Tuesday 20 January

I hesitate to say it, but I was feeling slightly better today. We could have done without all this grot spoiling our holiday, but you can’t choose when or where you become ill.

As the weather looked brilliant this morning, we agreed that we’d go up to Monte, a village above Funchal, which can be reached by a variety of buses or, as we have chosen, the cable car! Now, most of you know by now my feelings about these things, but it was my decision to travel this way so off we set. No courtesy coach today, it’s in for maintenance, so we hopped on a local bus (we’re getting pretty good at this) and arrived at the cable car terminal along with what felt like half the tourists in Funchal! We had to share a car with 4 Germans, but there was plenty of room and the trip was brilliant. I didn’t have any vertiginous feelings (is that the right word?) and the views were well worth the journey. Another cruise ship, the MSC Fantasia, was in the harbour and she just became this tiny toy as we rose higher and higher. I think because you travel so high from the ground for most of the way, and the climb is fairly gradual, it doesn’t have the same disorientating feel as the little one we went on in NZ. It’s also very quiet and smooth. Monte is 550m above sea level and the cable car takes just over 10 minutes. We don’t know how long it takes the bus, but looking at the winding roads as we travelled overhead, it must be at least half an hour including stops. No doubt locals will still use the buses as the cable car is expensive, but it’s a quick and quiet way to travel.

On reaching Monte, we first visited the church of Nossa Senhora (Our Lady), a place of pilgrimage for Madeirans on August 15. It also houses the tomb of Emperor Charles I of Austria, who died here in exile in 1922. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004. The frontage of the church is very pretty and you climb 70 steps to reach it – we’re almost getting used to steps! Terraces lead down from the church to Monte’s main square, through some very pretty gardens and water feature. We had drinks in the Café do Parque in the square – rip off prices, of course, but we’re tourists, what do you expect?!

From the terrace below the church, we watched some tourists embark on the “must do” trip in a toboggan with wooden runners, guided by 2 Madeirans wearing traditional straw hats. This is said to be one of the most exhilarating experiences you will ever have – well, it’s not one that either of us would contemplate but it was fun to watch. It’s a 2km trip down the winding cobbled streets to Livramento, the next village down the hill. It costs 25 euros, then you have to either walk back up to the cable car station or take a bus down to Funchal. There are plenty of taxis sitting around too, trying to persuade you to use them at great expense. There were dozens of the toboggan guides hanging around touting for custom, having the odd beer in their tavern (!!) and playing cards. We found out while we were having our rip off drink, that they’re brought back up to the church in coaches but we don’t know how the toboggans are brought back.

Then we made our way to the Monte Palace Tropical gardens, a 70,000 square metre area, constructed on the steep slopes of what was the Monte Palace Hotel. It’s difficult to explain what it’s like as it’s totally different from any gardens we’ve ever been in. Nearly all the plants are named and there are hundreds, possibly even thousands, of varieties. Some of the rarest trees and shrubs in the world survive here and there are species that can’t be found anywhere else in the world.

The garden is laid out in such a way that there are no dead ends and you could spend hours travelling all the paths and seeing all there is. There is water everywhere from small pools to huge waterfalls, tiny levadas and ponds filled with koi carp. In one of the lakes were two swans. Tom fed one of them with maize, which he took quite happily; then he decided Tom’s hand also looked good enough to eat so had a few pecks at him! There are statues hidden in niches and huge stone frames making pictures of plantings. But most of all, there are hundreds of pictures made from tiles. 40 panels tell the history of Portugal, laid out along the walls as you walk down into the garden from the entrance; huge panels depicting the sun and the moon sit either side of one of the water features; designs of flowers are interspersed with historical details and depictions of myths and legends – they are everywhere. The tallest vase in the world (Guinness Book of Records) sits in a flower bed between the largest lake and the Palace.

Beside the Palace itself, which is still lived in, are outdoor display cases containing collections of French porcelain. There is also the Monte Palace Museum which houses a display of carvings from Zimbabwe. And there is a fascinating collection of minerals and semi-precious stones, mostly in their natural state, housed in an innovative exhibition area.

All this and more is set among paths and steps, constructed in different materials – not the easiest garden to get around because of the site, but certainly one of the best gardens we have ever visited. We spent about 3 hours there and only sat down once to have a reviving drink.

Then, before embarking on the return cable car trip, we stopped at the café and had two of the biggest pieces of cake – one would have done for both of us, but we’d chosen different ones – at exorbitant prices, but who cares, we’re on holiday!

The return trip was just as good as the ascent, except we had the car to ourselves so could have a really good look at everything. We can’t get over some of the locations of the houses, set into the steep hillsides, some with gardens we wouldn’t dream of cultivating in England. It’s all so green here, with flowers blooming that we only get at certain seasons and even then we can only have them indoors. Poinsettias are flowering in profusion, along with busy Lizzies, geraniums, camellias, azaleas, bougainvilla and many others. No wonder, it’s called the floral isle.
After a welcome rest in our hotel, we had dinner at another of the nearby restaurants before retiring for the night. I’ve found a good use for the Leki poles (walking sticks) Tom brought with him. They make very good prodders for when he snores at night, as we’re in separate beds and I can’t quite reach him!!

