Fuerteventura 25 Oct 2004

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Nat's Birthday 2004

Photos - Google+

October 16 – Nov 4 2004 – Holiday in Fuerteventura, Death of John Peel, Joining the Over-Night Team

I've had to date this entry a little early because I was having problems uploading from Windows live Writer
We spent two weeks in a time-share in Fuerteventura prior to my changing my shift at work. During the time we were there the shook news of the daeth of radio presenter John Peel was announced, he died of a massive heart attack whilst on holiday in South America on 25/10/2004. I remember reading about his death while at the pool and because of this these two events reinforce themselves in my memory so that if i think of one I invariably recall the other also. The photos we took on this holiday are probably somewhere on disc at home and If I ever locate them I’ll upload them here.  Where were we staying: HERE

Here's a close up on Google Maps

And here’s a map of the town – Caleta de Fuste – with photos and videos that other people have tagged on Google Maps

We had a great holiday and because this was our second visit to this Time-share we were already familiar with the area; however Nat was terribly disappointed that Hippo Land, which had been located at the bottom of the hill leading into town, had closed since our last visit two years before. Blond haired three year old  Han was the toast of all the waiters in all of the restaurants  we ate in and managed to wangle herself a quite a few free ice-creams. We ate out most nights and often caught the Road Train to and from town; when we did stay on site we frequented the local entertainment mall and the bar opposite the resort; unlike the last time we were there Nat when asked refused to join the Brazilian (female) dancers on stage, after all he was now seven years old and had to maintain his dignity.

We returned home on the Saturday; the following Thursday 4 November  I joined the over-night team where I remain to this day!


The resort of Caleta de Fuste is located halfway down the east coast of Fueteventura, approximately 6 miles south of the airport. Caleta de Fuste is situated around a partly natural, partly man-made sandy beach. It is sometimes known as El Castillo de Fuste, the ‘Castillo’ (Castle) refers to the 18th Century watchtower by the Harbour, near a small marina and lighthouse. The Resort has grown up either side of the coast road, a tunnel that runs beneath that road links the two halves. Caleta de Fuste is suitable for anyone in search of an effortless beach holiday and good bars and restaurants for evening entertainment. Caleta de Fuste is good for families and keen golfers. The beach, Playa Caleta de Fuste is the focal point of the resort. It has good sand and thatched parasols, and a breakwater, making it safe for young children and weak 
swimmers, protects it. A new golf course with a driving range and club hire facilities is just a five minute drive away. It is an 18 hole par 70 course which has three large lakes connected by a stream all of which come into play at several holes.
For those not so serious golfers Caleta de Fuste has three mini crazy-golf courses. Our duplex houses are located just beside the main commercial areas directly across the road from the 4* Hotel Barcelo Fuerteventura.

Nat’s 7th Birthday Party at Saffron lane Leisure Centre … After Pool Time

Nat’s Sixth Birthday Treat – 3 Days in London Ongoing to Finish

Day One
Train to London
Building Euro Link at st pancrus had to take diversion to get to Tube because normal access closed
We too the Tube to Earls Court and came out here. we walked to the end of Earls Court Road and then turn left up Cromwell Road until we crossed over to our hotel that was located on the other side.

View Larger Map

We stayed at

Premier Inn London Kensington Olympia, London

22 - 32 West Cromwell Road, London, SW5 9QJ
Out hotel was a knocked together conversion of a number of Victorian Town-House and was very pleasant and reasonably priced. We were booked in for three days and we were situated on, if I recall correctly, the third floor down toward the end of the corridor as you exited from the lift. The door used an electronic key card, my first! After we had settled in we decided to walk down Cromwell Road until we reached the natural History museum which was to be our first port of call. It was rather a long walk and Nat's first time in London traffic but we ambled gently along and eventually arrived at out destination. The greast thing was that the walk itself was part of the experience. If you don't live there you can't conceive of how busy London is. I worked there for about a year and it still knocks me for six whenever I visit. I had never been to the NHM before and to say it was a revelation would be an understatement. No wonder many people describe it as a cathedral to Science; it is sipmle enormous and absolutely breathtaking...and that's before you even go inside!


