How it all begun.....


We moved to Gran Canaria 6 years ago full of hope, big dreams and an English mentality that everything was going to be easy.....oh how our eyes were opened...

It all started on a holiday as many of us do sitting on the terrace enjoying the mild evening weather, watching the sunset, drinking Sangria and debating all the reasons why we should up sticks & move to Gran Canaria. Then we went back to our normal life getting on with day to day things until the next holiday, but on the last holiday to GC we thought “what if?”

It started as a conversation we had and then it became more and more a “why not” the kids were at a good age to up sticks and we were selling our business anyway we were at a crossroads in our lives and just needed to decide which direction to go in, so we choose the sunny direction.

The tickets were booked the house & business sold the kids and I had done our teary farewells we were ready to leave, still wishing we had learnt Spanish but were confident we would be ok, after all we were moving just outside the tourist area, and honestly believed they all speak English don’t they.

How wrong we were, if only we had enrolled in that Spanish class speaking the language would have opened up more opportunities for us it also makes the island a lot bigger so many are afraid to leave the resorts as they might have to speak to a Spanish person! 

When you can walk into shops and not have to draw pictures or play a comical game of charades trying to be understood, it does make life easier if you are determined then you will get by but I know of many that won’t travel up the island as they really can’t cope with it all.

We started a business, settled into life, made some friends (or what we thought were friends) and begun our new life.... unfortunately the "crisis" begun and like many other foreigners abroad we had some tough decisions to make.

We found ourselves back at that crossroads, wiser, older, browner and more determined than ever before to stay but move away from the "Fraggles" as the brits abroad had been christened....I dreamt of the farm life, animals, trees, my own chickens, how difficult could it be, after all there is no rain and mud to contend with. 

The Hunt for the perfect finca began......