Day 5, P&O’s Azura docks in the Canary Islands.

Well did did yesterdays signpost point you in the right direction of which island we were going to be docking at in the Canaries?

It’s Gran Canaria. The second most populous island of the canaries it’s original meaning means Great Isle of Dogs.

This is the view we awoke to as we opened our balcony curtains…

We were just about to swing in to the island to head in to our port of call for the day, so we had timed it right.

Gran Canaria is certainly a lot more built up than Madeira had been. It has a large commercial port, which we passed through before docking at our berth.

Welcome to Gran Canaria…

P&O offer lots of excursions to help you to explore each port of call fully if you want to. Because of this, there are always a large line of coaches waiting dockside to whisk you away around the island.

We decided to make use of the local open topped sight seeing bus instead, which left from just outside the quayside.

The sight of the Azura towering over us as we walked out of the port was certainly a sight to behold.

The bus tour around the city of Las Palmas was very extensive. The one ticket allows you to hop on and off at various stops around the city, all day and there was a full guided tour via headphones as the bus journeyed through the streets. You could even choose the language suitable to you.

I would suggest getting to the bus stop early or alternately wait for the rush to die down a bit as the queue can get a little long …

The hills that surround Las Palmas also make up part of the city as they are covered in brightly covered houses.

We got off the bus in the old town district for a look around, and found the cathedral which really looked impressive…

The front of the cathedral was even more impressive though.

There are lots of places to buy souvenirs in Las Palmas but everywhere we looked they all seemed to want you to buy a souvenir lizard.

Lizards are plentiful on the Canary Islands, or so they say. Trying to capture one on camera is  a completely different story and these are the only ones to be had on camera from Gran Canaria today.

It was great to see palm trees lining the side of the road instead of the usual deciduous trees we are used to back in England, though as its an opened topped bus remember to duck when you go under some of them.

When we went back to Azura after touring around the city, there was still lots of options for us to do on-board the ship, or we could choose to just relax in the sunshine. We chose the latter.

Our Sailaway party was at 5:15pm as we moved away from Gran Canaria and headed towards our next port of call. Looking back as we moved out to sea you could see the hill of houses glowing in the evening light like a mountain of children’s bricks.

Tonight's dress code was Semi formal and tonight's menu…

and my choice from it…

All very nice dishes followed by the cheese board and coffee and macaroons.

The Headliners Theatre Company were putting on another big show tonight. this one was called “New York City Rhythm” from Broadway to Brooklyn a musical love story. The choreography music and dance was excellent a very good show.

Again there was lots of entertainment in the various lounges and bars around the ship to choose from, from lively to relaxing dependent on your mood. We chose the Planet Bar  which had  the relaxing type.

Don’t forget to come back for Azura’s next port of call.