VIDEO OF NHM

Walk to natural History Museum (my first ever visit to)
Stayed until six
Art Exhibition in Grounds
Underpass to get underground to to earls court and save feet where we saw a didgeridoo player busking
Hotel
Rang Redditch
Han wouldn’t stop crying
Day Two/Three
Science Museum Morning
Buckingham Palace
Horse guards Parade
Whitehall
Downing Street
Nelson’s Column
Coffee cafe in Wall
London Eye
Boat trip on Thames
Hamleys Toy Store – Laura Lamb for Hannah
Saw Lion King Lyceum Theatre via new Covent Garden
Celebrating 10 years of the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre
Walked through Theatre crowds to tube afterward
Imperial War Museum
Tea in Cafe opposite Earls Court Tube

Wednesday 25 Sept - Tuesday 8 Oct - Fuereventura: Our First Visit

View Larger Map

Above is a view of where we stayed form Google Earth; we travelled out to Fuereventura on a Time-Share package. This was a cheap holiday in exchange for them trying to sell us a time-share. The time share resort Club Montecastillo  ( Club Montecastillo, situated 8 km. from the international airport, it is a family orientated complex with plenty of activities, either on site or close by. The resort offers garden areas, a large adult's swimming pool as well as a children's pool and play area. Other recreational facilities include a sauna, gym, and Jacuzzi and an on-site bar. There is also a restaurant, hairdressers, snack bar and mini-market. In the neighbouring area you can find a golf course and tennis courts) was very nice with a huge pool and a large bar restaurant directly opposite reception and an entertainment complex a little further down  filled with bars, amusements, restaurants and shops etc.. To get to the complex  you used a set of stairs that ran down parallel to the aforementioned bar; there were a few small shops along this route and one of them sold hand made items like sharks teeth bracelets which were made by the two ageing hippies (scandinavians if I recall correctly) who owned it. A little further down and to the left was a supermarket where we bought fresh pastries, for breakfast, each morning. The resort was on the hill above the town of  Caleta de Fuste (now called Costa Caleta), a purpose built resort town with it's own artificial beach, and it was a moderate walk down this hill to reach the town proper. Caleta de Fuste was a pleasant little place, it was big enough to have a variety of places to eat and so on but small enough to familiarise yourself with quickly.

Secret garden

Tiger singing

Lion sleeps tonight

Nat snorkelling

Ruby and her family

lovely pool side bar

Daddy fart pants

Han photo at bar

Brazilian dancers

submersible tour of harbour

Hippo Land

Chipmonks

Coach trip to the south

Nude germans

German town

TO BE CONTINUED

Nat Starts at Millfield - His First Day in BIG School

This is where he starts to leave us and begins to grow into his own person; today is Nat's first day in "proper" school. He finished at the nursery at the end of last term and today he becomes a fully fledged member of Millfield School. This first teacher is Miss Burns (Angie to her mates) who is smashing and doesn't look her age at all. She's nearly 40 but looks like a twenty something hippy.

Wednesday 2 May - Brighton Pier

Today we visited Brighton and walked all the way out to the end of the famous pier.

We were away on another "£10 Sun Holiday" staying in the Portsmouth area. During the visit we travelled to  Portsmouth where we saw the rail link to the Isle of White Ferry, the Ferry and then went into Britain's most the famous navel base and went aboard "HMS Warrior" (the first ever steam fully iron warship that rendered every other warship in the world obsolete overnight -  HMS Warrior, was the first ship of the Royal Navy that deserves the name 'Battleship'. She was launched in 1860 and joined the Channel Squadron in 1861. Compared to HMS Victory her design is quite revolutionary.)

 and "The Victory" (Nelson's Flagship)

and took a boat tour of the harbour. My God...Warships are flipping enormous and I know our carriers are dwarfed by US ones so how big are they. We saw the "The Mary Rose"

(Henry VIII sunken flagship) drying out and Nat bought a ships biscuit,

among other things, from the gift shop. Nat and I also went on a number of the simulator rides where we flew planes and helicopters and the like. We had a fantastic day there and one day, when the kids are older, I'd like to visit again. Portsmouth Navel Base is Gob-Smacking.

I believe, that in the UK, only Milford Haven and Scapa Flow are bigger or deeper natural harbours.

