Busy week. Tea (bowls) and Biscuits

Monday we had a trip over to Newcastle for the day, and a look around the Biscuit factory gallery and the Baltic while we waited for Matt's flight to arrive in from Geneva. Hardy souls these north-easterners - I didn't get warm all day. Nice to see a lot of Potfest potters work in the Biscuit Factory - the Baltic was a disappointment again - have yet to see anything I admire in there, I even struggle to find something to buy in their bookshop. The rest of the week has been split between workshop time and admin - Geoff is trying to firm up details of the Potfesters trip to the Hohr-Grenzhausen potters market in May, whilst also trying to resolve the fliers for both shows, and I've been making tea bowls till they come out of my ears, but failing miserably to produce any larger sculptural pieces that I'm happy with. Pollie Uttley ( fellow potter and co-walker on my next trip to Petra ) has gone into serious training and is now up to five miles a day on the treadmill - Garry's probably installed it next to her workbench so she can pot at the same time. This is a worrying development as I now feel I have to train as well - as I don't want to be last one out in the desert at night. So as today, Saturday, dawned a staggeringly brilliant day in the Lake District Geoff and I took the morning off to go walking

View of Blencathra from the end of St Johns in the Vale

Luckily finished the walk in a better state than this sheep

Some of this week's production:

Throwing to keep warm

Thrashing our way through all the waiting emails and phone messages wasn't enough to keep us warm on our return - I'm  really missing  the Tenerife sunshine. By Tuesday I was ready to take on the workshop again and ventured out there only to be confronted by some strange pots that after three weeks absence I've no idea why I made - always a danger when you're ideas led rather than making stock items. I biscuit-fired them anyway on Wednesday along with some more porcelain teabowls, as my memory may kick back in in the future and their part in my masterplan will be revealed. I had a good play trying to recreate the volcanic rocks and textures of the Canaries by loosely wedging black clay, porcelain, terracotta, vermiculite, glass and 2 different paperclays together - I won't progress this any further till I have seen whether it survives a firing.

Some of this week's production. I only have about 3 weeks actual making time now to get new work out for the NPA exhibition at Rufford, an open studio at home at Easter and the Scottish Potfest - so time in the workshop is a priority. Matt's due home for a few days this week from France, so the other

priority is getting the fliers and posters resolved for the shows. Another priority is to get planning my April walk around the coastline of the Isle of Man - perhaps I need some time management skills to prioritise my priorities - maybe I'll just open a bottle of red .....

Friday - going with the flow

Our last day's walking started with a glimpse of Mt Teide above the clouds, but unfortunately the road up to it is still closed - so it's plan B again - a walk described as "easy", linking the 3 villages of Arona, Ifronche and Adeje up in the mountains.

Spotted these troughs of volcanic stone, which reminded me of Wendy Lawrence's crater glazed pieces.
The landscapes were very varied again:

from dry eroded gullies, to vast barrancos ( one named comfortingly El Barranco del Infierno )

through wonderful smelling Canarian pine forests, and over lava flows.

We were up very high, which gave us wonderful views down to the south west coast

but which unfortunately meant that at the end of the day, with legs already groaning we were faced with a very steep descent down an old pilgrim track down the mountain to Adeje where hopefully we wouldn't miss the last bus back.

Geoff at the start of the path down - village way below.

Really hard going as the bad weather had washed out a lot of the stones and there was loose rock

everywhere. Lower down the path followed a lava flow and the going underfoot got even tougher.

Views on the way down

 

The only thing holding me up when we finally reached the bottom was my sticks. We staggered through town, slumped onto the bus, and made a mental note not to try any of the hard walks in the book.

Home tomorrow.

January / February walks done - next one in March, my nine day trek into Petra. More training needed I think, as although no animals were harmed in this production, many plasters and a large tube of embrocation bit the dust.

This was the nearest we ever got to Mt Teide - maybe another year!

Thursday

 The one bus a day into the Teide national Park has been cancelled today due to landslides and stones on the road - we hadn’t realised how severe the weather damage had been – beaches washed away, landslips, paths destroyed, esplanades damaged, but they are still running one bus to half way up the mountain at Vilaflor. So we got on, not daring to look back as we left Las Americas ( very thankfully ) behind in case we were turned to pillars of salt.

Today's very varied landscapes

 We had a brilliant day's walking up to the lunar landscape rocks, saw the snow-covered top of Teide in the sunshine and on the way back the bus dropped us off in the neighbouring resort of Los Cristianos ( slightly better ) where we had dinner - thus putting off the time we had to spend in our hotel. We managed to be out from 7-30am till 9-30 pm. Thankfully the passports had arrived in the post during the day.

Wednesday - Los passeportes, Los Americas and the loss of will to live

Early breakfast, early trek to the bus station with our packs and three and a half hours later we are searching Las Americas for our hotel booked yesterday on the internet. Against a backdrop of magnificent mountain ridges and volcanic plugs there has been built the eyesore abomination that is Playa Las Americas.