Sunday 18 & Monday 19 Jan

Well, today was a bit of a write-off. Maggie was ill again, and spent the day in bed. I went off for a walk and to do some e-mail checking, and walked down into town and back again. That was pretty well the highlight of the day. In the evening, I was despatched to the local Chinese, for a take-away, and we spent the rest of the time passing each other hankies, paracetamol and throat lozenges.

Monday 19 January

After breakfast, we decided to go into town, and get the blog up to date, so we took the 10.30 courtesy coach into Funchal. (The cruise ship, Aidabella, was docked again – lovely looking ship.) Unfortunately, every man and his dog seemed to want to use the free wifi network, and it was painfully slow. We sat in a wifi zone for over an hour, and barely achieved anything, so gave it all up as a bad effort. We went to the useless tourist info office and booked tickets for a Mandolin Concert in the English Church this Saturday evening. Cash only, cos the Tourist Info Centre for Funchal can’t take credit cards! After a drink in a nice old café (established 1841), and another abortive attempt at getting on the net, we got the 1245 courtesy coach back to the hotel, where Maggie retired to bed again. I went down to the local shopping precinct, where there is an internet café, and although they don’t have wireless, they were able to get me online with a cable. In the next 30 minutes, I achieved everything that I had tried to do in 2 hours on the free net, so I’m now up to date on all e-mails, and the blog. I also paid for a full day tour of the Western half of the island for Thursday, and a half-day tour to the local “secret valley” for Sunday. This afternoon, Maggie felt somewhat better, so we took the late courtesy coach into the centre, and had a wander around before eating. We found a very nice bookshop even though it was pretty well all in Portuguese, but were able to browse the flora section, and found that the peculiar flower we saw a couple of days ago was an Agave. After eating, the plan was to walk back to the hotel, but when we came outside, it had started raining. Plan B was promptly put into action, and we got the local bus back to within about 50 yards of the hotel, and are now back in the room. Maggie’s in bed already (2005), coughing and sneezing. Let’s hope tomorrow brings better news, as we seem to have achieved very little in the first half of the holiday.

Maggie’s addition.
We cannot find a laundrette anywhere and having laundry done by the hotel is quite expensive. So, as 7 pairs of knickers don’t last for 21 days, I’ve resorted to washing things out in our little kitchen sink. We wring the surplus water out using a bath towel, and we’ve rigged up our 2 dressing gown cords to make washing lines on the balcony. It all seems to work so far; necessity IS the mother of invention! (Tom says the knickers bit is far too much information! But I am doing other bits as well). As I write this, 2 polo shirts and some of the aforementioned k’s are blowing in the breeze – I just hope that it doesn’t blow them off the balcony completely.

Saturday 17 January

We’re both getting over whatever bug has been “bugging” us, but it’s a slow process. It’s just as well we’re here for 3 weeks as at least we have 2 left in which to do what we’d like. Tom went to sleep after breakfast for another 2 hours, while I sat on our balcony and sunbathed. The skies have been blue and almost cloudless all day and we did our first “levada” walk this afternoon.

Levadas are the man-made irrigation channels which follow the contours of the land, carrying water from rivers to areas which have no natural water supply, and as a bonus provided power for water-mills en-route. Each property the levada passes has a sluice gate which allows the water from the levada to be fed to the property. The opening and closing of these sluices was, and in most areas still is strictly regulated. Each property was allowed to draw water at certain times and on certain days according to the rights that existed with that plot of land. You would use this water to fill your private cistern and would have to ration its use until your next allocation. We found one property where they were obviously only entitled to use water from half the levada and from just before their property to just after it, the levada was split by a central wall. In order for essential repairs and maintenance to be carried out on these water courses, they all have footpaths beside them. Where the location doesn’t allow for a normal footpath, the outer wall was made wide enough to walk along and there are now some 1400km of these walkways accessible to tourists to the island.

We had to climb from the hotel up some very steep streets until we reached this one (Levada dos Piornais) then walked for about 2 miles to the west. Along the route, we met several people coming the other way. One man said he’d just had “an interesting experience” with a couple of large ladies he’d had to pass. As there isn’t much room, he’d had to perform a sort of pirouette with each of them in order to pass. He did have a smile on his face!!

Much of the walk is protected on the downward slope by fencing or walls of properties that have been built recently, but some areas are open with a sheer drop. Building work is being carried out in some places and the drop into those sites would bring more than a tear to your eye! However, the views are tremendous looking out over the Atlantic and as long as I didn’t look directly down, my vertigo stayed under control.

