New Year 2010 - Gran Canaria – Some Winter Sun

Those plans again – we were always talking about going away for Xmas or New Year – always talking about it but never doing it. You know how it is – “we can’t go as we’ve got to spend Xmas with the family” / “who’s turn is it to host at their house this year?” / “visitors are coming down for Xmas this year” – and on it goes.

New York - Times Square New Years’ Eve – watching that electronic ball drop as the clock counted down – that was on our “to do” list as something we were definitely going to do – at some point in time - yes those plans…..yes that list.

Anyway in early December we decided we were going to get some sun this year so onto Teletext I went – what a bloody joke that is, every holiday you ring up for has already gone! I spent hours trawling the internet, ringing the agents and booking holidays with them only to be told the seats on the plane had gone. Eventually, at the point of giving up, I managed to get a week in Puerto Rico, Gran Canaria – at least that’s somewhere we’d not been to before – flying out of Luton on 29^th December, coming back 4^th January – very nice thank you.

My Mum and Dad came down for Xmas and Jim and Samm cooked Xmas dinner – a jolly day was had by all but it was freezing outside. You may remember the cold weather that dropped on us – going away was looking like the right thing to do.

Carol was now using the wheeled walker with the seat, and that seat would become very useful for getting Carol around. I must say that the special assistance was excellent at both airports and they really helped us smoothly through passport control and onto the plane – and back off again at the other side. That was a completely new experience for us – it’s just not something you think about when you’re not dealing with mobility issues and the like. A designated team of people to help you personally – our experience was certainly a positive one.

It was 23C when we arrived – after leaving Luton in the freezing cold – just what we needed.

Puerto Rico is built around a valley and we were staying at the end of town furthest from the beach. I’d discussed Carol’s mobility issues with the booking agent and he’d advised there were some steps at the hotel but not too many - I remember….there were lots of steps!

Carol could still walk at this point but it was slow going and her right knee had developed a “locking” problem that was painful and made movement difficult – steps were still ok going up (one at a time) but not coming back down. There was a choice of steps or a ramp up to the front door and then steps or a lift to access the hotel reception and higher floors. We were on the second floor, one below the pool and reception. The steps outside our room going up to the pool provided Carol’s daily workout – and she managed really well throughout our stay – lounging by the pool was the main pastime, and that was just fine with us.

We did go out into town most days / evenings – Carol walked down the hill once (however the flight of 100+ steps was just too much) and we used taxi’s to take us around for the rest of the week. The beach was nice, with plenty of loungers to choose from and one day we endured a Chinese massage from two ladies who were frantically trying to avoid the beach security guards while fleecing people of their holiday money!! (I must admit it was a good massage though!).

I had a go at parascending off the back of a speedboat which was a great experience – we really wanted Carol to try it but just couldn’t risk the shore / boat / parachute transfers as she didn’t have the strength to support herself and stop any sudden movements. We did manage to get Carol onto a pleasure boat trip along the coast and that was an enjoyable day.

Carol was still able to talk at this point and I also remember her appetite was fine as well – no real problems with polishing off 20 McNuggets for example, or ploughing through ice cream at a rate of knots – things were still pretty good.

Watching New Year fireworks over the sea wearing just a pair of shorts at midnight – followed by sunbathing on the beach on New Years’ day in 26C heat - that was actually something we could now cross off that list – yes it really was a great holiday.

We left with the temperature at 23C and landed at Luton with the temperature at -3C – the UK had been frozen solid for the entire time we were away and the car was like an ice block. That night we stayed in a hotel just outside Luton – it was bitterly cold and we both slept in the clothes we’d come back in – welcome home indeed!!

The next day I was supposed to be training at work in London, and then going to see Billy Connolly at the Hammersmith Apollo that night. The day began with weather warnings and things were looking bleak – my training was cancelled first thing in the morning and everybody was advised not to go anywhere as more bad weather was forecast. We had to make a choice of staying in London and seeing the show or starting for home. Unfortunately I have to say Billy lost out – we raced back home with the weather closing in behind us. We made it back safely but that weather did arrive and the roads we’d just used to get home were closed the following day!

We didn’t know it then but things would start to progress quite rapidly for Carol from this point – the next few months would see lots of changes..…and they started almost immediately.