Middle-aged flash packers

Arinaga

After a very lazy day followed by an even lazier morning the next day, we decided it really was about time to actually do something.

The problem is, from 10.30am to approximately 2.30pm, the sun shines on our cosy little garden and it’s just too tempting to stay in it, reading our books and going for the odd swim. 

A walk around Arinaga fitted the bill. A morning and early afternoon of indolence followed by some exploring later, not too far away.

Arinaga is not somewhere I normally would have been drawn to. Within spitting distance of the airport, it’s a working town with a big industrial area. Our walk book recommended it though, with a nice stroll along the sea front that has sculptures dotted along the bay. We extended the stroll to include an old military tunnel in one of the hills above the town. Apparently you can walk through it but need a head torch.

As long as you don’t concentrate on the ugly wind turbines and instead turn your attention to the sea and the little cafe/restaurants that line the promenade, it’s very pleasant. There are indeed little sculptures everywhere and we managed to spot a little boy holding an octopus and Gran Canaria’s very own Molly Malone amongst others.

If you follow the promenade to the end, you come to an abstract red sculpture (no idea what it’s meant to be) and a view out to sea and a tiny island just off the beach. 

We walked up to the lighthouse and then headed towards the old bunkers  and military tunnels that were built during ww2 but never saw any action. A blog online alerted us to them, and armed with our head torches we were excited to explore them. However once we got there, we discovered they’d all been either sealed up or gated. Still, I’ve just read up on them again and found out there are quite deep shafts that you can’t always see and I’m feeling relatively relieved not to have risked falling in to one.

On the way back I got over my disappointment and had a sangria in one of the bars on the promenade with the sun on my back. It was lovely. Steve had a coke and was in much more of a hurry to get home than I was but I managed to stall him for a while. 

I don’t know what was in the sangria but it had a very intoxicating effect, amplified by the two glasses of wine I had later that evening at the La Palmeria restaurant. Still,  it made the 25 minute walk back to our accommodation seem very quick.