We’d decided to stop when we reached one of the main roads that cross the levada and walk back down to sea level for what we thought would be a nice flattish walk back to the hotel. WRONG!! The main road was pretty steep, but interesting with a huge hanging angel statue on one of the roundabouts (but with nothing to say what is represented) and some amazing flower stalks coming from what looked like some kind of aloe. Once we’d crossed over and found the path down to the coast, we found the steepest bit we’d so far encountered. In front of us on this part was a man holding on to a wheelchair with a lady in it, trying to brake its descent and when we got about halfway down, the path turned into steps, so how he managed to push it back up again, we can only wonder! The so-called “gentle” amble along the coast proved to be anything but for most of the way. At one point, the path was blocked off and we had to walk over some very uncomfortable stones to reach a tunnel through the rocks. (Just so’s you know, there are no beaches in Madeira, just rocks, and man-made decks for hotels’ use.) The guide books rather underplay the amount of slopes you encounter on even the shortest walks – hence the island’s unsuitability for those who have mobility problems. The last stretch back up to the hotel was very taxing for my little legs – even Tom’s muscles were crying out for a rest. He does ask me to point out to you that we HAD called in to the supermarket and, as well as our waterproofs, he was now carrying 2 kilos of melon and 4 small bottles of water in his rucksack! Necessary supplies!!
After a brief rest in our room, we went for a nice swim and 15mins in the Jacuzzi, we were refreshed enough to stagger across the road to Antonio’s restaurant and have pizza (Tom) and fettucine (me) along with a nice but overpriced bottle of red wine. And then it was back up those b****y 150 steps! And now I’m off to bed, night, night all

Friday 16 January

Well, it was a dull start to the day with clouds covering the hills although no rain. We were both still feeling slightly under the weather, and with Tom’s snoring, I hadn’t slept very well either so a lazy morning was on the cards!

When we eventually got ourselves together, the weather was a bit brighter, so we caught the bus into town. One of the guide books said that the Palacio de Sao Lourenco, which is an old fortress dating from 1513 right in the centre of Funchal on Avenida do Mar, is open for visits at certain times and Fridays at 3pm is one of them. The Palace is divided into 2 wings, military and civil. The east wing is the Command HQ of the Military Zone of Madeira and houses a history of the construction of the building and subsequent alterations, but we weren’t allowed in there. The west wing is used by the Minister of the Autonomous region of Madeira as his official residence and has a rich collection of furniture and art from the 17th – 19th centuries, which we were allowed to view. It wasn’t so much a guided tour as a do-it-yourself tour. We were all handed a leaflet giving the facts of the rooms we were about to see and then we were led around and just had to read the relevant information as we moved from room to room. It’s the strangest “guided tour” I’ve ever known! But there were some fabulous bits that the Antiques Roadshow experts would wax lyrical about, it was interesting and it was free – we like free! There was another large tapestry hanging in the entrance hall – we keep finding these wonderful tapestries all over the place, all made by the Madeira Embroiderers. Our hotel has several, all large pieces and all done obviously in the not too distant past.

As this visit only took about 45 minutes, we decided to go on to the “Story of Madeira” exhibition. We had a drink, and the first of our “stickies”, in the attached café then bought our tickets (no freebies here) for what was touted as “bringing the sights and sounds of Madeira to life”. It’s well laid out and certainly takes you on a journey from the first discovery of the islands up to the present day, but is much smaller than we had envisaged and didn’t take us long to get round. All the information is set out in 4 languages – Portuguese, English, French and German – and the translations into English are excellent so it was easy to follow. There are lots of interactive bits so certainly designed to interest children. Tom had to try all the challenges……
of course!
Having exhausted ourselves, we caught the last free coach back, had a rest, then went out to eat at the White House again, before tackling the 150 steps for the last time today. And so to bed.

Thursday 15 January

Having just re-read yesterday’s entry, I realise I didn’t finish the day’s news so I’ll start with that!

Having returned early, Tom had a snooze while I did the blog. The rain stopped and started several times, so we’d almost decided to eat in the hotel when, miraculously, it cleared up. (We’re finding that the weather changes rapidly here and you have to be prepared for anything especially if you’re out and about. We brought rucksacks so carry waterproofs around with us.) As there are a variety of eating places in close proximity, we braved it and went to the Chinese – passing the 2 lovely ladies outside the White House who again tried to tempt us in! They’re not TOO pushy so let us pass, recommending the duck in orange sauce! Tom followed their recommendation and it was very good. I had chicken in roasted almonds, which was also good. Intrigued by the dessert menu which offered “fried ice cream on fire”, Tom couldn’t resist! It was a generous serving of ice cream deep fried in a light batter, doused in Cointreau then set alight – he thoroughly enjoyed it, while I had ice cream and banana, not quite so adventurous!

We then stopped off at the White House for a drink on the way back – the 2 girls were still tempting passers by in for a meal – what a way to earn a living! But they don’t seem to mind and enjoy a bit of banter with people whether they go in or not. The standard of English here is very high – even in many of the back street businesses. I suppose since the island is very dependant on tourism, and a big percentage of that is British, it makes sense. There are also lots of Germans and Scandinavians, but not many Japanese or Americans, except for the cruise ship passengers.

