h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

since I felt like writing anything here.

So How is Everyone?

Me - I am still flitting here and there. Just about to go back to the sunshine for another week or so, cos my plumber has been working on the house and I have to go pay him and check the work is okay.

The house was built in the 70s with the main water pipes buried in the walls and floors and they used galvanised fittings which are slowly corroding away. I was in constant danger of them bursting and causing both a flood and enormous water bills.

Surprisingly the cost of water is very low - considering it is all made by desalination. There is a huge plant down in the docks - it looks very space age-y with a huge silver dome and various pipes and valves etc. Of course it has to be pumped around the island, as most of the local population live up in the hills. So, if the electricity fails then so does the water.

Often the water is only pumped for a couple of days per week and you have to have a method of storing it. The traditional way was to use an aljebe - an underground cistern - which also caught every single drop of rainfall. The island is cooled at night by dew falling heavily - and the islanders made use of this by having sloping flat areas ( which you would think were car parks or yards ) near to their dwellings. The dew condensed on these surfaces and trickled into the aljebe overnight. Ain't that something?

Of course now that climate change has happened there is too much water on occasions and the island has had to invest in proper storm drains. The work is nearly completed and prevents the tiny original drains from overflowing when we get the powerful rainstorms which can be so damaging.

I've got a flat roof of course - which was perfectly fine when it hardly ever rained - but now needs careful attention so as not to leak. (There is a drain which just pours into the garden under my balcony) But if the drain gets blocked or the fibre glass roof paint blisters then the rain soaks through.

Mind you, when it rains it is not so bad. It clears the sand out of the air and makes the view out to the horizon and the Femes hills just so sparkly. On a clear day it is possible to see Fuerteventura, the next island in the archipelago. Often is is masked by sea mists and sand.

So, off I go back again to a place where Christmas takes place without all the excesses in the UK. I'll be back here in the UK at Christmas to be with my family. I am returning to the island for the New Year, which is celebrated without restraint, ending in a big street party with music and fireworks. A proper fiesta in the open air.

Take care of yourself! and thanks for reading

Nice to hear from you

Thanks for painting that picture of your place in the sun! Are you close to the sea? Do you have a swimming pool. Is it infernally hot?

The more I think about it, the more I think I'll have to come out and have a look. But Mrs G might like a holiday in the sun in the new year, so we might book a week in a hotel in Lanzarote and call over to see you one day. Which part of the island are you?

Safe travels, hunny

I am in Puerto del Carmen. I'll send you a grid ref on FB if you like.It is not hot at all in the winter, more like Cornwall in the summer, as it can rain as described above. But when the sun comes out it does get hot quickly, but usually less than 30C.

If you want a hotel there are lots of good ones, but I would avoid certain places, as they are a bit full of the typical Brit tourists, or a bit isolated. It will be great to see more h2g2 folk!

Mind you, lots of people just love those all inclusive holidays where you stay round the pool eating and drinking and never setting foot outside the perimeter of the hotel.

Car hire is cheap and the roads are very good and there are tour buses as well.


Oh yes, we have a shared pool in our complex - but it is not heated so far too cold to use in the winter. And yes, I am really close to the beach so I can hear the waves if the surf is up. It is my favourite occupation, just watching the ocean. (0r those lifeguards <giggle&gt

Photo courtesy of Pierce:
http://public.fotki.com/pierce42/2010-10-0409/2002-06-20-007.html#media

Early morning clouds and you can see what I mean about the sand on the flat roofs on the row of houses in front of mine.

What's the sea glass like though? Let's discuss something interesting!

*adds Puerto del Carmen to the possible-visit list*

I don't think I have seen much of anything washed ashore - it must be something to do with the currents. Occasional cuttlefish bones on some of the beaches, hardly any shells.

The beaches are ploughed by big machines to keep the sand really clean as well.

I'll take a look on the wilder shore lines for you

*adds Puerto del Carmen to the possible-visit list*

Will we have the next Hull meet in Lanzarote, then, GB?

Lanza, you need to look for pebbles, sand is no good. Near a port or old dump site...

I enjoyed reading this, lanzarote. I looked at pictures of your island the other day, and was surprised not to see dense tropical vegetation. Is your island too dry for plants and other trees?

My horizons have broadened from Hull, Gnomon.

GB, for a galaxy babe, they have to.

The universe is explanding, and many galaxies are doing likewise.

Not only is it explanding, it's expanding as well. :-0

re 12:

the island hardly has any vegetation at all, paulh, but in spite of that is fascinating in its own way

true - there is hardly any native vegetation taller than a euphorbia bush. Maybe with all the new rainfall this will change and trees grow where before it was too arid.

Hi Lanza, I really enjoyed reading that OP of your journal. It's fascinating sometimes the little practical details of everyday life, living in different places, every bit as interesting as all the poetical stuff. And something like water is so fundamental to our lives in so many different ways.

I'm quite shocked though that there is such a specific and clear cut change in the climate in Lanzarote due to Climate change

Thanks effers! How kind!