Theta, Kappa and Clement bring weather that is not!

 

As November progressed things on Greyrocks' safe island remained much the same, but with darker evenings, and some bizarre weather. For example yesterday was aware of some rain during the night but looking out after sunrise saw that for the first time this year there were huge puddles in the places where they normally recur on nearby streets. The sky still looked threatening so for the morning walk Ruth wore trousers and took a jacket. By noon the temperature was 26C and shade was at a premium in the bar where we sat! This was the tail end of tropical storm Clement on Sunday. Its arrival had been on the cards all week, and on Wednesday it began during our evening trip out for tapas. Thursday saw widespread winds of 60 km/hr and some gusts much worse doing a small amount of damage, but the amount of rain was small. Not so in the north of Tenerife:

 Memorable also was the state of the sea. From the balcony we saw section of the route between the islands, and the waves which near us intersect from two directions were enormous. We didn't hang around to see how the ferries were faring!

Also making their mark are two sub-tropical storms. Theta - was it a hurricane, was it a cyclone? - made its relatively slow way towards us around 10th November. Ruth got caught in a short-lived but serious downpour on her way back from physio on that day, and the next few were dismal and windy, but the centre of the storm moved off north towards the peninsula, and sunshine returned.

Officially today is the end of the Atlantic hurricane season. Now however we are on alert for Kappa. This is what Clement will become if it develops further, and - as with other such phenomena -  it is the western islands that will get the torrential rain and we eastern ones that will get the worst of the wind. 

Between these storms, however, there has been plenty of sun, and for surfers some very inviting waves! Greyrocks believes the number of surfers grows each year. After our last visit to the spa for swimming we stopped off at Punta Elena. This bar (and small complex) is right on the shore, although is is hardly a beach at that point, and we have known it under two or three other managements and names. This time it was heaving with surfers and their kit, and the sea was as full of action as we have ever seen anywhere for ourselves in real time.

'Tis also the season of the oldies' birthdays. Bob and Elaine the Hairdresser have theirs just a few days apart. In normal years Greyrocks would go elsewhere to celebrate, but we didn't want to fly nor take two buses so options diminished. We heard of a good hotel just across the water in Playa Blanca and would have been happy to do that journey, but we rang them and many facilities there were closed. So we paired up with Elaine and Andrew to invite four others to Fadu. This a much more successful and inviting offshoot of Fado Rock and is making a name for itself especially for groups of up to ten, with many taking the "tasting menu" which includes all wine and beer. We did so too and weren't allowed to pay more than our own part of the bill. Great value!

Bogavente at Rompeolas

For the day itself we went for the first time to Corralejo's fairly new and well-awarded Rompeolas. As we expected this was at the other end of the cost spectrum, but included some real delights and the service was perfect.