Tom’s passed his sore throat onto me, isn’t he kind? So I’m feeling not quite 100% today, but we ventured into town again, despite that and the rather grotty weather – dull, overcast and raining lightly although it had poured first thing this morning. The hotel coach was full, so we used our bus tickets again and then walked up the hill (slowly) to the Embroidery Museum, stopping off in one of the many shopping centres for a coffee and the use of the free wi-fi. It was the cheapest coffee we’ve had so far – 75c. Tom is not so keen on the coffee they serve on the island as it is definitely sweeter than usual, but I am becoming quite a fan.

The Embroidery Museum is quite small, but the items on display are wonderful – for anyone with an interest in stitchcraft at least. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of information available and what was there was not translated in the most easily understood English, but we did take lots of photos, marvelling at the intricacy and delicacy of the pieces. One tablecloth was used when Queen Elizabeth II visited Portugal in 1957. There is a huge Gobelin tapestry (4m x 5m) on the wall as you enter the Museum. It took 14 girls, 3 years to complete (1958-61) and has 7 million stitches – it’s simply beautiful. There are also some lovely pieces of marquetry furniture.

As we were both feeling below par, we caught the coach back here and have spent the rest of the afternoon having a siesta, reading and the blog. The sun’s been dodging in and out of the clouds all day so we’re hoping that it, and us, will be brighter tomorrow. I’m glad we hadn’t organised any trips this week.

Just outside our room are a couple of strange trees with feathery leaves and very thorny looking trunk and branches. It has fruits that look like elongated avocados but we don’t know if they are edible. There is a specimen in one of the gardens in town and we found out that they are “Chorisia Speciosa – Sumaume”, native of Brazil. There are a lot of S African and S American plants here, as well as orchids. We plan to visit the Orchid Gardens one day – they are said to be spectacular.

Evening

Both of us are still feeling grotty, so we’re staying put, whch is just as well as it has been seriously raining on and off since we returned from town. There was the most amazing complete rainbow however, with a fainter double one just above it, in one of the brief periods when the sun was shining.
So goodnight for today.

Wednesday 14 January

Hooray! Tom’s much better today and we’ve been into Funchal to do one of the walks around the town. It’s not been quite as hot but still warm enough just for short sleeves. We got the courtesy coach at 1030 from the hotel which drops us right along the sea front near the cathedral.

The main streets are cobbled with small stones or paved with mosaics of white limestone and grey basalt, formed into patterns and pictures. All the streets are narrow and winding with plenty of pedestrian crossing places. Drivers seem to be patient and there’s very little horn blowing. There are hundreds of taxis – all of which look well cared for, but we’ve been warned to get a price from the driver first before embarking on any journey.

The manager of the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Diaz very kindly allowed us to take photos inside the theatre, which is decorated as it was in the 1880’s and has a regular and varied programme of musical events.

Part of the walk took us out onto the breakwater opposite where the cruise ships dock and you look back towards Funchal – the view the ships get as they dock – very impressive! Along the side of the breakwater there is one café/restaurant where the tables are all on little boats attached to pontoons – so you can imagine you’re on board. The boat which the Beatles once owned is also moored there and is now a restaurant.

There are some wonderful old buildings, including the cathedral (the Se) which we actually went into at the end of one of the services before it was closed. Tom managed to get a few photographs before the warden or deacon or whatever he’s called turned off most of the lights and ushered us to the doors! We plan to visit several of the museums and public buildings, but as this was Tom’s first day up from his sick bed, we didn’t do any today. We stopped for coffee (at the same café we found on Monday) halfway through the walk, but we haven’t yet tried any of the “stickies” even though they look delicious!

Madeira is famous for its decorative tiles and many of the buildings have tile pictures inside and out. The Mercado dos Lavradores (the indoor market) has very colourful patterned tiles all round it and the stalls’ displays of fruit and veg are very artistic but it’s such a pain being hassled to try this and that – the only place we’ve been hassled so far. Tom had reached his limit by then, so we caught one of the town buses back to the Lido which is just around the corner (and down a steep hill, of course) from the hotel and up the 150 steps again! Thank goodness we came back when we did because within 10 mins, it had started to rain and the clouds came down over the town so we could hardly see the houses on the hill.

Buses are one of the recommended ways of travelling in Madeira and there are certainly plenty of them around the town. Each journey within town costs 2.05 but if you buy a travel card from newsagents for 50c, you can load it with as many units as you want at a cost of only 95c per journey. That will take you from one side of the town to the other but you have to be careful you’re getting the correct bus! Buses to other parts of the island vary and the routes are designed for country dwellers to come into town early and return later so are not always suitable for tourists who want to go to outlying villages in the mornings and return to town in the afternoon.
The island is certainly not recommended for anyone with mobility problems. An elderly couple in our hotel were not warned about the steep access and cannot manage the walk up to or down from it. So they are limited to having to go most places by taxi, which is going to be very expensive. Even to get the courtesy coach into town, you are required to walk down to it although it does bring you back up to the front door on its return – unless there’s any other vehicle blocking it!!