Second/Third Week October 2001 - A Week in Lyme Regis, Birthday Boy, Fools Gold, Captain Scarlet Presents, Band of Brothers on TV, The Jurassic Coast

The week of Nat's Fourth birthday was spent in a caravan in Lyme Regis on another Sun £10 holiday. We had packed his birthday presents and driven with him and Han down to Lyme Regis. Han wasn't really a great part of this holiday as she was only 10 months old and very much confined to her pram. On the day of his birthday we were in one of the two big fossil shops in Lyme Regis when Nat announce to the owner that he was four that day. The owner, lovely man, gave him with a free piece of "fools gold" as a birthday present. I had bought a pile of Captain Scarlet toys at the comic shop before we left as this was now on TV and had supplanted, somewhat, Thunderbirds as his favourite program.

To be continued

Nat's Fourth Birthday in Lyme Regis, Fools Gold, Capt Scarlet, Caravan Park, Band of Brothers, No More Bill, The Jurassic Coast, Seaton Tramway, Stilon Pate,

We stayed the week of Nat's fourth birthday in a caravan park just outside of Lyme Regis on the famous "Jurassic Coast". It was a fabulous week and we booked it using one of The Sun's £10 holiday offers.

View The Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. in a larger map

A short walk from the caravan were the very cliffs where fossils are to be found. The fossil shop you can see below had the most incredible collection of extraordinarily expensive fossils. It blows the mind, if your not some brainless fundementalist who believes the World is only 6,000 years old, to try and comprehend the incomprehensive periods of time involved in their creation. On the morning of his birthday I gave Nat the over priced capt Scarlett toys I'd bought from the comic shop in Leicester and Deb gave him a couple of things too. When we went into town that morning and once again called into the Lyme Fossil Shop Nat told them, he was a very forward four year old, that it was his birthday and for his cheek got given a free piece of Fool's Gold by the shop owner...which was nice!

View Larger Map
While we were there I kept up with Spielberg's spectacular Band of Brothers, which was being shown for the first time, on the black and white portable, or was it colour, in the caravan. It clashed with the Bill and this marked the time when I stopped watching what had been one of my favourite TV  programmes. I've not watched an episode since!
 On our first day we had visited Seaton and travelled on it's famous tramway all the way to Colyton Station. We walked into Colyton Village where I bought some Stilton pate from a small local butcher's shop come delicatessen. Years later I returned to buy some more only to discover we'd visited on half-day closing!
Durring the week we travelled around the beutiful county of Devon and on our way home we diverted to Cornwall to visit the Eden Project.

Hannah, of course, remembers none of this as she was only eleven months old at the time!

August 2001 - My Breakdown - Katie and Dad Suppressed Grief

Lost the plot this month and ended up needing professional counselling. I'd suppressed the grief of the lose of Katie and my dad's sudden death in the January had brought it all bubbling back to the surface. Suffice to say I behaved like a complete loon and a total prat and I ended up threatening those I loved. There was one delicious irony; which was being accused of being a wife batter (which I wasn't) by P Harrison (who was and probably still is). If I'd known what was coming on 11 September perhaps I would have more perspective.

July 2001 - Eurocamp

We spent two weeks in a Caravan in the Vandee(?) area of France.

Friday 26 Jan - The Death of My Dad Six Weeks after the Birth of My Daughter

My dad suffered a stroke last week and we'd been down to see him but couldn't stay because Han was only six weeks old. We were due to go down to Wales after I'd finished work. However, I had a dental appointment that morning and had left work at 9:00 am to get there. while I was there deb rang to say that the hospital had called to say that my dad had just died of a massive heart attack. I suppose this was hardly surprising; the very first thing that the medical staff had done last week was ask me for resuscitation instructions after advising me that it would be better not to try and resuscitate my Dad should when the situation arose. The stroke he'd suffered was massive and his chances of recovery, at age 79, were close to zero. So I had given my consent to  them to treat my dad as a "Do Not Resuscitate" patient. If he'd lived he'd have had no quality of life and walking to the pub, something he did daily, would have been absolutely impossible. No, he would have been doomed to sit and waste away in a small flat unable to carry out the most basic of bodily functions...and what's the point in that?
I returned to work to advise what had happened and to let them know I would be on my way to Wales immediately and would advise when I would be back. We travelled down and eventually arrived at Prince Charles Hospital in Methyr why I briefly saw my fathers body.  I stayed down for a few days with my cousin Cath to make arrangements while Deb and the kids returned to Leicester. My Dad was cremated the following weekend.
This is where he grew up and spent almost his entire life; this is the village of Abertysswg as it looks today.

