A quick break, Lanzerote with Nics

The week at the resort was just what the doctor ordered. After months (2.5 months!) of working, I finally got some time to chill with Nics without having the strains of work or bad weather ruining our fun. Apart from a couple of visits we haven't seen each other much since she started work in Winchester, so it's been a while since the wild months of partying last summer.

And fun it was! The sun was bright and warm without burning. The water was cool and refreshing but not too freezing. And we found a beach that was not populated entirely by middle aged Brits on rented sun loungers - Papagayo.

Thinking back on our time on Lanza, the days really ran into each other. We spent a lot of time lazing by the water and reading, going to the resort canteen for meals and driving around seeing sights. Taking photos of each other pulling faces and laughing our heads off. The usual stuff.

As you can see from the pics, Lanzerote is quite an extreme environment. The north of the island is greener with grass and palms, and the south (where all the resorts are) is quite desolate volcanic rock with small white towns and coastal oases popping out of nowhere. Very different and interesting.

But most importantly, relaxing and getting a nice tan. We were a wee bit ragged around the edges on arrival since we had been in transit for 6 hours (2 hrs flight + 2 hours waiting in Madrid + 2 hrs flight), and then it took us a while to find our way to the resort. I am pretty proud of the fact that we found it without a map of the town - limited knowledge of spanish and a good grasp of charades helped me understand directions from one of the locals.

The first couple of days we visited the beach and local shops, and got some extra reading material for chilling on the beach.

We also visited El Golfo (green crater filled with sea water), the valley of a thousand palms, and the markets at Teguise. Nicola did all the driving (as I hadn't replaced my license yet after having my wallet stolen), and she did a great job. Despite all the road rules being backwards, and the reverse gear being to the left of 1st on the gear box, she got us from A to B without too much trouble. The only persistent problem was that I was navigating and I have left-right dyslexia - the only direction I could give that wouldn't cause confusion was "THAT way" while pointing. Not ideal.

Anyway, of course a week went very quickly, and before long it was time to go back to London. To the cold, and the grey. But it's only temporary as I was about to go back to NZ and Nics was about to take off on a tour of Egypt.

So it's 'goodbye Nics 'again, but only for a while. Who knows what will be around the corner.... and I can't wait to see your pics of pyramids, sphinx's, sand and maybe a mummy!! Isn't that what Egypt's all about?

:)

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