Jonathon's birthday holiday this year - Riu Palace, Costa Adeje, Tenerife. We'd not been there before even though we'd visited some of the other Canary Islands so it seemed only right to go to Tenerife this time.

Unfortunately the flight was delayed by a few hours so we had a long time to kill in Gatwick. Lunch filled most of it, especially with an extra coffee.

The flight was uneventful (perfect) and we arrived in Tenerife South, tired but there. Our next long wait was for a family who seemed to be incapable of finding the transfer bus. We eventually set off for the hotel only to find when we got to the Riu Palace (our hotel, the last drop off) that the same family had not got off the bus at their hotel so the poor driver was going to have to reverse his route and get them there.

By the time we had checked in it was well after midnight. We quickly unpacked and fell into bed - the rest had to wait until tomorrow.

When I opened the curtains the following day (Saturday), the view was lovely. Our hotel is on the outskirts of Adeje, on the La Caleta side. A lovely position.

Breakfast was up to Riu's usual standards, if not slightly better so we enjoyed that then, after the food had settled and I'd done a crossword or two, we went to see Aimee, our holiday rep for this week. She was lovely and really helpful. She even reminded us that we are half board rather than B&B this week so that was a nice surprise!

The hotel gave Jonathon a bottle of bubbly for his birthday but, as we don't drink it, he took it to Aimee when he booked a trip for later in the holiday.

The coast line reflects the volcanic nature of the island and is quite dramatic - very rocky and looks quite pre-historic.

There were a few interesting pieces of sculpture as I wandered about and, of course, beautiful, brightly coloured flowers.

On the La Caleta side, there were some interesting chimneys - they looked like dove cotes and I'd seen a few collared doves around. Whether that's what they are or not, I'm not sure but it's a nice thought.

After the desert-like rocks and beaches, it was good to get back to the greenery of the hotel gardens.

We decided to have dinner at the hotel (as we'd paid for it apparently). The food selection was really good and Jonathon particularly enjoyed his variety of puddings.

The sun was starting to set as we went back to our room and that was the end of the first full day of this holiday.

I did see the sunrise, after walking quite a way along the coast and up a steep hill only to find the view would have been just as good, if not better, from a spot only 10 minutes from our hotel. You live and learn!

As usual, there are a few cats here and there. This one looked really comfy sprawled out on the palm leaves.

I popped to get some treats from the local supermarket and then burned some calories off in the gym before showing Jonathon the ice cream parlours (yes, I found two) and the local view point. Gelato Fortuna is now our favourite for this holiday.

We found our first wildlife as we walked along - I was beginning to wonder if there were any animals other than cats and dogs here.

The sunrise was amazing - I was above the roof tops with a clear view.

I came across this sculpture on the way home. It was amongst the rock towers. I'm not sure what it represents but thought it was worth a photo.

I popped to the shop for some milk and spotted Jonathon totally engrossed in his book on our balcony on the way back.

Or ... perhaps not as engrossed as I thought because he took a photo of me coming back!

We'd booked an excursion for today so no early morning walk and no gym because we had to be at the pick up point before 8.30 a.m. and didn't get back until about 4 pm.

It was a great day with our first stop being Masca, a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. It has no doctor, pharmacy, school or anything much apart from a couple of cafe / restaurants for the visitors so it wouldn't do for me!

The roads were really bendy and twisty but Jose, our guide and driver, clearly knew what he was doing even if some of the tourists in their rental cars didn't. I don't think he was impressed with most of them at all.

On the way to Tiede National Park, Jose explained how important pine trees are to Tenerife because of the way the preserve water and create mini reservoirs - vital for the people who live and work on the island.

Infra red pine trees!

I went to La Caleta for my morning walk and was surprised to see this digger moving sand around. Not sure what the purpose was but he was very busy doing it - still on when I was on my way back to the hotel.

The clouds made the sunrise look very pretty.

I walked round the coast road this morning for a change. The sea was less calm today and it sounded like the waves were crashing into the coast far more than they really were.

I decided to have a quick visit to the nature reserve (I counted the steps up - 127 - and the same down). My aim is to visit it in more detail tomorrow, my last chance before we have to go home.

It's a great place to see the sunrise but also interesting in itself.

I took a different route home and came across a boat in the middle of a roundabout. I'm not sure of its history but it certainly added colour to an otherwise grey road.

We had a "window" seat at breakfast so a lovely view over the hotel gardens. There's anoher Riu hotel next door so we had a good view of their garden as well.

We spent a good few hours in and around the pool today. No need for a gym visit when I'd been swimming. it was very relaxing and a good way to recover from the exertions of yesterday.

Our usual visit to Gelato Fortuna was followed by dinner and watching the sun go down.

The waves were definitely stronger today.

I walked the "lower" way back to the hotel whilst Jonathon took the direct route.

To get from one to the other, there is a zigzag path. One each turn there seems to be yet another cafe or restaurant.

I enjoyed looking at lots of lovely flowers on the way back.

There have been quite a few paragliders, parasailers etc. while we've been here - some noisier than others.