We had a bit of a late start today and planned to have that as a theme for the day. A nice chilled tourist day and then try to fly in the evening, as we thought this would be our last chance to get in the air while here on the island. It seemed breezy from the outset, so we went for breakfast and then headed out for the volcanoes in the Timanfaya national park. Because it’s a national park, there are no laybys to get out and walk around, which is a real shame, as you miss a lot of the scenery if there are cars behind you. We eventually stopped at the camel park and wandered around. It’s a really spectacular place with amazing colours.

Next we went to the visitor centre to check if it would be possible to go on the organised walking tour of the park (the only way you are allowed to walk anywhere there). Every one is fully booked until after next week, but we managed to get some info on volcano walks outside the national park, so that’s the programme for tomorrow.

Although it was windy, the sky was just getting better and better, so we decided to have a look at some flying sites. Two hang gliders were having a wail of a time on El Cuchillo, but it was clear from the village that it was far too gusty for us. The German guides had mentioned a site near Soo to us, so we drove there, but with no idea where the launch is and no other pilots there, we drove on to Famara village, with the intention of having a sandwich and a drink. The beach front restaurants only served full meals, so we carried on towards the north part of the island, closer to the other NE flying sites. On the way, Geoff’s window stopped working. The electrics were bust and it wouldn’t come down. I didn’t think much of it – we had three working windows and air con (not that we ever use it).

We got to Mala and could see the hang gliders who are in the Canarian Hang gliding Open playing about on the ridge, but again, it seemed too windy, with white caps on the sea and strong gusts even at sea level. We checked through the binoculars and there was nobody flying at the Mirador, so we found a sandwich bar in Arrieta. Before we got to eat, Geoff decided to have a try at fixing the window. He did get it moving, but only for it to completely open and stay open. After that it wouldn’t budge. Arrgghh. So we now had a hire car with a permanently open window, so if we did go off to fly, we would have to take everything with us and one of us would be grounded. We had time to take the car back to the airport, and on getting there, unpacked the gliders, cameras, picnic and all the other crap you accumulate on a trip. Just after we loaded it onto a trolley to to take it to the car hire desk, Geoff had one more try with the window. Worked perfectly…

We drove back to Mala and Geoff is under strict instructions not to touch the window buttons and not, under any circumstances, to try to fix stuff that isn’t currently a problem. At Mala we spotted paragliders at the Mirador, so raced up there. Conditions still seemed a bit breezy, but when we got to the front it seemed perfect. The German group of Fritz were there again and despite the calmish wind, they advised us that launch conditions were tricky. The wind was a little off to the east and the laminar airflow was interrupted by the cliff in front of take-off. We got ready anyway, but as we were unpacking the wind started to slowly pick up again. The guys in the air seemed to be having more trouble penetrating and white caps started forming out to sea. We decided to wait a little to check out what was happening, and Fritz came back with a wind meter. Above us at the hang gliding take-off it was gusting 25 – 36km/h. He described the conditions as ‘not exactly the yellow of the egg’ and that you would need to be a really good ground handler to take off in these conditions. On the grassy slopes of the UK I would not have hesitated, but we were standing in a small cleared area surrounded by rocks. Even having to run up the hill with the glider could break your ankles. And the wind was still picking up…

We waited until the last possible launch time and then canned it. Two guys who had top landed gave us a lift to our car and one said that at times he was stationary and had he known what it would be like, he would not have launched.

Out for dinner later, we had loads of touts asking us to come into their restaurants. One even asked us if we wanted to come in and celebrate our honeymoon there. When I burst out laughing, he seemed a little surprised. I’ve worked out a way to thwart them though… You get in there first and greet them with a hearty ‘Hey, how are you?’ in Spanish and by the time they have worked out whether they know you, you’ve managed to get past them.

See photos of today.

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