As you should know, we offered one free week´s accomodation for the best old photo submitted by an owner.

The winner is Douglas Johnstone, who sent us this photo of his son, Keith in 1990, when he was 7 years old. Keith is now a certified diver!

Here is a slideshow of a selection of photos sent:

Hi Everyone.

This is Sarah and I’m the latest person to hijack Dougies Diary as he still has the hump !!!

Sunday 17th May 2009, a group from Pearly Grey set sail for 3 hours in search of the Whales and Dolphins off the coast of Tenerife. The atmosphere was electric, couples and families alike wondering what the next few hours would bring. Once on board, the crew were amazing, giving loads of information about the local marine life in a multitude of languages.

After being at sea for only a short time the boat erupted with activity, and the first whales had been spotted. A group of about five Short Finned Pilot Whales just lazing around without a care in the world. It almost felt like they were posing for the cameras and once everyone had the perfect shot they dove down and vanished. They were not the only whales to be seen, shortly after another pod of seven appeared, some coming right up to the boat. The sight of these amazing mammals was breathtaking, looking into the crystal clear Atlantic Ocean and seeing them swimming freely with no constraints could warm any heart.

After a couple of hours at sea the coast line started to look rather familiar, and out of almost nowhere a small voice shouted, “There’s Pearly Grey! “ and as we all looked to the right, there she was appearing out of the cliff face.

As we sailed past the fish farms off the coast of Pearly Grey, four fins cut through the water at quite a speed stopping for only a moment for us to see they were Bottle Nosed Dolphins. This was truly amazing.

We headed back along the coast and dropped anchor off Spaghetti Bay, where we were given the chance to cool off with a dip in the ocean. The crew informed us that the temperature was in the region of 19 degrees, so three of our group chose to jump off the boat, much to the amusement of the rest of the group.

David Easterbrook, daughter, and ME!

What better way to finish a perfect day than a gentle sail back to Puerto Colon?

PG Owners Peter & Catherine Spiers

The whole day from start to finish was filled with the sound of laughter and wonder, in the company of amazing people on a great boat.

Dougie continues on his quest to become Pearly Grey´s number one filmmaker and photographer, and as always, makes sure that no one is left out.

Nicola’s Diary

My name is Nicola, and I’m one of the new reps over here at Pearly Grey! I’ve taken over Dougie’s Diary as he has the hump that no one makes any comments on his blogs! Plus he is extremely busy at the moment, taking care of his heavily pregnant wife!!

We had a fantastic night on Saturday, Laszlo´s final BBQ! All the guys were there and we sent him off in real style, with plenty of singing, from Laz himself, and the newest act here at Pearly Grey, The Diva’s, better known as Clare and Linda! And plenty of dancing to the funky tunes from Jazzy Jeff!!! Sadly, Heather has parted ways with us, but our resident compere Jazzy Jeff is doing a grand job and is a huge success with all the owners and guests!

Following Saturday’s antics, myself, Paul and Karin went off on Sandy’s cultural trip with some of the guests. We left the resort at about 10am and headed straight up into the mountains. Sandy’s knowledge about Tenerife and the culture here was truly amazing, as I’ve been holidaying here for over 10 years and lived here for 8 months it was great to learn all about the real Tenerife! We visited Vilaflor, the highest village in Spanish territory, where we got chance to wander around the lovely churches and sample some of the local delicacies! We took particular delight to some homemade honey and almond cake, mmmmm!!

Following this we then went to visit a Bodega, or a winery. It was truly fascinating learning all about how wine goes from grape to a bottle, and being talked through all the stages. We were then given a lesson in wine tasting and chance to sample some of their gorgeous wines!!
Finally we headed down to the most beautiful restaurant, situated just above Valle San Lorenzo with the most spectacular views of the south of Tenerife. A fine lunch and yet more wine was a great finish to a fantastic day!! The reps and the guests truly enjoyed the day and would 100% recommend it to everyone who is visiting Pearly Grey.

I hope to see all you fantastic owners out here in sunny Tenerife very soon.

Nicola

Congratulations to Peter Hodgson, who has won a free one week stay at Pearly Grey!

Mr. Hodgson filled in one of our questionnaire forms at the end of his last stay, and was randomly chosen from all of the questionnaires received during that 3 month period to win a free holiday!

Previous winners of this contest are:
Patrick & Agnes Walsh
Joyce Meakin
Kevin and Lynda Wendt
Brian De Moulpied and Jacqueline Wales

Make sure you fill in a questionnaire during your next trip, and you can have a chance at a free week at Pearly Grey!

Hi folks, I hope you are all fit and well!!
Once again I offer you a heart felt apology for not updating this diary. I have a good reason though!!! as you can see, I am looking after my pregnant wife!!! Ana Maria is 26 weeks pregnant with a baby BOY. The baby is due on June 20th. We are over the moon.

I was 39 last Monday and had a wonderful birthweek!! Who made the rule that a birthday should only be twenty four hours! Ana Maria and I had a fab weekend with friends and family. As my working week starts on a Monday, Justine thought it would be a fab idea to walk the famous Barranco del Infierno with all of the sales team.

