We're writing this from sea but we thought we should catch up on our time in Gran Canaria before we write about being at sea.
The last couple of weeks were busier than the first as Mummy and Daddy had more to do to get ready for the start of the ARC+. We had things to fix and prepare on the boat, food to buy and pack, and various events that ARC+ arranged for everyone.
On Sunday 27th October, we went for a drive with Mimi into the mountains, but it got rainy as we got higher, so we turned around and went to the town of Teror. It was much busier this time and there was a market happening with lots of stalls. We got some churros and hot chocolate and visited the church.
In the afternoon we played football on the beach with loads of other boat kids.
That evening was Mimi's last so we went for dinner at a restaurant in the marina.
Mimi went home on Monday and we were sad that she had to leave.
Most of that week we did home school or boat jobs in the mornings and went to the beach or chilled out in the afternoon. On Thursday it was halloween. All the kid boats did trick or treating on our pontoon. I (Archie) went as a pumpkin headless horseman and Fergus went as a Mummy. We got loads of candy and later on we watched a movie.
On Sunday 3rd there was an ppening ceremony and crew parade for the ARC+. We walked around the marina with loud bands drumming and we hoisted flags for all the nationalities taking part in the ARC+.
That afternoon we thought we could re-use our tickets to visit the aquarium but it turned out we couldn't, so instead we went to the Crocodile Park and Zoo. It gives a home to exotic animals that have been taken from people who tried to sell them or have them as pets. We saw crocodiles, snakes, tortoises, cimpanzees, a bengal tiger, and lots of birds. My (Fergus) favourite was the yellow and while anaconda. My (Archie) favourite was the bengal tiger.
Last week we had kids club on 4 days. We did watersports like sailing, kayakign and paddleboarding. We got pulled around on the paddleboard by a speed boat!
On Wednesday, there was a costume party for the ARC+ boats. We made our own costuimes, I (Fergus) went as a giant red squid and Archie went as a jellyfish. For mine we made red paper tube and hat, cut the shapes, drew a big eye and made tentacles. For Archie's he got an umbrella, wool for tentacles, and a string of lights.
Tom and Lauren, our crew for the ARC+, arrived that afternoon and managed to make costumes as well.
On Thursday, after kids club we did liferaft drills in the swimming pool. The adults tried it first and then all the kids got in together. There were about 14 kids in a 6 man liferaft!
On Friday, the adults went for a training sail while we did kids club, and then we went shopping with Mummy for our fresh food. We had already bought all our dried food before. On Saturday, the adults did lots of last jobs to get the boat ready to go.
Finally on Sunday, we left to sail to the Cape Verde islands, but we'll write about that in our next blog.