Last minute summer holiday fun in the Canaries

Apparently there used to be loads of them running about the various islands years ago when Roman explorers first landed.

These days you're more likely to see cats, or goats or a caravan of camels laden with tourists and the occasional Hoopoe.

"You're brave leaving it so late," the lady on the other end of the Jet2 phone said when we called to book a holiday two days before we wanted to fly.

"We like to live on the edge," we said.

Beautiful, wide sandy beach in Morro Jable, Jandia Penninsula on Fuerteventura, Spain

In truth we'd been prevaricating for weeks about where to go and had completed a virtual tour of the near world before plumping for an island beach holiday in the sun.

The pictures of Corralejo, in the north of the island looked nice. The resort sounded OK too. The weather forecast was brilliant and it was in the price range.

But what about "Brits Abroad lager louts" and the airport and general travel chaos we'd been reading about?

With flights from Bristol booked, we bought new trunks and packed our bags, and a couple of days later were sitting on hard seats in the departure lounge at the airport many hours before check in opened as we'd believed what we'd read about travel mayhem.

There was none.

In what seemed like no time and completely hassle free, we were off.

Corralejo is an hour's transfer from Fuerteventura airport, through a lunar-like volcanic landscape, dotted with the concrete skeletons of never-finished holiday complexes.

We were staying at H10 Ocean Dunas hotel.

We were soon in the tiled air-conditioned hotel lobby, booked in with beaming smiles, and before long in our fabulous room - with its cool cotton-sheeted king-size bed, balcony onto the garden, bathroom with gorgeous shower and air conditioning - bliss.

First things first, we went straight for a dip in the salty-watered kidney-shaped pool before strolling to explore the beach, restaurant and shops.

We'd booked half board so at 7.30pm we sat down for starters from the buffet table, an la carte main, and then a waist challenging desserts buffet. Wow, this is going to be some week.

The staff at the Ocean Dunas are all brilliant. Smiles as wide as the Atlantic Ocean from everyone and "holas" all round. They are just so pleased to see the return of tourists to their island.

The local beer, Tropical, is ace and the wines from Tenerife and Lanzarote are dangerously delicious. The cocktails served at the hotel are also moreish.

Breakfast was similar to dinner in that there was a buffet stretching the length of the restaurant heaving with fruit and traditional meat and cereal and juices and on another table hot food. We started at the one end and completed the full course, every morning. Shameless.

Corralejo is dotted with hotels jam-packed with European visitors, many are from the UK but just as many are from other mainland European countries like France, Italy, Germany and Holland.

Discovering volcanoes on Lanzarote. Picture: David Barnes

The town of Corralejo is really lovely. The restaurants and bars are laid back and the beaches are family friendly. And the huge variety of shops and boutiques, narrow lanes and passageways intriguing.

Being so close to Lanzarote, we took a boat trip there one day to a place my geography school trip went in 1975 to see the volcanoes but which I had to miss. I'd been wanting to visit ever since - it was spectacular but do it by coach or you could be stuck in a traffic jam for hours when you visit the national park.

Even closer is the island of Lobos which, apart from a couple of sandy beaches - which the locals pack on to - is windswept and frankly a bit desolate. But it makes for a great, well signposted and flat circular walk, unless like us you decide to climb the 127m former volcano. We scrambled up the steep path through the howling wind to the precarious summit to be rewarded with some wonderful views.

At the southern end of Fuerteventura is another resort town - Morro Jable.

We'd almost booked to stay there so we jumped on a local bus and headed south to take a look at what we could have been enjoying.

Morro Jable, Feurteventura. Picture: David Barnes

In the event it took the best part of three hours each way but we got to get a idea of what the island is like, from desert, pristine sand dunes, empty beaches to dusty scrubland and rocky outcrops. We also experienced the simply awesome beach in the town and got to meet 'real' local people.

The sunshine was almost constant. And the wind was constant too, which was no bother as it served to cool down the temperatures. But, be aware, sitting exposed on the beach in the sun with the cool breeze licking across your back can be dangerous. Will I ever learn? Sunburn! But lashings of aloe vera lotion - a staple product produced in the Canary Islands - is the perfect antidote.

Due to the winds, the island is a haven for watersports of every kind. The port is packed with yachts you can hire and bronzed athletes cling on to all manner of wind-powered craft to skip across the azure waters.

Brave?

I don't think we are really, as if you're flexible about where you want to go it makes good economic sense, if you can, to wait to the last minute to get the best deal.

We had such a brilliant time that a little bird tells me we'll be booking up again but not until the very last minute as, in terms of being brave, that's the way to be.

• We booked a week's half board at the adults only H10 Ocean Dunas for the first week of July flying from Bristol with Jet2. Prices vary but we got a great last minute deal.