We have a lot of new reps here at the moment, so it was a good team building exercise and also a good excuse for an aperitif or twenty! The walk is only a ten minute drive from Pearly Grey. The walk starts at the top end of Adeje village. The walk itself is truly AWESOME. The walk only takes about three hours to complete. The Othello 1 (chicken shack) restaurant is located at the exit. The views from the terrace are out of this world and the ice cold beer is very much appreciated. You must check this walk out the next time you are over.

After the walk I had arranged some birthday golf. No special occasion can go by without it being involved. Ernie “Bandido especial” won the day yet again. It was a close run affair this year. I am currently having golf lessons and I am slowly reeling him in. Next year Ernie!!!.

Just when I thought my day could not get any better, I found out that the mighty Hull City were playing Spurs on the TV. This is where the euphoria ends. Unfortunately we got beat 2-1. I hope we can stay in the premiership this year.

Pearly Grey is as busy as ever thankfully. Any talk of recession is totally banned. The weather in 2009 has been superb. The Saturday BBQ is still PINK or LOUD shirt night for the fella’s! Adrian the bar/restaurant Manager is doing some innovative food and beverage promotions. Anything from flipping coins to mystery envelopes containing 100% discount vouchers! We have so many good owners over at this time of the year. Our owners are the best in the world, fact! Thank you for your continuing support, it really means the world to us.
One last thing, are you on facebook yet? It is a great way to stay in touch with everyone all at once. Click on this and register it is fantastic. www.facebook.com

And one more last thing. SIMON GET YOURSELF BACK OUT TO WHERE YOU TRULY BELONG!

Well folks, I have finally got round to writing a diary. A lot has happened since my last entry. We have had new recruits, Donna and Kevin moved on, something about a credit crunch? But all is good down here at thee best resort in the entire world, the sun is still shining, the owners are having a ball. Heather is still as mad as a hatter, Tracy is still grafting her little socks off. The restaurant has introduced a fabulous new menu, happy hour is still called happy hour, although it starts at 5pm and finishes at 6.30pm! Our BBQ nights are still officially pink shirt night for the fellas, although Jeff has announced that if you do not own a pink shirt you can wear a LOUD as possible shirt (Just like Mucka’s!!). All the reps still love life to the full. We have a new rep that goes by the name of Simon Cartwright; the owners absolutely love this guy. The ladies want to Mother him, the fellas want to watch footie with him. He is going to be a massive hit with everybody.

Sandy, (Gemma’s Mum) has put together a cultural trip for PG guests only. We have had some fantastic feedback from our guests. The trip takes in Vilaflor, the highest village in Spain. Then it’s on to a wine farm, where Diego the owner gives you a personalized tour around the vineyard, it is amazing to see how they grow and cultivate and finally press the grape. And then no tour would be complete without a bit of wine tasting! You can sample four or five different bottles, the wine is amazing, fantastic tannins, a very vibrant bouquet with hints of …….. erm…you get the message!!! And to finish the day Sandy takes you to an authentic Tapas restaurant. A trip not to be missed.

I have been on my travels also. A couple of weeks ago, I checked out the all new plaza España in our gorgeous capital, Santa Cruz. They have spent millions redeveloping the city centre. Where there was once a big square, it is now a huge man-made sea water lake.

When the tide comes in the lake rises and it falls at low tide. Santa Cruz has a real capital city feel to it, it is very cosmopolitan. Lovely restaurants, fantastic shopping, a state of the art tram service that whisks you about from place to place. Make sure you check it out next time you visit.

Ana Maria and I also took in the delights of a Romeria in the beautiful town of Vilaflor. A Romeria is basically a traditional farmer’s festival. These are marvelous occasions where all the locals get dressed up in traditional Canarian dress. One of my highlights was seeing the majestic Oxon drawn carts parading through the streets.

The atmosphere at these occasions is helped on by all the free beer, Sangria and food given out to all the revelers by the locals. To round the evening off we headed to the main church square for some live music and some very bad dancing on my part!! Tenerife has so much to offer, with all its cultural delights and traditions, I love it.

So folks, that’s it for now, this is my second day trying to get this diary finished, slow at typing, you see. Please leave a message, even if it’s only your name! Only four people responded to my last diary.

All is well here at Pearly Grey, come and see us all soon, your home away from home!
One love
Dougie

Hi Folks, I hope all of you are fit and well.

I have just returned from the Christel House Charity Golf Day in Tewksbury. James, our Developer, very kindly entered a team from Pearly Grey. This was a thank you to all the owner/golfers who have been traveling to PG over the years.

I arrived at the hotel very early on the Monday morning, at 2am, in fact. I was expecting to be greeted by Martin and Carol Andrews, who had traveled up from Essex. Martin is usually the last to bed, and I had visualized him standing at the bar! But to my disappointment, the bar had been closed hours before!!

Not to worry, I needed a good sleep so I could hopefully win the top prize of a two week holiday to South Africa!!

