So we replaced vanlife with boatlife for a period of (according to the mail) 1 day 15 hours and 1 minute. haha. We had a good laugh, especially about the 1 minute. We were both really looking forward to it on the one hand, but on the other… on a boat for such a long time… I don’t think anyone could really be into that. But it would mean a new chapter and especially sun, and with that in mind boing on a boat for 40 hours was only a small task. The advantage was that we boarded at 23:59 in the evening, so the moment we arrived we also went straight to bed, which was wonderful. We had booked a room so we had a bathroom and a bed. Hahaha I write bathroom first, it can only be clear where the priorities lie. haha. But because we immediately went to sleep and therefore had already 8-9 hours of the journey behind us, the time went quite quickly. The rest of the time it was basically like waiting at an airport. You walk a little, eat a little, read a little and you repeat that… boring. But better than in an airport.. because instead of sleeping on the floor we now had a bedroom and bathroom. It was nice really and way better than we had expected! The water was fairly calm so we really didn’t suffer from seasickness.
Finca Altavista
We couldn’t go directly to the finca yet and had some time to kill, so we went straight to my niece Laura, her husband Perry and their baby Steijn. We received a message from them on the boat that they were also on the island. It’s so funny and so nice to meet people from home on the road. They stayed in a nice family resort very close to the finca. We were able to meet Steijn there, because we were not able to admire him yet because of corona. We chatted about anything and everything.
Then we went on our way to the finca, and that was easier said than done. Amanda, our host, had already warned us that it might be a tough road for a camper. Our answer to that was: Yes, but we don’t just have any camper, we have Bob and he can do everything. Bob proved himself, although it was a really steep road and we had to drive all the way in first gear. We gave it full throttle and hoped we wouldn’t have to pass anyone, in other words come to a standstill… They probably heard us from miles away as we went uphill with tires screeching. haha. It was honestly quite stressful and for a moment Lon thought we weren’t going to make it. But once at the top we still had to find the finca, which was not easy either. We first parked at two wrong houses before we called them for help and they saw us at the neighbors a few kilometers away. But we found it and the long journey was already forgotten, because there was cake on the table to welcome us. If that’s not a warm welcome, the dogs with their sweet wagging tails took care of it. You’ve often heard us mention Finca, but let’s tell you what that is a Finca. A finca is a country house, often a large house but especially with a lot of land around it, it is often used to renovate or to keep animals but that is not always the case. Amanda and Davide live on the Finca and the Finca belongs to Amanda’s parents. Amanda grew up here, but her parents have now returned to Germany and Amanda came back a few years ago. Here she lives with her Italian friend Davide, their horse Gigolo and the two dogs, Chance and Panda. The Finca is beautiful and has a beautiful view because it is about 1 kilometer up the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain are the tourist villages where everyone goes on holiday, so we are close by, but also wonderfully far away.
We “work” on the Finca through WorkAway, we “work” 5 hours a day, 5 days a week, which gives us a bed and 3 meals a day. During that work we do all kinds of things.
This is what our day looks like on average:
- 6:00 am: Get up
- 6:15 am: Exercise
- 7:15 am: Getting ready and having breakfast
- 8:00 am: Walking the dogs
- 9:00am-1:00pm: Working in and around the gardens and house.
We do all sorts of things in and around the gardens and the house. We take care of the plants, remove the weeds and dead branches, make sure that everything is neatly arranged. Pick what needs to be picked. Prepare the soil so that new plants or seeds can be planted, demolish structures and build new ones. We clean in the house, make pickled cucumbers and so on and so on. We really do anything and everything. In addition, we have the dogs by our side almost all day because they love to be around. Panda especially loves it when you are rooting in the earth, because with that comes out a lot of stones, he loves it when you throw them in front of him, chew on them for hours and drag them everywhere.
After work we all have lunch, of course with all delicious vegetables freshly picked from the garden, it can not get any fresher! And then we do what we want.
There is currently one other WorkAway’er, Jennifer from Spain, but she will be leaving at the end of the week.
We will enjoy ourselves here in the near future.
Lots of love,
Jap and Lon
PS. We will not be sharing the menu of the week and our route during our WorkAway, since we don’t cook all the meals and don’t drive as much. We will continue this when we start traveling again, do not worry ?.
Spendings of the Week
Budget per day €54 and per week €378 and per month €1700
| What/Where | Cost (€) |
| Camping | – |
| Eating out | 24,- |
| Parking | – |
| Activities | – |
| Groceries | – |
| Diesel | – |
| Boat to Tenerife | 865,15 |
| Total | 889,15 |
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