Tuesday 13 January

Tuesday 13 January

Not a good start to the day with Tom running a raging temperature and a dreadful sore throat. It’s been hovering since before we left UK but has appeared with a vengeance now. I went down to breakfast then brought him a tray with some cereal and juice, fed him some Beecham’s powder and left him to try to sleep it away. It’s another beautiful sunny day, really warm and I shall go out later on my own to give him some peace and quiet.

Later

It was so hot when I went for my walk and, of course, I hadn’t brought any sandals, as I didn’t think they would be necessary! Luckily I found a very nice shoe shop and a very comfortable pair of Hush Puppies, so, hang the expense, they’re now mine! I also called at a supermarket and bought some melon for Tom which he appreciated I’m glad to say. I had a lazy afternoon, reading and dozing, then bought takeaway chicken and salad for our evening meal – which didn’t even tempt Tom. I did think at one point I would have to call a doctor, but with regular doses of paracetamol and ibuprofen, he got over the shivering/sweating stage and settled down.

There were 2 cruise ships visiting today – I saw them both from our balcony as they were leaving at about 4.00pm.

Although I didn’t do much in the way of walking, I still managed to descend and climb the 150 steps to the hotel twice, as well as up and down some fairly steep slopes to and from the shops!
Let’s hope tomorrow sees Tom a bit better.

Mon 12 Jan 2009

Monday 12 January 2009-01-12

Well, here we are at last in Madeira – I say at last because at one point yesterday we thought we were on our way back to Stansted!!!

Let me start at the beginning……David drove us to the Radisson at Stansted where we had booked in to stay overnight Saturday as our flight was 0720 on Sunday morning. The Radisson is very comfortable and quiet despite being only 2 minutes walk away from the airport. Everything went according to plan, we even managed to get into the emergency exit seats so Tom had loads of legroom. The sunrise as we took off was spectacular – all reds and oranges with a huge red sun rising (looking back, maybe that was a portent of things to come? – “red sky in the morning” and all that?!) and it was a very smooth flight, ahead of time due to a tail wind – until we got overhead Madeira. The visibility was not good enough for us to land so we circled overhead for an hour then had to divert to Porto Santo, a small island about 15 mins flying time away. Having landed there in bright weather conditions at 1100, we were not allowed off the aircraft – so we sat for 4 hours with information being fed to us regularly from the Captain and with tempers of some of the passengers getting rather short. At one point, we were told that if we couldn’t get into Funchal within the next hour, we would have to return to Stansted as Porto Santo could not accommodate us! Two people even got their bags and left the plane and were persuaded to get back on only when threatened with arrest! Ooh, it was exciting! Several passengers were quite abusive to the crew, despite there being nothing they could do. Then we were told that if we still couldn’t get into Funchal, accommodation would be provided for us on the island then we’d be flown on tomorrow when, hopefully, the weather would be OK.

As you can imagine, sitting on the aircraft even with the air conditioning on and the front door open, it was quite warm (the weather had turned sunny) – thank goodness the toilets stood up to the prolonged use! – and the crew provided us with free drinks, it was not the most comfortable few hours in our lives. When eventually the captain gave us the welcome news that the weather conditions were OK for us to land in Madeira there was a burst of applause and relief all round. I think if we had had to fly back to Stansted, there may even have been some “rough stuff”, but that was averted and our flight was a bit bumpy but successful. On landing, there was another round of applause and the captain stood by the exit and said goodbye to everyone as we disembarked. Our eventual arrival was 3.30pm, nearly 5 hours later than planned. We could see that it had been raining heavily and there were still some very low clouds over the hills, but as we were driven to our hotel, the sun came out and it was blinding!

When you read about Madeira, you realise it’s hilly, but the reality is that there is virtually no expanse of flat ground AT ALL. The airport is about 25kms from Funchal but there is housing all the way along the route, up and down steep sided gullies as far as the eye can see. The main road winds through tunnels and across viaducts (goodness knows what the un-main roads are going to be like!). Funchal spreads out like a rising fan from the harbour.
Our hotel is about half a mile in a straight line from the sea – except that there are no straight lines here! We had a little wander after unpacking and we’ve decided that we’re either going to be very fit or very knackered after three weeks here – or both! We found a nice bar and restaurant just round the corner from the hotel, the White House – we were accosted by this very
pretty girl and tempted by a free glass of Madeira wine – I don’t know whether it was the wine or the girl who persuaded Tom!! Then we climbed the 150 steps up to the hotel entrance – we did say it was hilly! We were so tired after our long and exciting day that we were in bed by about 9.15!!

Our hotel is in what is called the “Hotel district” – an area to the west of Funchal where most of the newer hotels are situated. It’s adequate – very clean, the room is large, bathroom “compact” and kitchen area “bijou” but there is everything we need. I think the overall description of the condition would be “well-used”, but for what we paid, we can’t really complain! The public areas are very well kept, everything gleams. There is an outdoor pool with a vast lounging area around it and attached bar and café; a lovely heated indoor pool with Jacuzzi, well-equipped gym, sauna and hairdresser; and a shop selling pc’s, souvenirs and basic provisions (tea, coffee, milk etc) at NOT rip off prices. These facilities are shared by the 3 hotels in this complex here, all Dorisol and 3 different grades and we’re obviously in the lowest. Breakfast is very good – buffet style and as much as you can eat – lovely fresh bread and fruit – plenty to fill us up for a day of walking up and down these hills. We’re meeting the tour representative at 1200, when no doubt she’ll try to tempt us into spending lots of money on organised tours, but I don’t think Tom is going to be able to cope with much in the way of being driven about – he felt a little queasy after the drive from the airport yesterday.

