Heading home

All too soon we were at the airport waiting for our flight back home. It was a fun trip anyway though and Bill was happy to get a tan.

Exploring the beach

Ivy wanted to have a rest next to the lighthouse but we made her get up and continue on to the beach.

It was getting dark when we made it to the beach so these sun chairs were not that useful!

Visiting the lighthouse

The only problem with our bungalow is that it was a long walk to the beach area from there.

We did eventually make it to the lighthouse at the end of the street.

The lighthouse was very pretty.

Chilling at the new bungalow

We stayed in an area called Maspalomas and rented a little bungalow.

There was a nice little yard next to the bungalow with sunchairs we could relax in.

Ferrying across to Gran Canaria

We decided we wanted to go see another one of the islands, so we took a ferry across to Gran Canaria.

Thankfully it was a smooth ride and we did not feel seasick at all.

Hiking down the mountain and across the valley

Dad and Ivy decided it would be a good idea to hike down the mountain to get to the bus. It was like a four hour hike!

Eventually we got to a section where it was a little more moist and there were some green plants we could play with. It was very pretty scenery as you can see behind us.

After so much hiking we were really tired and thirsty. It was a lot like a desert most of the time!

View from the top

We took a cable car to the top of the volcano. We weren't allowed to climb up the top to the crater though.

Here's the view from the top of the area below. It looked really cool, like the moon or Mars or something.

Heading to Mt. Teide

We decided to go visit the volcano in the center of the island one day.

It sure looks really high up there.

Moving to the north of Tenerife

We took a bus ride of a couple hours to get from the south of the island to the north side.

The ride wasn't too bad since we got to sit on Ivy's lap during it.

Nap time!

Ivy had a great idea for what to do after having a snack and we couldn't have agreed more!

Enjoying our balcony

We got some food and drinks and enjoyed the balcony we had and the nice sunny weather.

We had a nice view of some mountains around the island's volcano from our balcony.

It was a lovely place for us to stay in Tenerife.

September 2012: Soaking up the sun in the Canary Islands

We took a trip to the Canary Islands, starting in Tenerife with Dad and Ivy.

When we got to our hotel room there was a big blue swan. We tried to get on it for a ride but it didn't want to go anywhere.

We had to settle for a playing on top of it instead.

Heading back to Sheffield

At the end of the weekend we had to go back. I had a great time watching the events and hanging out with Sara and Sahar though.

It was great coming home and sharing Olympic experiences with SP. I'm sure mine were the best though!

Water polo medal matches

Here I am at the water polo medal matches for the men.

We got to see two different games since the water polo matches are pretty short and only last 32 minutes each.

I got really excited at this point as there was a goal. The Serbian guy next to us was excited they came back to win the bronze medal.

Croatia took the gold medal and really dominated the final game against Italy.

Returning for the last day

I came back to the park the next day with Sahar, Sara's sister. The park was much quieter that day as it was the last day of the games.

I was excited as I got to meet Wenlock, the Olympic mascot. He agreed to pose for a picture with me. He is a giant drop of steel that is magical apparently.

There was a little park which had a pond that might have been filled with water bugs or platypuses.

I looked for awhile but I did not see any tasty looking water bugs in the park, nor any fellow Australian platypuses lounging around between events. I must have come at the wrong time.

At women's handball gold medal

This is my chair at the women's handball gold medal game. It was Norway vs. Montenegro. I don't know much about handball but it was interesting to watch anyway.

It was hard to take pictures of the stadium and me, but it was pretty cool watching Norway win the gold medal.

Around the Olympic Park

Dad and I walked around the park on Saturday with Sara.

In the background is the Olympic Stadium and the Orbit, a sculpture thing you can go up (but we didn't).

Then we went to Park Live, a big TV screen where you can watch events that are happening elsewhere. I'm watching the women's basketball bronze medal game intently as Australia was playing.

Happily they won! It was very exciting for me.

August 2012: My turn at the Olympics

Dad also had Olympic tickets for the next weekend so we took the train down to London.

Our friend Sara let us stay at her place. It was really nice!

Heading home after midnight

After a long day of Olympic fun we had to get back to Sheffield so we took a late train.

Thankfully I was prepared and brought a mask so I could get some rest. It was a great day!

Having a snack around the park

After the athletics finished we were really hungry so we sat in the park and ate some food.

Watching the athletics

Dad somehow managed to get athletics tickets too. We were way high up in the last row.

But I could see well still as pandas have unusually good vision as everyone knows.

Here I am in my seat, next to Malik who went with us.

We got to watch the 110m hurdles finals and I saw Usain Bolt run the 200m too.