Fuerteventura, part seven - the North.

We wanted to explore North fully, so we decided to get an early start, as there were several things we needed to see and allow time for.

First on the list was Faro de Toston lighthouse. Again, a really lovely building, more decorative than you would expect for a working lighthouse. 

The shore around it was very unforgiving, being mainly sharp, volcanic rock, and huge rollers coming in. A ship washed onto here would be ripped to pieces in no time at all!

As  usual, wherever there were loose rocks, the old rock-balancing was in evidence - LOTS of it!

Careful.....STEADY........

There you go - Sue's effort.

Well, I may have lied (a bit) - she just put a top stone on one someone else had built - THIS is ours.

Looks more impressive viewed like this.

Looking back across to the lighthouse.

We spotted this egret, scanning the rock pools for his lunch. As we walked around, we saw LOTS of possible lunch for him. The rock pools were quite busy with all manner of small fish, crabs and prawns, etc.

All the time, the huge waves smashed into the shoreline and broke over the lava reef.

All around were large, black lava rocks. It looks extremely lunar here.

We left Faro de Toston and headed towards Corralejo, via a rough, sandy 'road'. You can see what it's like by clicking HERE

There were lots of surfers at one particular point, it must be safer here than other places?

Surfers paradise - click HERE

Again, a small 'dwelling' type place in the middle of nowhere.

Probably used by the surfers?

Neat and tidy in the lean-to.

The place from the outside.

A little further on was this much more substantial place - it even had a rope 'fence' and GATEPOSTS!!"

AND a patio :-)

This guy decided to hitch a lift - HOW they cling on to a glass surface, I'll never know, but he did - for about a couple of miles!

Looking back to Faro de Toston

A few more surfers, catching the waves.

We could see across to Lanzarote as we drove along the coast track.

What a great place to go dune-buggying - we quite fancied a go at this ourselves, and might try it when we return to the island next time.

This small island, Isla Lobos, is just off the Northern coast of Fuerteventura. You can hire a canoe and paddle over to it. There are guided trips available. for a video, click HERE

We reached the town of Corralejo, but as it was bustling and big, turned right and headed for the beach instead, rather than trawl round a town.

The dunes national park, or 'parque natural de Corralejo' just south of Corralejo. Now it really WAS starting to look like a desert.

However, the beaches were to DIE for!! LOTS of beach-side (free) parking available, and lots of sunshine tempted us to stop, first have a walk, then have a swim. The temperature was in the high twenties today, with a gentle breeze.

I even managed to do a bit of snorkeling.

You can see a video of this beach by clicking HERE
Of course, now we had come to the East side of the island, the waves were tiddlers in comparison to what we'd seen this morning on the West coast. Gentle and relaxing, this side of the island beckons and lulls you to just take it easy.

We walked a long way along the 8KM beach, just reveling in the warm shallows.
It's easy to let a lot of time slip away here, but hey - we're in no hurry - we're on our holidays!

After a very agreeable stop-off, it was time to head back. We got back for dinner around 6:15. Later that night, we went out to 'El Capitan' for another dose of happy hour, and good music.