I met up with the PG legends & wags for a good hearty breakfast. The team was made up of a fantastic cross section of old and new owners.

Our captain, Cliff Jones, has owned at PG for over fifteen years. He used to play on the Golf Del Sur course with James, Jonno, and the gang all those years ago. The rest of the team was made of relatively newer owners:

Dave Easterbrook (6 years)

Dave Robbins (1 year)

and Steve Hutt (two minutes thirty seconds! he was our wild card).

My good friends Martin and Carol had come to support not only PG, but also their good friend Dave Robbins. PG was well supported as the wags accompanied these fine fellows.

The Wags: Carol Andrews, Jo Hodson & Debbie Easterbrook

I had already broken the news to them that I was actually playing for the GE money team!! So of course there was a lot of banter of me being a turn coat, etc!

My team teed off on a beautiful sunny afternoon. The Hilton Puckrup Hall Golf Club is set on the edge of the Cotswolds in 140 acres of secluded parkland. The championship course offers superb views of the Malvern Hills. Beautiful.

I absolutely creamed my first drive! Chipped on and sunk a forty foot eagle putt. The crowd went wild!

And then I woke up!

I did hit a good drive though but ended up with a bogey!!

The boys teed off an hour later. We bumped into each other when I was looking for a wayward drive.

I finished with a reasonable 35 points. I knew this was not going to be enough to win the first prize. I thoroughly enjoyed my round, though. The course had three lakes and I found every one of them.

The PG team finally finished about ninety minutes after I did. They all had played well on the first nine holes, but fatigue kicked in on the last nine and the scoring took a bit of a dip. Steve Hutt had struggled with a rib injury he sustained while Sumo Wrestling a week prior to the golf!! He still managed to register a decent score. Dave Robbins had started spectacularly on the first nine! But, true to form, he had a horrendous back nine. Dave “the Bandido” Easterbrook registered a good score due to his 24 handicap. And finally our captain, Cliff, had a good round, and we were so proud as he won the Straightest Drive Competition. Well done, Cliff.

After all the golf in the beautiful Gloucester sunshine. We headed to the club house for some well deserved aperitifs. We had a great time recounting our golf stories of the day.

What a fantastic set of owners, it was great to be in their company. We had a great day.

The day was not over yet, as we had the evening Gala Dinner to attend. We had a great evening, the high point being when Cliff got presented with his trophy for the Straightest Drive. The food was amazing. The Christel House Charity is a very worthy cause, and it was very moving to hear what great work they are doing with underprivileged children in places such as India and South Africa. I was very proud that the PG family attended.

After the very moving speeches we headed to the hotel bar, for a nightcap or two. We retold our golfing stories, the banter got funnier by the second, and a good night was had by all.

I would like to say a big thanks to all who made the journey and made this such a memorable day for Pearly Grey.

Talk soon my friends!

Dougie
Ps. Please leave a quick note if you read this. I am also considering maybe doing some PG road shows. Any ideas?

Hi Folks!
Well, what can I say?!?! We are Ull, we are Ull, we are Ullull!! Who needs Mourinho? We´ve got Phil Brown-eeoh!!! We are going up, say we are going up!!!

Can you believe Hull City AFC have been promoted to join the big guns of the world famous Premiership?!? What a fantastic weekend I have just had. Hull City at Wembley stadium, there was no way I could miss such a momentous event. I got a very cheap return flight with Easy Jet to and from Gatwick; I landed on the Friday afternoon and headed off to my Good friends Malcolm and Ruth Samson´s house in Herts. I would like to thank them for their wonderfully kind hospitality.

I headed into London on the Saturday morning to meet up with our Mally, Murray and half of Hull that travelled down from East Yorkshire! We all met up at the St. James Park tube station, booked into our hotel and headed off to Wembley to savour the atmosphere. What an atmosphere down the Famous Wembley way!

The two contrasting colours of both sets of fans made this one of the most colourful finals to have taken place at the all new Wembley!

The Stadium itself must be thee best in the world. It is absolutely MASSIVE! It dwarfs the old Wembley. The facilities are world class and the arch is a wonderful piece of engineering.

Anyway, on to the game: The mighty Tigers had nothing to lose; Ull City have never been in the top flight of football, considering that Ull is the seventh largest City in the UK, and we were actually playing for the first time at Wembley! Just being there was enough for me.

And what a result!! It was so fitting that an Ull born and bred legend, by the name of Dean Windass scored the now historic volley that secured our top flight football for many, many days to come!! Notice I said days instead of years. I am already fed up with everybody commenting on how long we will last. Listen!! We are still celebrating our promotion, if we go straight back down again, then so be it. We will still be celebrating!! Eight years ago we were fighting for our lives to actually stay in the football league! We had the gates of the Boothferry Park chained up by the bailiffs! Very dark days indeed. So now we are going to enjoy every kick, every defeat and pinch ourselves when we see Hull City versus Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool!! Come on City Ull.
Talk soon my friends, please leave your name if you have read this article. I really appreciate it.

Dougie