From one extreme to another. We go from a road trip to the Inner Hebrides to a sporty, winter warmer in Lanzarote! We went to an old Roscoe family favourite; Club La Santa on the far side of the Island. The La Santa bubble is something that is very easy to get sucked into. Once you’re there, it’s quite difficult to leave! In all honesty, you don’t really need to! I guess we found that it was so easy for us with Frank and Helen’s parents there. Club La Santa is very familiar once you arrive and get to know your bearings, it’s very easy to navigate and this was clear for Frank too. Within a few days he was ruling the roost, dictating his direction to get us back to the apartment, the track, the play centre or the pool. It’s minimal design means you feel like you’re walking through a giant sculpture at times. But it’s hard not to be drawn in by the busy schedules of activities that are on offer, after all this is a holiday!

Dave and I really enjoyed having time to do various forms of exercise that we wouldn’t usually have time to do. This included tennis, paddle boarding, squash, ariel yoga, a duathlon and a triathlon. Add to this regular running and swimming and we were feeling pretty healthy by the end of 10 days. We had that glowing feeling that neither of us have felt for some time. The grandparents took turns to look after Frank so that we could go off and do things and we took Frank swimming every day as well as got him a balance bike to get used to whilst we were there. They also have a play group for children, although one of us had to be with Frank because he is under 3, for most parents this means that they can leave their children there and go off and do their activities. The latest facilities that have been built are amazing at Club La Santa; two Olympic sized swimming pools and a bike centre to get any cyclist salivating! We were spoilt for choice!

So while Club la Santa is expensive, once you are there all of your activities, lessons, bike hire, equipment hire and coaching is included. The only thing you have to pay for is food really! Although we did decided to do an excursion and went surfing for the day in Famara with La Santa Surf. This cost around 45 euros each for about 5 hours worth of instruction and it was well worth it. We felt that the instruction was very clear and we basically managed to surf almost every time we got onto the board! So all in all we loved it! This happened the day after we got engaged so it was an excellent way to celebrate together.

With an abundance of warm weather, and so much to do it’s difficult to get bored at La Santa. Evening entertainment is there if you want to dip into it and the kids just love it! The big kids do too! We enjoyed Halloween without all of the commercial stuff that comes with it and Frank loved watching his first magician’s show. Coming home as a fiancé definitely made it for us all! We loved it! An interesting fact told to us whilst we were there; 4 out of 5 people who visit Club La Santa for the 1st time will return. Looks like we’ve got our winter sun holiday sorted for 2016!

(All images copyright to Roscoe Rutter Ltd, shot using Nikon D700 with 35mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.4)

Today we gave up on the idea of yet more bike riding misfortune and decided to use our legs. After an early morning run around Battambang and some breakfast we headed out to look at the french influenced buildings around the town and stop by at more temples. In the afternoon we headed out to the train tracks once more but this time to the abandoned railway tracks. Children playing in the wasteland that was once a French operated train yard, which is now home to people living on the perimeter of the town and is a dumping ground for their rubbish. We headed back towards the hotel with cameras poised. Toyota must have a huge market share in Cambodia, almost every car you see is a Toyota Camry, they love the Camry! More work time on the roof and a few drinks before heading off to the White Rose again for some cheap food, one vegetable and one fish Khmer curry.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)