We enjoyed our last holiday in Gran Canaria so thought we'd go there again, albeit to a different hotel. Off we went to Gatwick North - tasty lunch as usual at Sonoma.

The flight was straightforward with very dramatic cloud views. Getting through EES for the first time was a lot easier than we expected so we were at the transfer coach and arrived at the hotel in no time at all.

We are staying at Riu Palace, Maspalomas for a week - the view from our room is directly to the famous dunes. First impressions of the hotel are favourable so we should have a lovely time.

I went for a wander after dinner to find the gym - it's a bit like a maze but I'm sure we'll soon find our way around.

Saturday - I didn't wake up until after 8.30 a.m. this morning - very late for me. I knew I was tired but hadn't realised just how tired I'd got. The sun was lighting up the sea nicely (view from our balcony).

After a leisurely breakfast, a crossword or two and a visit to the gym, we went for a stroll in the dunes area. Although there is no climbing allowed on the dunes themselves, there is a marked path you can walk along to admire them. It was hard work walking in the sand but definitely worth it.

There were no pretty pinks in the sunrise but it was quite atmospheric rising over the dunes.

The dunes look very different in the early morning light.

Breakfast was next on our agenda. The flower on the table next to ours looked very pretty backlit.

The wind got up and the sand from the dunes was blowing around everywhere. Jonathon decided to go and have a closer look to try and take some photos while I stayed and read my book, having been to the gym.

We wandered over to Playa Del ingles for ice cream and a drink. There is a closer ice cream parlour but the ice cream is nowhere as nice and going to this one (Heladeria Playa Del Ingles) gives us a good excuse to stretch our legs. It's not much to look at and it isn't even on the map so you have to know where to go to find it.

It was still quite breezy and there were plenty of white horses on the surf.

There were quite a lot of cacti to photograph on the way back to the hotel.

Dinner was my last "activity" of the day. Jonathon took his camera out for the undramatic sunset. As he goes straight after dinner, he takes his camera with him to the restaurant. It certainly attracts a lot of comments and is even provided with its own chair if we are at a table for two.

Monday and off I went for a pre-breakfast wander only to receive a message from Jonathon saying that we needed to go to Las Palmas after breakfast because his camera needed a sensor clean and he'd forgotten to bring his kit with him.

I finished my walk, enjoying the sunrise as I strolled along, marvelled at a man shimming up a very tall tree and wondered what the strange black "Bird of Paradise" type fruit was - turns out it was wild bananas.

The hotel has a walkway through it so people can get to the dunes.

After breakfast, off we went on a number 30 bus to Las Palmas. The journey was very straightforward but took about an hour so seemed very long.

We found the camera shop easily. Unfortunately, they weren't able to clean the sensor but they phoned another shop who would be able to help. Sadly, they would need to keep the camera overnight (that wasn't going to happen) so Jonathon bought a sensor cleaning kit and sorted it our himself when we got back to the hotel - it took two goes to get it done.

Rather than go all the way back to the hotel to walk back to the ice cream parlour, we got off the bus early and had a shorter walk.

After dinner, Jonathon went off with his camera to see what the sunset looked like. I had a wander about in the hotel and caught sight of the sunset from a balcony on our floor so not too far for me to go.

The guitar is outside the Hard Rock Cafe.

We didn't do much else for the rest of the day, other than a short trip to the gym along with lots of puzzles and book reading.

Hopefully, the weather will be kinder tomorrow.

We weren't too late back for breakfast then had a bit of a rest before I trotted off to the gym for a while.

We'd decided to catch a bus to Lake Charca (near where we stayed last time we were in Gran Canaria) so Jonathon could do some bird photography. There were loads of birds to see so we spent quite a bit of time there before coming back for dinner.

I took a few photos as well - Waxwing and Whimbrel below. My favourite encounter was with a friendly Gallatia (Wall Lizard) who was very happy licking up Jonathon's ice cream drips from the floor. He was onlyabout 6 inches from me at one point.

With the sand being wetter, I could finally get a photo of my footprints. I decided to take a selfie shadow as well!

Meloneras is definitely more up market than Playa Del Inglis and the hotel was lovely. There are loads of lovely restaurants, cafes and shops in that area as well.

There were some lovely sand sculptures to admire.

Another Gallotia - this one was much bigger.

The elephant stands at the entrance to one of the shops.

We went to get an ice cream once we'd recovered from our trip. I started doing the packing after tea while Jonathon went to watch the sun go down.

I don't think Jonathon has ever done so many steps in one day before.