Monday evening

We met our holiday rep who was very helpful and DIDN’T try to sell the tour packages as we’d feared. They’re there if we want them and we’ll probably go on one or two depending on Tom’s stomach!!

We’ve had a good start to our holiday with bright warm weather and we’ve walked over 5 miles today. First west and slightly uphill to the Jardim Panoramica, not very well kept but with superb views, then down 159 steps to the Promenade, a long fairly flat walk back towards Funchal along the sea front. We stopped for an icecream in the Lido area, south of our hotel, where there are lovely views over a huge seawater swimming pool (empty at this time of year) and the Clube Naval. Having decided that we still had some energy left, we walked on into Funchal centre (about as far again as we’d already walked!) There was a cruise ship, the Aida Bella in the harbour, we think she’s German, and lots of passengers were returning to her, having obviously “done” Madeira today. We continued on along the Avenida do Mar as far as the Cathedral where we had a coffee in the cathedral square – hot, strong and very nice – the coffee NOT the square!

Suitably refreshed, we found the Tourist Info office but it has to have the worst range of information freely available that we have ever found. There were no stands of leaflets, just a few on the 2 desks and you had to ask for the town map, the bus timetable etc which were all under the assistant’s desk. We only knew to ask for the timetable because out holiday rep had told us they were there. We weren’t offered any other information except that there was internet access at a price at Western Union just in the next street. (We found free access later in one of the many squares).

Tom then decided that we’d just wander a bit more and we ended up right at the eastern side of Funchal beside the cable car station. This goes up to Monte, 550m above the town and we ARE going on it one day when the weather is clear (by the time we’d reached the station, there was cloud again over the hills behind the town) and I can summon up the nerve! As we were on our way there, the cruise ship set off on its next stage so we managed to get some piccies as she left – there’s something about the sound of a ship’s horn that is unmatched by anything else I’ve heard, it makes me want to be on board!! (one day…)

This evening, we ate at a small café we’d passed earlier in the day – good plain food, cheap and quickly served. We got into conversation with a couple at the next table who had just arrived this morning. They now live in Shropshire having spent 10 years living and working in the Isle of Man – small world indeed! We had several beers together then we ambled back here via Joe’s bottle shop to pick up some drinks for our room. We’ve decided we don’t like hotel drinks prices although there is a happy hour from 6pm – 7pm every evening when they’re not too bad.
And so to bed.

The Davison's Christmas Letter, 2008

It’s that time of year again – and this year I’m trying to be ecologically aware so if you’re reading this, I’ve saved several trees and the exorbitant cost of a large letter stamp, and if you read this on screen, you’re also saving the planet from the loss of more trees!

Last Christmas was very strange – for the first time since we had the family, we spent Christmas day on our own. I was SO depressed! Tom woke up all happy and jolly (!!) and I was grumpy. I did cheer up later and spoke to everyone wherever they were. The plan had been for Andy, Ninx and Ninx’s parents to come here for a few days between Christmas and New Year and it DID happen, a day late and with all of them full of cold! – which they then passed on to us and we were ill all over New Year! We didn’t get to Amy’s for New Year, as was the plan but they came to us for a couple of days before we left on our Great Adventure.

Several of you, we know, followed our blog avidly from the antipodes from January to April. Those of you who missed it can still see it on this website – if you have a strong constitution and hours of nothing to do.....but you can dip in and out at your leisure. Since all our adventures are there, I shan’t go into it all in detail but just say that we had the most amazing time. It was truly wonderful. Even being with Tom for 24 hours a day, for three and a half months did not detract from the splendour of it all. We met some lovely people and were shown hospitality of the highest order. We only really touched on the vastness that is Australia but managed to cover a fair bit of New Zealand. Wherever we went, we brought the rain – not so good for us, but welcomed by all the areas we reached – they have been having the worst drought for many years in both countries.

We arrived back in the UK just in time for the first May bank holiday and both children descended upon us – with families! It was a hectic but a wonderful welcome back. The weather was perfect and everyone was well. The following weekend, we all travelled up to Andy and Ninx in Sutton upon Derwent, near York, for Scarlett’s first birthday celebrations – they had a full house with several of us sleeping on floors! and again we enjoyed wonderful weather. Scarlett was just starting to walk so was tottering about, delighting in her newfound ability.

Home again (it was almost like being on tour – unpacking the suitcase once more!) and on his first night back at St John, the centre held a “welcome home” party for Tom, which we thought showed how much they thought of him. Then we had to catch up with our medical checks – blood testing for both of us and retinal screening and diabetes clinic for me. Thankfully we were both given the all clear – I had even managed to lose weight despite all the “stickies” we enjoyed on our travels!

