Probably the port which I have been most looking forward to visiting. Have breakfast in the cabin, which allows us to disembark quickly.

A very warm day, with the mercury reaching the mid-twenties. Choose to make our own way to the city centre, as opposed to trying to wait for a shuttle bus, which would accommodate my scooter.

There are advantages of avoiding the bus. The views of the mountains surrounding the city are spectacular and there are finally some interesting souvanier shops, which we promise ourselves we will visit on our return to the ship.

The city is busy, clearly visited by many tourists, but also a jostling home to business men and women – all certainly a lot more modern than Maderia.

Take photos of the local attractions, including an impressively tall fountain and a large SANTA CRUZ sign. This last photo opportunity poses difficult, as some of our fellow tourists are a little self-centered and refuse to move on after taking their own pictures; instead happy to photobomb any snaps we make.

Notice a local Spar supermarket and take the opportunity to stock up on provisions. The ship offers more food and drink than you will ever need in your entire life. However, certain items, such as bottled water, can be hard to come by. There were also a few more Spanish gifts we found for people back home.

Claire had been worrying all day that I would cause an accident on my scooter while ashore. She continued with her concerns, despite me reassuring her that I would be careful. It was therefore inevitable that something would happen, in one of the worst possible locations – a Spanish supermarket.

Some teenage boys were walking up and down the aisles. It is clear that Spanish teenagers are as oblivious to everyone else around them, as British teenagers. As I made my way up one particularly narrow aisle, one of the lads wandered out in front of me. I slowly made room for him, but in doing so, hit a tall cardboard box which was freestanding on the floor.

It all happened in slow motion. The box began to fall. Believing that it was empty of any contents, I reached out to catch it. I then noticed its weight and realised that the box was anything but empty. The box came crashing to the shop floor, along with its contents – mops and brushes. A kind lady helped by picking up the box and placing all of its original contents back inside.

Not for the first time this holiday, I feel the need to defend myself from any wrongdoing. Firstly, had the youths not forced me to make room, the entire accident would have been avoided. Secondly, the tall, slender box, with heavy contents was placed in a precarious position. Had this happened back in England, I would be ringing one of those ‘No win, no fee’ lawyers, as well as calling the teenagers a pair of arseholes.

I turned the corner to find Claire. “Please tell me that wasn’t you”. Following yesterday’s incidents in the restaurant, it that I had embarrassed my wife for the second time in under 24 hours. To be fair to my significant other, she was understanding once I had told her my full tale of woe.

We soon paid for our items and left the supermarket, before I could run into any further trouble.

Slowly made a return to the ship, stopping in the cruise terminal at the duty free and souvanier outlets, we had promised ourselves we would visit, earlier that morning.

Picked up some nice gifts for loved ones and ourselves, including a truly gorgeous soft toy camel, which I have already mentally allocated a home on a shelf back home.

Indeed, we had purchased so much on land that Claire and I were beginning to feel like a pair of camels, weighed down with excessive cargo.

After recovering from the stresses of life on solid ground, we went to the lower decks and treated ourselves to a Costa coffee.

Passed through Ventura’s very own art gallery and marveled at the impressive paintings and sculptures.

A beautiful painting of two magnificent lions particularly caught my eye, as did the price – £3,400. I made do by taking photographs instead. I guess that could be seen as piracy. Well I am at sea, which is where pirates originate from, so when in Rome, and all that…

Another impressive sailaway, later in the afternoon, as our ship pulled out of the Canary Island and returned to the open waters, passing mountains along the way.

Choose to take a trip to the buffet for our evening meal. The entire deck where the buffet is located, along with the two swimming pools and bars, was virtually deserted. The ship had entered some choppy waters, and while the ships crew had not deployed the sick bags or closed the open decks – a clear indicator that the conditions were rough – the rocking motion was clearly too much for most, who presumably hid away in their cabins.

I wasn’t going to complain. I enjoyed a very peaceful evening meal, and despite my lengthy list of health-related conditions, it would appear that sea sickness is not one of them. Claire felt a little queasy, so it was mutually decided that we would return to our cabin, to ride this great storm out.

We had both been feeling tired anyway, so were grateful of the early retreat. Claire’s nausea began to pass, as we lay on the bed. The winds also dropped, leading to a clear, pleasant night’s sleep.