Thursday 23 January.
We were taking the bus to Puerto de la Cruz this morning and spend the day there having a walk round. It was the same bus we took on Tuesday to Santiago del Teide for the walk, Puerto de la Cruz was another hour or so further, situated on the north coast. This was where the couple we met at the bus-stop on Tuesday were going and not Santa Cruz de Tenerife as I thought at first. Santa Cruz is quite a bit further, right at the top of the east coast. So there wasn't any running again this morning and when I got up at 6:30 am I made the breakfast instead of just our usual weakening-up cup of tea.
We just had our shorts and t-shirts on again when we left but at the bus stop it was cold again so we got our rain jackets on. On the bus there was a couple form Swansea behind us and we got talking to them. They were here for a week having book only last week on a 'last minute' package. They were catching another bus from Santiago del Teide to Masca then walking to the coast, they had booked the water taxi back. We told them about the other walks we had done and they were interested in doing the one we did on Tuesday back to the port. The bus carried on from Santiago del Teide still climbing to the top of the ridge to the pass, Puerto de Erjos at 1117 m before dropping down towards the coast at the other side. On the way up we could see the other road that went up to cross the ridge to Masca. It was a long winding road going down now with magnificent views of the rocky coast dotted with little villages and resorts far below. The road passed through the small towns of Rigomez and Tanque and still inland was the big town of Icod where a number of people got on and filled up the bus then it was down again to Puerto de la Cruz. It had been a lovely bus ride with mountain scenery then a lovely coastal panorama.
The bus station was at the top of the town and it must be a major hub for buses going all over the island. There were a large number of buses stances and we searched around for the one where we would catch the bus to take us back in the afternoon. We made our any down to the sea front, there was still a cold breeze blowing so we kept our rain jackets on, also there was a lot of cloud about. It wasn't warm and sunny like where we are based and it gets a lot more rain here. We now spent the day just walking all the way along the water front. There wasn't much of a beach anywhere to swim, the coast being very rocky with cliffs and outcrops of rough stony promontories. There were a few old fashioned tidal pools for swimming but it didn't look as if they were used much, having fallen into disrepair but there were two nice modern swimming baths that appeared more popular. There was some activity at one bay where the surfers were out in force and the big Atlantic breakers were a good challenge for them. Out on the piers and jetties there were the usual large contingent of people fishing but as usual we didn't see anyone catch anything. The most exciting thing on the coast was the waves breaking over the rocks, piers and sea walls causing fountains of spray to cascade through the air. We walked all the way to the end of the prom and up the pavement to the top of the cliff for an outstanding view back along the coast. Where the pavement ended we turned and headed back.
The thing missing from the town was toilets. There was a MacDonald's which is normally a good place to find a loo but this one had a key pad on the door and you got the code from your receipt. Instead we wandered into a Casino and used their toilets, if required we could have played one of the slot machines and claimed to be customers, it was only 2c a go. On the way out we stopped and sat on a bench where we had a cup of coffee from the flask then when we returned stopped again to have our lunch, another coffee and a sandwich. The place was fairly busy with people mainly looking at the shops. I don't know where there is any tax incentives here like Gibraltar but there were lots of shops selling cameras, tablets, phones and binoculars at very attractive prices. There were others selling luxury goods, booze and cigarettes also at discounted prices. I looked at the cameras and if the battery charger form Margaret doesn't arrive soon I might buy a new one.
Once we got back into town again we continued along the front in the other direction. Here there was a sea wall but we didn't walk along it when we saw the waves breaking over it and drenching a couple who were strolling along the top. We reached another small beach that had a breakwater that made it calmer for swimming but nobody was in. It might have been too cold but there were some hardy souls lying on the beach stripped off and sunbathing even though it was still cloudy and overcast. One bonus at this beach was that there were toilets, after making use of them we headed back for the bus to return home.
The bus was at 3pm and we still had plenty of time, we sat at the front watching more waves breaking before heading up the hill to the bus station. We had about 20 minutes to wait and we were first in the queue so got the choice of seats. We sat at the front and got a good view through the windscreen on the way back. It took an hour and a half to reach Puerto Santiago, it was much the same time on the decent as the initial climb, the roads are narrow and winding and I don't think the driver exceeded 60kph the whole way. Once over the top at Santiago del Teide the clouds cleared and it looked as if it had been a nice sunny day on the west coast.
It was nearly 5pm when we arrived at the flat and it is very pleasing that the bus drops us practically at the door. There wasn't much cooking for Moira to do, she had a pizza from the supermarket and she just had to heat it up in the microwave. We had it while watching the quizzes. There wasn't anything we wanted to watch until later when 'WinterWatch' came on then the next in the 'Death in Paradise' series which wasn't very good. It was off to bed at our usual time of 10 pm.
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