Stonehaven - Day 1

We left the house about 10am to drive to Stonehaven in the campervan. We checked in to the Queen Elizabeth Caravan and Motorhome Club site about 12.30.

After parking up we went out for a walk, it was sunny but quite cold.

We walked along the seafront into Stonehaven and down to the harbour.

We had a look in the small museum.

We then walked back to the van, and at about 4pm went to Reception where the wardens had invited everyone in for mulled wine and snacks. Later we had our dinner, spaghetti bolognese.

At about 10pm we headed out to take our place to watch the New Year fireball ceremony. The High Street was very busy, I think about 10,000 people go to watch it.

While waiting for midnight there was entertainment in the form of pipers, drummers and highland dancers.

After the countdown to midnight the fireball swingers started their spectacular march up and down the High Street.

After about half an hour they headed to the harbour to throw the fireballs into the sea, and there was also a fireworks display. Unfortunately for us it was so busy and congested that we didn't see much of that bit.

We got back to the van after 1am.

La Gomera - Day 12

We had our final breakfast on the balcony then packed up and left.

We caught the bus to the airport after a little bit of confusion of the bus stop and the times.

Once at the airport there was a bit more hassle as the gate changed after we were told to board, and the plane was about 30 minutes late taking off..

We landed at Edinburgh about 5pm and caught the tram and train back to Linlithgow.

La Gomera - Day 11

It was our last full day today, and the weather forecast was hot and sunny. We caught a bus up the coast to La Caleta, and walked all the way back to Los Cristianos on the promenade.

We passed Costa Adeje and Playa de las Americas on the way. We stopped for some lunch in one of the (very) many bars/restaurants on the way.

Back at Los Cristianos we lay and sunbathed for a bit. We then went back to the apartment for a rest.

In the evening we went out to a Lebanese restaurant, which served us more food than we could eat and it was very good. Shirley had a chicken dish for the main course and Scott had lamb.

La Gomera - Day 10

We had our last breakfast on the patio then packed up and left the apartment.

We drove to San Sebastián and handed the car back to Cicar. We then caught the 11.00 Armas ferry back to Los Cristianos on Tenerife.

The ferry now had a Christmas tree, which hadn't been there on the way out.

Once we disembarked we walked up to one of the restaurants on the pedestrianised part near the beach for some lunch - a couple of rather disappointing salads.

We then walked up the hill to our apartment at Club Tenerife in the extreme south of the town. We were able to check in just after 3pm. It's a very well set out apartment with everything we need.

After a rest we went out for a walk to suss out the local area, and had a drink at a cocktail bar.

Later we went out for dinner at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant nearby. At this you choose what you want to eat and get the chefs to cook it on a hot plate. All sorts of meats, vegetable and spices, with hot starters and puddings as well. It was all very good.

La Gomera - Day 9

We decided to go on a walk by the coast today. First we drove to the village of Alojera, which entailed first going all the way to the top of the island then back down again. We parked near a small bar then set off down a track through the village.

Eventually leaving the houses behind we continued down to a secluded rocky beach. It had some kind of oven there, and lots of rock shelters.

From there we walked up and over a ridge to the main village beach, which has a small sea water swimming pool. We had our lunch there.

Then there was a steep zig zag path up to the main part of the village, it was getting very hot by then.

We drove back to Valle Gran Rey, and had a bit of a sunbathe and paddle at our local beach.

Later we went out again to catch the sunset. The island on the horizon is El Hierro.

Dinner was pasta with vegetables.