Coming down into town we passed Wigan Pier, Hyde Park Corner, The Cheshire Cat, the Manchester United bar, numerous branches of Macdonalds and Burger kings There are so many tacky shops, dubious looking bars and restaurants that there can't be enough money in the whole world to keep them all going. It's our vision of hell. About two hundred yards short of our hotel I suddenly realised we hadn't picked up our passports from reception at the last hotel, now three and a half hours away back across the island by bus. The only asset our hotel has is the main guy in reception who phoned our last hotel up for us and we arranged for them to post them by fast delivery, hopefully arriving tomorrow. They faxed copies of our passports so we could book in - then we went to walk the town.

 For dinner we thought we'd try out Gordon Ramsay's, but at 6.95 euros for a three course meal ( free drink included ) we deduced it probably wasn't that Gordon Ramsay.

I hadn't realised I'd subscribed to the hotel's in house music entertainment, but it came anyway, courtesy of the Sound of Cream nightclub two hundred yards away down the road. Even inserting earplugs till they almost met in the middle failed to quiet the din of nonstop techno. We slept .......occasionally

Tuesday

 The rucksacks are packed and we've planned an early start in order to have a long day up in the Teide National Park. Up at 7am, breakfast by 7-45, and down to the bus station for the bus to El Portillo only to be told that the journey has been cancelled due to bad weather. Although it's misty up on Teide it looks no worse than earlier in the week - but when the mist clears for a moment we see quite a lot of snow on the peak. We return to the hotel, Geoff does some Potfest planning and I go down to the internet shop to suss out and book a hotel on the S.W. coast at Las Playas de Americas for our last 3 nights - the weather is often better in the S.West and we're hoping to get into the Teide National Park from that side. At 12 we head off out along the coast for a walk as the weather is now sunny at coast level though still very grey and misty up high. We redo the first day's walk, tag some more on the end and then reverse it back to Puerto.

Precarious steps, followed by a scramble down a rock face to get to the beach

View back towards Puerta de la Cruz

Passed by a large herd of goats just off the coast path

Our first proper view of Mt Teide, snow covered at dusk.

Monday

Change of plan. Decide to base ourselves back in Puerto de la Cruz for the next 2 nights in the hope of seeing something of the Anaga peninsula in the east of the island. Much more rain.

 Checked back in to the Oratava, then caught the bus to Santa Cruz, the old capital of the island for a bit of sightseeing as walking was really out of the question with the cloud level so low. Both major museums were shut, we got totally drenched through twice, and the only saving grace were some good sculptures in the town.

The mists lifted momentarily and we glimpsed some impressive ridges running down from the Anaga peninsula to the sea. Maybe another day!

Sunday

 Woke to pouring rain and thunderstorms.

After breakfast the hotel's interior courtyard was flooded and we'd retreated upstairs to the solar room to catch up on emails and do some Potfest planning. By lunchtime the rain had more or less stopped and we set off up the hill at the back of Garachico on an old stone track to find the volcano that had destroyed the town in the 18th century.

 Got as far as San Juan del Reparo before the weather closed in again, glimpsed the Garachico volcano,

and got really good views back to the town as we made our way back down. Have decided to base our next few days in Las Playas del Americas on the S.W.coast in the hope of better weather - and forays into the Teide National Park

Saturday

Saturday - checked out of our hostel, moved into our hotel, ate breakfast in town, then walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus to Buenavista, and waited............. and waited. Finally arrived in Buenavista where they were preparing for some sort of carnival, the town was festooned in ribbons and huge palm leaves were tied to all the lampposts.

Walked all through town looking for accommodation but there was only a big golf hotel undergoing a complete refurb - shut for the duration - and we were duly ushered off the premises by a security guard (not the first time that's happened to the Coxes)

Our walk started about 15 minutes out of town, a steep path snaking up a dry gully. Mid-afternoon I called a halt as it was obvious we were going to run out of time, not to mention steam, before reaching the Teno plateau still way above us.

Volcanic pipes in the cliff face

Walked all the way back through town again and waited for another bus back to Garachico. Ho hum

Friday

 Arrived in Garachico to find the Tourist Info shut - so wandered the streets in search of lodgings. After dismissing the only 3 hotels in town as rather expensive we booked into a one star hostel that was interesting to say the least.

 With the money we saved on this one I have now booked us into one of the others for the next two nights. Geoff thought this one was fine - we had our own patio - ie:- the roof,

but the 55yd.trek to the loo down a flight of outside concrete stairs was its main drawback. Explored the town - an old port destroyed by a lava flow in the 18th century. The main gate into the port is now in the middle of town rather down at the waters edge where it was originally before the volcano obliterated the town.

 

We then walked up the coast a bit - and I saw my first cactus crop.