So, after our idillic time in La Graciosa, we headed to Arrecife, Lanzarote, where we bid farewell to Jocelyn, (she is now on a NZ boat who should be making the Atlantic crossing sometime next week).
While in Arrecife we were able to do a bit of tourizing around the island which was pretty amazing.
The last volcanic erruption in Lanzarote was only 100 years ago. This last erruption lasted 15 years and left a very dramatic nature reserve on the southern end of the island. The lava flows that can be seen in the nature reserve are smooth in spots, like a slide and others spots the lava is very angular and sharp, taking on a sort of ice storm shape, and yet other areas you can see how the magma dripped from above, like in this picture below.
I have to apologize for the lack of pictures, this is due in part to the fact that we were inside a tour bus for this part of our Terra del Fuego experience, and also due to poor photographic techniques. This picture below is of the caldera of the volcano that last erupted in Lanzarote.
Below you can see Lucy posing, reluctantly, next to a drilled heat tube taping into the energy of the tectonic activity below our feet. It was really very hot when you got close to it. You could slowly cook over the heat, and in the resturant that you can see in the top left corner they do just that, cooking punters dinner in a large volcanically heated pit. Tourist gimmick, but pretty cool none the less.
The other site we visted was the 7km long lava tube on the northern end of the island. This guided tour took us along 4km of the 7km long tube. The tube was created 1500 years ago, which is really not that long in Earth terms. There were places along the walk that were huge open areas, and then other areas where there were many tunnels heading off in different directions where the magma decided to divide its path. Again, I was in awe of the power inside our little blue planet.
This week we have been focused on Lucy's 7th birthday, 7 years old, where has the time gone. Anyway, birthdays are a really big deal for both the girls, but in particular Lucy. We asked her what she liked about birthdays most and she said, having friends over and the special food. So, special food was easy to cover, homemade cinnamon buns for breakfast, pizza for lunch and a gingerbread castle for birthday cake, but finding other children for her to play with was hard. Thankfully Pacific showed up on December 2nd, a day after her birthday, and we were able to celebrate her birthday with the Pacific family. Below are some pictures of her birthday outing with us, and her party with the Pacific friends.
Birthday Breakfast of Champions!
Yahoo, isn't it great to be 7!
Lucy, Kato, Hang and Tang three legged race.
The "cake" This year the girls did all the decorating.
So that is what we have been up to since leaving La Graciosa. More to come soon...
