We’ve escaped to Fuerteventura for ten days.

A winter holiday in the Canary Islands is something that we’ve done for years, anywhere between December and February and usually for a week or ten days. Escaping the British climate is just the tonic at this time of year, although in fairness, winter seems to have given the UK a bit of a miss this time around. Nevertheless, the weather here is much better than it is in Hinckley at the moment.

As usual, we were well prepared and all we had to do was to get up in the morning and drive the twenty miles to Birmingham airport for the 9am flight. I didn’t set the alarm properly and only Sue waking at ten past six ensured that we got up, albeit fifty five minutes later than planned. Skipping any sort of breakfast, we quickly grabbed our stuff and were on our way by 6.45. I wasn’t too concerned at this stage, I frequently make this trip when travelling and it only takes half an hour. The shortest route skirts around Nuneaton and joins the M6 at junction 3 and from there it is a short hop to junction 4 and the M42. The traffic was slow moving as we joined it just after 7am but I was still relatively unconcerned, even at 20mph, the rest of the trip would only take twenty minutes. A few moments later and everything ground to a halt and then the police cars started racing along the hard shoulder to what turned out to be an accident just north of Corley services.

In the course of my work, I do a fair bit of driving and as a result, get caught in a number of traffic jams so normally I just accept that there will be delays but with a flight to catch it puts a different perspective on matters. A few motorists got out of their cars to have a smoke, stretch their legs or try to get a view of what was going on. We sat quietly, each of us contemplating what would happen if we missed the flight. After another twenty minutes, the traffic started to move and we were on our way again but the time had slipped away and it was almost 8am when we arrived at the airport. It’s at times like this that it pays to have checked in online and to have pre-booked long term parking in the multi-storey; both actions preventing further delay. We checked our luggage in and got through security within ten minutes of us parking the car and all that remained was to buy a sandwich and some water for what would be breakfast on the plane.

Needless to say, we made the flight and from there on in, everything has gone to plan. We hired a car at the airport and drove to Corralejo where, after we had unpacked our belongings, we did a big grocery shop. Returning to our holiday villa, we got changed and took a stroll into town where we had dinner at a beachside restaurant. It was all very good and there was live music provided by a singer / guitarist just to complete the ambience.

After dinner, we walked back to the villa and then crashed out at the end of our busy day.

This morning, we awoke after a great night’s sleep and after we were showered and dressed, we drove into town and returned the car to the hire company. Breakfast followed at a beachside cafe and then a slow walk back to the villa, stopping only to have a drink and write out some postcards for the family. This afternoon has been spent just chilling by the pool and of course, writing this blog post.