And, this is how it looked when he was a young man. He started working down this mine, when he was 14 years old, along side his Father and Brothers!

This is Charles Street where both he and my Mother were born and raised. The blue tiled shop is Roffi's. Mr Roffi emigrate to Wales from Italy early in the Twentieth Century and established his shop and proceeded to have a large family. His wife was still alive when my dad passed away and she was a sprightly 102 years old; I saw whilst I was there which was only the second time I'd seen her in my entire life. Her Son Aldo had been a good friend of my parents and I visited her with him.

Friday 8 - Saturday 9 - Sunday 10 December 2000 – The Birth of The Han Monster

Friday - waiting
Just as with Nat and Katie we arrived at the Royal Infirmary maternity wing at 8:00 am and settled in for a long day. Han was not due for another two weeks but because of what had happened to Katie (she died two weeks before she was due to be born) had decided to induce the birth early. Deb and I were escorted to a private room and she was given the drugs and told to let nature take it's course.

Saturday 03:40 AM - Born

Sunday Afternoon - Home

September 18-23 2000 – Pendine Sands, Katie's Anniversary and the Last Time we saw Granddad Bill

Pendine Sands Holiday Park
We came to stay on a Sun Newspaper £10 break; a week in a caravan in beautiful Pembroke on the record breaking Pendine Sands. Deb was six months pregnant with Han and Nat was almost Three years old. It was an absolutely beautiful place. The caravan was exactly what one would expect and not quite as up market as the ones displayed in on the 2010 website. Nothing to moan about though; warm and dry what more could you want.
Club house and Nat winning a dancing prize
nat dancing
nat playing in the sand on Saundersfoot beach
Tenby
Folly Farm
Nat and i falling over on seaweed and getting our trousers filthy and soaked
St Fagans Museum
St David's Cathedral
Remembering katie’s birthday on the way home
Seeing my dad for the last time before his stroke
Home to Leicester

Thursday 14 October 1999 - Nat's Second Birthday, Party at Donna's House for Nat and Sian,

Shortly after Katie's death it was Nat's second birthday, Donna showed what a friend she is to Deb by arranging a joint party for him and Sian at her house on the 15 Oct the day between their birthdays. This was held at the house they were renting on the Kingsway.

September 23 1999 – Katie’s Still Birth

Holding

1 – 6 May 1999 – Zakynthos : A week on the Flower of the Levant

This was Nat’s first foreign holiday although given that he was only Twenty Months old it’s unlikely that he remembers it. We travelled to Zakynthos, the flower of Greece, during the first week of the holiday season so we had the place more or less to ourselves. We stayed in Alykanas which can be seen on Here on Google Maps

As the days passed more and more people arrived until by the end of the week, as we were leaving, it was beginning to feel crowded. This has to be one of the nicest and most beautiful places I’ve ever visited. I certainly got a number of things out of it; I discovered Greek Honey and Greek Olive Oil and loved both. I had always hated the taste of British honey and Italian olive oil but the Greek stuff blew me away. The place was a bird lovers paradise with swifts forever swooping around your ears. The restaurants were fantastic as was the food they served and the people were incredibly friendly. I spent one evening getting seriously out of my head on Ouzo in an empty night club next to our hotel discussing the Kosovo situation (this was the time when Britain, as part of NATO, had sent in troops and planes in order to prevent the Serbs from massacring the Albanians – touchy because the Greeks were supporting the Serbs) with the owner. I don’t think I paid for a drink after my first… God what a hangover that was. Given that we were only there for a week we managed to see quite a lot; in part because Nat and I were up with the larks an d we rarely got to bed before midnight. Nat and I walked every morning to the Harbour

accompanied by two largish dogs while Deb, who was pregnant with Katie, tried to get some “I’m Pregnant and need my rest” sleep whilst we were out walking…wimp!
We could see the Island of Kefalonia out of our bedroom window which was odd because Deb had brought “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” with her to read and this novel is, of course, set on wartime Kefalonia. As it turned out she couldn’t get into the book (being put off by the second chapter which contains nothing but Mussolini ranting to himself) whilst i couldn’t get into the book I’d brought (Peruses Spur – Julian May) so we swapped and I though that Captain Corelli was one of the best books that I’d ever read.

