Next day was our last on Gomera so we hired a car and set off for a circuit of the island. We drove up the route taken by our bus the day before, through the road running along the forest then out towards the aptly named Vallehermoso ('Beautiful Valley') to the coast at Playa de Vallehermoso.
Large stands of wild Phoenix canariensis are to be seen everywhere amongst the cultivated terraces, fields and gardens.
Below - this magnificently situated old building 'Castillo del Mar' was our intended lunch stop but it had evidently been shut for some while.
We drove on back into the centre of the island through the Laurisilva forests again, dropping down to a little place called Las Hayas where Neil's guide book reckoned there was a good eatery. Good is an understatement - fantastic authentic Canarian food with a set menu of vegetable soup with the choice of mojo rojo or mojo verde (spicy sauces), basket of fresh bread, bowl of something akin to polenta but made from roasted wheat, finishing with goats cheese cakes drizzled in palm honey. All you can eat for 10euro each. Botanically we saw little different to the previous day but soaked up the atmosphere and scenery of this fantastic little island paradise.
For future reference the whole island is cross-crossed by a network of pathways and tracks through the forests - some believed to have been created by the original indigenous people of the island (the Guanches) - and is just the perfect haven for hiking.
So - back to the hotel and down to the harbour for our 8pm ferry back to Los Cristianos. Then a dash for the airport to hire a car before the offices closed (it was a Sunday night!) followed by a drive up the motorway to the other side of the island and our hotel at Puerto de la Cruz - eventually getting there around 11:30pm.
The next morning was spent wandering around Puerto de la Cruz then, in the afternoon, we popped into the magnificent botanical garden. I didn't take many pics, but there are plenty online.