away from Chyandour for so long.The apartment is booked,just the flights to sort out now.
Lisa and Val on the day we went,not to Bangor,but El Cotillo instead

The Lime Kilns at El Cotillo
Entering the little harbour at Playa Blanca,Lanzarote

Lisa,Val,Geraldine and Richard outside the bar on Lobos.

One of the fish that Pete caught off the end of the pier on Lobos.We caught some beautiful fish but this one was the ugliest and most aggressive.It's mouth was so big it could have swallowed itself.No comments about it's gender please.

The Blue Rock Ramblers on the outskirts of Lajares after their epic stroll from Corralejo,some 14 K's

A celebration in the bar in Lajares
It was Carnival Week in Corralejo on our last week,here are a few pic's from the dozens I took



The Blue Rock Ramblers Steering Committee.

Jules and Claire,the proprietors of the Blue Rock.This was for the last night of the Carnival.Jules is the tall one.
We got back to Manchester on the 23rd March,a hire car was again waiting and this time it was my turn to light the stoves on Swamp Frogs and Chyandour,we spent one night aboard and went back down to Wimborne.Sadly,Gordon was no longer with us so Lisa Spent a couple of days with her sister before we returned to Lyme View.By now both Lisa and I were feeling somewhat under the weather and Lisa was so bad we had to find a doctor for her.Fortunately the first one we asked in Poynton was willing to see her and prescribed Antibiotics.Both of us are getting along fine now but we needed the relaxing time here in Bugsworth to help our recovery.
For Easter we had Lisa's other sister,Heather,and her husband Steve visit us on The Peak Forest and we managed a bit of cruising but it wasn't one of the better times we've had with them,being full of cold etc.took the edge off things a bit.We did manage to get to the Aston Engine Museum at Poynton on Easter Sunday though and they had some of the engines running which is something I didn't think I would see for a while yet.They only run once a month.

Two of the exhibits at the Anson Engine Museum.Beautiful,aren't they?
 We said goodbye to Heather and Steve on Easter Monday and moored here at Bugsworth where we intend to stay another week.
Well,that just about brings us up to last weekend so I will close this blog,we'll have more boaty stuff in our next blog.Since December we have gone through 47 Locks and covered 99 Miles,giving us a Grand Total of,1103 Locks and 1780 Miles since we set off in October 2012.Take Care everyone.


1 comment:

  1. Brilliant blog....as ever. Thank you for your company and your friendship, We had such a lovely time. So glad you both are feeling better now. Have fun and....DON'T FANNY ABOUT! Robbie and Suzie Swamp Frogs xxxx

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