For the penultimate in our ‘Walkabout’ series, I thought I’d go for something a bit different and seeing as summer is now officially upon us, I thought a spot of naked hiking might appeal.
Okay, to be a tad more honest, and accurate, ‘naked’ was not on the menu when I left the bohemian southern resort [...]

• 0 Comments

In the pretty hamlet of La Montañeta the church only has four pews inside the small building; the rest are under a roof but exposed to the elements on three sides.
You can be pretty sure that on cold January mornings you’ll be killed in the rush to get to mass early. But when the temperatures [...]

• 0 Comments

Now call me Mrs Prudish if you must, but if I’m contemplating a spot of public naked sunbathing anywhere other than on a nudist beach, I’m going to opt for a location as far away from the beaten track as I can muster and then I’m going to lie quietly down and not draw attention [...]

• 0 Comments

This month’s special feature has been a stroll in the park…literally.
With watches poised to move to British Summer Time, I’ve been checking out nature’s offerings in what some believe to be the site of the Greek mythological Garden of Hesperides – this beautiful island of Tenerife.
I have, at various times over the past two weeks, [...]

• 0 Comments

You’d think that after 4½ years of traversing this island from coast to peak that I’d have pretty much seen it all by now. After all, it’s hardly Australia size. And in terms of driving around the island, that’s probably true.
But when it comes to exploring on foot, there are still multitudinous places I have [...]

• 0 Comments

This week I’ve been fantasy house-hunting along Tenerife’s northwest coast where its history is laid out like a cross-section beneath a microscope.
I encounter scenes that have escaped from someone’s private collection of old photographs; evidence that Tenerife’s ancestors were much better environmentalists than today’s islanders (not too difficult I hear you mutter); a sudden realisation [...]

• 0 Comments

The Christmas and New Year period has seen me walking off Jack’s excellent roast potatoes in the Teide crater, or Las Cañadas to give it its Sunday name.
Gingerly picking my way across compacted ice and snow; climbing ever higher in the thin air; half skiing, half running down the loose scree covered slopes of Guajara [...]

• 0 Comments

I’ve discovered the recipe for the best bocadillos on the planet:
1. Make up bocadillos with filling of your choice.
2. Pack them in a sandwich bag and place in bottom of a rucksack beside a litre and a half bottle of water, sun cream and some plasters.
3. Trek 8½ kilometres down Masca Gorge, clambering down sheer walls with the [...]

• 0 Comments

December’s issue has been hell for Jack; he’s been hiking in and above Adeje’s Barranco del Infierno in the heat and dust of the recent ‘calima’ and facing up to the rigours of kit inspection by the keepers of the Barranco gate. And as if that wasn’t enough, he’s had to part with cash to [...]

• 0 Comments

“If you go down to the woods today, you better”…bring some skis and elbow pads.
I’ve been walking in La Caldera in the Orotava Valley in the north west of Tenerife and the summer heat has left dried pine needles the depth of the pile in an Axminster carpet. Beautifully scented they may be, but to [...]

• 0 Comments