During the week, while we were I was relaxing at the pool bar a little girl of four joined us (Sophie) and took charge of Nat. I keep trying to remember her name but I can't recall it. she was there with her Mum and Dad but Mum had MS and was somewhat restricted because of her wheelchair. She never stopped asking questions (particularly WHY) and was a delight. everyday she joined us and took Nat to the pool, which was immediately adjacent to the bar so that wasn't a problem. The bar kept it's glasses in a freezer and when you bought a beer it came in an ice cold glass crackling as you held it. During the week we booked two excursions, the first was to see the north of the Island and the second to travel to the main town of Zakynthos. The first trip was to the north of the Island and our first stop was at the famed blue caves.

The Blue Caves - Nat was sick on the coach just as we arrived. Thankfully, everyone was very generous with tissues and such like. Cleaned and wiped we exited the coach to walk to the harbour where we embarked on some small craft to travel out to see the Blue caves. They are called this because of the varying colours of the water caused by the combination of sun and shade.

It was spectacular, at times you felt you could reach out and touch the bottom of the sea. Sophie, the little girl  who was joined to us at the hip, was on the same boat with her Dad but found the noise from the engine very frightening and cried her eyes out until we were back on land. A cruise ship pulled up alongside whilst we were out there, talk about feeling dwarfed!

These two beautiful arches are located near the Blue Caves at the north end of Zakynthos. After this we re-embarked on the coach and continued the tour; among the sites we visited was the famous ship wreck in the bay that had no land access. As you can see from the photo below you get there by boat or you don't get there. This is how we saw it from the cliffs above:

The Mill; along the beach road the was a side road branching off and at the end of this lane was The Mill. A club/pub/bar/restaurant run by a Greek man and his English husband. They had two sons around five and seven. the Mill was a find the owners were fantastically hospitable and the kids showed Nat the local lizards and how to bounce on their bouncy castle. For a child under 2 years he took to both activities like a duck to water. Further up the beach road was a restaurant where we ate on a number of evenings. We were served by Dennis (on Zakynthos everyone is called Dennis...why see below) who became something of a friend and would sit and chat with us while we were there. He, along with every other adult, dote on Nat and we discovered first hand the Mediterranean love of children; how so unlike paedophile obsessed Britain!

Our second excursion, with the same tour company, was into the town of ZakynthosDennis's. The church was shut so we couldn't see inside but the rest of the town was absolutely smashing, even though no building there was over 50 years old (due to the earthquake in the 1950's that levelled Zakynthos and the surrounding islands) in either the town or anywhere else on the island. This was why there were so many half completed houses with steel rods sticking out of them. Every building on the island is now constructed from reinforced concrete. You'd need a tank to demolish these structures. One of the few downs were all the gypsy beggars and their children perched on the kerbs. It's little wonder that the Greeks support the Serbs because they associate the Albanians with the war and the beggars. In town I managed to buy large packets of pistachio nuts. I also saw the new Tom Clancy Book Rainbow Six, Deb wouldn't let me buy it so when we got home I had to wait a further six months before it was published in here.
We had a fantastic week, it seemed longer which in itself is very unusual, and did a huge number of things.  I wandered the town at night, while the other two slept, and met scores of interesting and friendly people, most of whom I shared a drink with, which gave me a holiday of my own. Eventually all good things come to an end and with our bottles of Olive Oil in our hands we left Zakynthos and headed home.

Zakynthos...I Love You!!!

6 - 21 October 1998 - A Week in Northumberland, Nat's First Holiday, 1 Year Old, The Builders Are In, Living Upstairs

October 1998 was a month of firsts; we went on holiday for the first time, I went to Scotland for the first time, We ate haggis for the first time, Nat, for the first time, laughed at me burning my mouth on a chilli, we went to Lindisfarne Island...you get the picture.
Northumberland
caravan park
Newcastle
Huge music Store
Brassed Off CD
Russian Military Choral Music?
Lindisfarne
Pub Garden
Train Whistle
Edinburgh
The Royal Mile
Black Whisky

Berwick on Tweed
Toy Shops
Haggis and Chips by the river tweed
Cannons on the Castle

Bede's World
Feeding the Goats
Travelling Home
Noddy Car at the services
Travelling too far done the A1 where's the M1

Getting the builders in and knocking the downstairs rooms together
Living upstairs
Nat's1st Birthday
Catapillar cake

15 March - Starting 6-2 at Powergen, Deb Back too Work after Maternity Leave

Holding