Chilled to the point of horizontal

I have had to be nagged into writing a blog posting by Phil which is most unlike me.  There have been 2 reasons for my reluctance. The first one and the main one really is that we have done absolutely nothing and have been chilled to the point of being almost horizontal.  This is very unusual for us as normally, as you know, we hire a car and can’t wait to go exploring.  Not on this holiday, this vacation it’s been different.  It’s funny I am champing at the bit to get a car and go explore the Island but so far Phil has been happy to just stay in the apartment and either sleep or read his book. He hasn’t even wanted to eat much or even drink for that matter.

On the basis that all we have done since getting here is eat, sleep and sunbathe I may be struggling with this positing but I shall plod on; I have to get something written as Phil will continue to nag.  On Saturday morning we walked up the hill to the weekly market but it wasn’t very interesting.  Lots of Africans selling mostly fake watches, sun glasses and belts and that was about it.  Phil was disappointed there weren’t any food stalls, anyway we came away without buying anything.   On our way down the hill we found an English bar so Phil could watch the Korean Grand Prix qualifying.  They had a BOGOF offer on the drinks so that was a couple of happy hours in front of the plasma.  For lunch, Phil cooked chicken breasts with new potatoes and salad back at the apartment.  Phil spent the afternoon sleeping and I went and laid by the pool.

We could hear loud music blaring on Saturday evening, so after a shower we decided to go and investigate where it was coming from.  Although we tried to trace its origin we couldn’t which was crazy because it was really loud.  In the end we ended up back at the English bar watching the X-Factor which as I type sounds really sad.   On Sunday Phil went back to the same bar to watch the GP and I stayed home for some more sunbathing and reading.  I have read 16 books on my kindle since we arrived.  I downloaded 20 before we left thinking this would be enough but oh no.  I guess I hadn’t figured that we’d be chilling out so much.  Phil went to bed v early and I ended up going to get a takeaway pizza.  I was starving and although I rarely eat pizza I guzzled it all bar a couple of pieces which I thought I ought to save for Phil in case he woke up.

The other reason for not wanting to write was basically down to a technical problem, namely a camera crisis.  Not only did Phil come away without charging his camera or bringing his charger and his battery died, well I confess I pretty much did the same thing. Only I did remember to charge my battery before we left but my camera must of switched itself on in my handbag and run down the battery.  This is the only thing I can think of because normally my old battered Fujifilm has a long battery life.  I did think about bringing the charger but decided against because of weight and space. Phil could of course of used his iphone4 to take pictures but he didn’t bring the gadget to download them onto his mac.  Anyway yesterday we found a camera shop and brought a universal charger.  Twenty four frigging euro’s which hurt when I know we have 2 perfectly good chargers back at the flat but what else could we do.

Now that I have explained myself or at least the reluctance to write, I suppose I should talk about our stay at Caleta de Fuste so far.   Where to begin?  Well, our accommodation at Hotel Cay Beach is okay, the apartment is modern and clean and as we are self-catering we have more room than if we were in a hotel.  Its ground level and we have quite a large tiled terrace which gives shade from the nearby palm trees and yet lets the sun in pretty much most of the day.  What I really miss I’m ashamed to admit is the TV channels.  We could pay to have TV but when we looked at the channel list there was nothing that we would want to watch.  Phil isn’t that bothered, he’s got his books and has even started to write again but I do confess I do miss my soaps.  I am a sad girl but then I’ve known that for a long time!

We have also had a couple of problems in the bedroom department.  Nothing saucy, on no nothing remotely exciting but one problem that is causing me grief is that the beds are extremely hard. This normally wouldn’t be a big deal but for some reason when I wake up in the morning my neck and shoulders are really stiff and actually cause some pain.  My neck was already stiff from when I tripped and fell over the gazebo peg 6 weeks ago but I had thought it was getting better.  Luckily I have a pack of Codeine that Sue gave me so swallowing these does help first thing.  The other problem with the bed is that we have an army of ants that come out at night and also a jumping spider is sleeping with us. The ants don’t bother me, have enough vino tinto and I can sleep with anything but the jumping spider has taken a likening to Phil and he has got several bites.  And they are nasty, big angry red bites bless him.  I am spraying Phil with a ‘Buss Off Insect Ease Bite Spray’ but if they get worse maybe we will have to go to the chemist for an antiseptic spray.  Other than that, our apartment is fine, it does what is says on the can.

The town of Caleta is okay but I am not blown away if I am honest.  The harbour is pretty and there is a nice paved path along the beach which we have walked a couple of times.  There is an abundance of small shopping centres but there are much the same as each other.  What I have found most disappointing is just how many English bars and restaurants there are advertising full English breakfasts, pizzas and burgers.  You cannot find anything authentic of Spain in Caleta or not that we have found anyway.  We did spot one tapas bar but it was sandwiched between a disco and a 24 hour sports bar so that put me off.  We have had a few lunches out but they have been nothing to get excited about.  And food and drink here in Fuerteventura is not cheap.  I did say to Phil yesterday that perhaps whilst we were chilling we should maybe have gone all inclusive for our first week but he disagreed with me. I am still not so sure.

Phil has a free app on his iphone4 which gives him a list of the top 10 restaurants in the area.  He decided yesterday that we would have lunch at a restaurant called ‘15’. It took us a while to find it even though Caleta is not a big place.  In the end we had to ask directions from the nice lady in the camera shop and we got there only to find it closed.  We had forgotten that a lot of places shut on a Monday in Spain.  So we ended up in an Angus Steak house for lunch which was okay.

The weather in Fuerteventura is different to the other canaries that I have been to before.  I don’t know whether it’s because we are coming into their winter season but the sun doesn’t come out until 10am in the mornings.  There is a constant breeze all the time which is nice if you are walking but it can feel chilly if you are out of the sun even in the day.  Since we arrived we have had lots of cloud, we even had rain on Saturday but yesterday we saw clear blue skies for the first time.  My friend Jane was in Playa Blanca in Lanzarote the week before we came away and she said the weather was disappointing, they had rain and cloud for most of their 1 week stay.  I shouldn’t complain about the weather though as its much warmer here than at home I gather.  Sue said in an email there was a possibility of frost and she had to get out her big coat.

I can’t really comment on Fuerteventura because I have only seen one town on the whole island but tomorrow, all being well, we are going to hire a car and head south.  My sister Louise and husband Mark come to Fuerteventura frequently and always stay on the Peninsula de Jandia which is where we are heading.  From what I’ve read its only about 50 miles from Caleta so we may stop off at towns along the way but I particularly want to see Jandia and Morro Jable as its meant to be really beautiful. Whilst it’s been relaxing, reading and working on my tan I am beginning to get ants in my pants (literally) and want to go exploring.  It’s time to get vertical………………