Both of us were asked to go back into work so I had 4 days at CATAC near High Wycombe – the journey was still a pain – when I taught Caroline and 2 others how to make the specialist lifting harnesses I had developed. It was the only thing Caroline had not managed to grasp before I left. I haven’t heard from them since then, so I presume that they are now coping without me! Tom has continued to do several days a month at David’s, working on the 1st Call Mobility website. He also has his name on the books of an organisation that employs ex-service personnel to fill admin jobs while troops are away filling various war roles, but nothing has transpired from them yet. (I’m not really encouraging him to go to work, you understand, but it is nice when I can have a few days to myself!)

At the end of May, my brother Jim and his new wife, Jan came to visit before setting off on their new life in South Africa. (They got married in Cyprus on February 29th). My other brother, John and his wife, Jane came from Ramsey (Cambs NOT Isle of Man) for Sunday and Amy, Mario and Izzy came too so we had another houseful. Jim and Jan flew to Cape Town in June and have now bought a large house with visitor’s annex. They are having lots of work done to bring it up to their requirements and they post photos and their latest news on Facebook so we can keep up with them. We hope to go and visit them in the next couple of years – depending on the finances! John and Jane have bought a house in the Dordogne which requires quite a bit of work and they hope to move into it next year – another holiday destination for us!!

I caught up with some of my old (Bedford) CATAC colleagues in June – we all have found we miss the comradeship we shared; all the laughs and the sharing of troubles too. We all feel lucky that we had such a good working relationship. Only Vi has gone back to work, and now works longer hours than she did! (much to her disgust).

We had the (dubious) honour of looking after Izzy for 4 days in June while Amy and Mario went to a wedding (only kidding, honest!) The terrible twos are well named! Most of the time she was a pleasure to have around – however.....she decided that the early hours of the morning were just right for playtime.............One night we were watching “Shrek” at 4am! Tom and I did shifts – he got up first and gave her breakfast, we both did the day, then I took over to let Tom go to bed early – we were shattered when we took her home! How these women cope who have children in their 50’s and 60’s I just cannot imagine. At 2yrs 3months old, she definitely knew her own mind. She is very quick to pick up knowledge and talked in her own language which was a real test for us. But she’s still lovely nonetheless.

We also met up with my old schoolfriend Lorna and her husband Brian whom we saw in Sydney, for lunch in Bedford. They were home to see Lorna’s mum who is in a home near Hatfield. They had followed our blog and given us some recommendations for our trip around Oz.

Amy had arranged with Ruth’s daughter, Angela, to meet up at our house – being halfway between their homes – with Izzy and Ange’s son, Mitchell, at the end of June, but unfortunately Izzy developed hand, foot and mouth disease so we had Ange and Mitchell all to ourselves. Mitchell was born last November with amniotic bands round his arms and legs restricting the blood flow and the proper development of the limbs. He has since had one operation to relieve the restrictions and is developing well. He has to be one of the most placid babies we’ve ever known – a really sunny child with a smile that lights up his whole face.

Next we went to Didcot to meet Sophie for the first time. She was also born last November, and is the daughter of Debbi, the daughter of our oldest friends, Hugh and Maggie. She is also a smiley baby and cute as can be. Our extended “family” is growing fast.

July had a sad start when we went to Ruth’s mum, Evelyn’s funeral in Teeside. We had known Evelyn almost as long as we’ve known Ruth (over 32 years) and seen her regularly over the years. It was an emotional day but I’m glad we were there for Ruth, and we stayed on for a few days afterwards. Ange and Mishael were there of course, the first time we’ve seen them all together since Ange got married in 2001. On the way home, we called in for the night to see Andy at their new house in Everingham, nr York. Ninx and Scarlett weren’t there and Andy was so tired as he’d been working on the house prior to them moving in, but he’d done a really great job – isn’t it a surprise when you find your children doing grown-up things like tiling and plumbing, etc?!?

Home once more and I had a colonoscopy after having a few problems – which I won’t go into! – all I can say is “thank goodness for private health cover”. A not so nice experience was made far more bearable in very nice surroundings with individual nursing care.

August saw us gadding about again after a very damp and cold weekend for Bedford Proms (which Tom attended with St John) and Soul Sunday to which I went. The weather had been so bad that the organisers had considered cancelling it but although it rained, it was bearable although very cold – and this is meant to be high summer!! The music kept us all active. After that we drove over to Shropshire to stay with my sister and met our new grandnephew (or should that be greatnephew?) for the first time – Lewis, Jean’s son who was born 2 days before Scarlett. Then we stayed with another of my old schoolfriends, Glenys and her husband, Ean in Bridgnorth just for one night and we went out to dinner with another schoolfriend, Rae. Poor Tom was a bit like a spare whatsit at a wedding – we were all chatting away catching up with news and he didn’t know who we were talking about! But he was very well-behaved!

The next day, we drove to Gloucester – this time to stay with ex RAF friends so Tom and Peter could talk “shop” and Jane and I could gossip. We went to their daughter, Angela’s wedding in 2007 and we hadn’t seen the official wedding photos so Jane and I pored over them while the men ignored us. Peter and Jane gave us lots of good information about NZ as they have family there. We visited their son, Nick and his family while we were in Wellington (see the blog!). It was a nice relaxing visit.

After 2 days with them, we set off to Devon to Judy and Glen’s (Ninx’s parents) cottage near Barnstaple. All this time the weather had been horrible and the next few days were no different, so we didn’t see Devon at its best. We did get around however and could see how pretty it would be when the sun was shining. The cottage is lovely and the village pub did some very good meals. As we were leaving on Thursday, the sun came out!!

The rest of August was very quiet, but September was busy with car servicing and MOT, a trip to Brighton, lots of duties and courses for Tom and a trip to St Mark’s hospital, Harrow for me to have a proctogram – follow on from my colonoscopy. It wasn’t the nicest experience in the world and the journey there was horrible. We had forgotten what a pain the London traffic could be. Coming home was much better for some reason, even though it was during end of school time – there’s no logic. Teh weekend after, we had a visit from Pat and John with whom we normally take our summer holiday – they’ll miss out this year as they’ve taken all their hols already AND they won’t be able to come next year either as they’ve organised themselves a 3 week tour of South Africa in April (they’ll get to see Jim and Jan in Cape Town before we do!)

In October, we visited Andy and Ninx, now settled in their lovely home in Everingham. Scarlett is such a bright little girl and we baby sat for her while Andy and Ninx had some time to spend together – something they rarely get. Andy still has a job but it’s been touch and go (and still is) for the past few months. The firm has had to make several redundancies and Andy is now working 6 full days 3 weeks out of 4, and has had to forego his commission until some semblance of normality returns. He and Ninx have made the decision to try to get back down south where Ninx will have more support and back-up so Andy has set the wheels in motion to find a new job. Not the easiest thing in the world at present, but while he still has work they can at least make the best of things in Yorkshire. They both love it up there and had things been different, there would have been no reason for them to move, but such is life.

Then we went to David’s villa in Spain for 2 weeks with Bruce and Carole, our good friends and neighbours. We drove, extending the holiday by 3 days each way, staying in Chalons-sur-Champagne and Perpignan on the way south and Girona and Beaune coming home. The journeys were troublefree, if somewhat tiring. We arrived in Moraira to beautiful weather which continued until the last 2 days of our stay, so we swam every day and even sunbathed! We were so lucky weatherwise, as the week before we arrived, there had been torrential rain and flooding in the area where several people had lost their lives. We showed B and C many of the places of interest we’ve found on previous visits and they so enjoyed it that we’ve got to arrange for them to come with us next year! We’ll have to take 2 hols a year at the villa – one with P and J, the other with B and C!! That’ll be so difficult!!.......The return journey through Spain and France was again uneventful. Beaune is a lovely town and the Best Western hotel we stayed in there was very pleasant. It was raining heavily when we disembarked from the train at Folkestone, then it snowed just after we emerged from the Dartford Tunnel – in fact it was quite a blizzard and we were all reduced to silence as Tom negotiated the M25. We stopped off at S Mimms services for a P break and could hardly believe how quickly the snow was falling. However, once we got to Stevenage, there was no sign of it at all – crazy British weather.

November started off quietly. I had a last appointment with my specialist and everything has been pronounced clear, thank goodness. On the 15th we drove to Didcot, staying o/n in a Premier Inn (quite pleasant and comfortable) and meeting up with Hugh, Maggie, Debbi and Steve for Sophie’s christening on the 16th. Amy, Mario and Izzy came too and we all had a very good meal together in the Applecart restaurant attached to the Inn. Sunday was a lovely day, lots of family and friends and bags of children. After the service in RAF Benson church, we retired to the Sergeants’ Mess for lunch and a quiet afternoon of chat and drinking.

The last 2 weeks of the month have been quite hectic with the build up to Christmas. We’ve got involved in a regular quiz night at the RAFA Club in town, and also go for Sunday lunch occasionally. What with that and one or two parties, we’ve been gadding about quite a lot! December is busy for Tom with lots of St John duties and for the first time in 5 years, we’re putting on pre-Christmas drinks so I have to get organised for that.

As I write this, we have some sad news to impart. Amy has lost the baby she was expecting in June so the year is not ending on as high a note as we would have wished. She is fine but the next few weeks are going to be hard for her and Mario as they come to terms with the loss.

Christmas will be spent once again with Judy, Glen, Andy, Ninx and Scarlett at Wellington College then we all go to Amy and Mario’s on 28th for a couple of days before spending New Year we don’t know where yet!!

We hope you all have joy and peace at Christmas and that we manage to get to see some of you next year. We’re always open for house guests so don’t forget to give us a call. We may be in touch with some of you for the odd overnight stay when we go touring later, when the weather hopefully is warmer - so be warned!

Lots of love to you all.Maggie and Tom xx