What comes into your mind if somebody says the number 1066? Me too. Until today that is. Keep that number in mind for later. Monday...

Today is Wednesday and, after a very lazy day yesterday, we have decided to complete the Lavada do Norte, starting where we finished last...

On Monday, after our busy weekend in Funchal, we spend a lazy few hours just enjoying the sunshine at the house. Restless feet get the better of us as usual though, so we head to one of our favourite walks from Boaventura to Sao Jorge. The walk starts by descending down the Caminho do Sao Cristovao behind the roadside Chapel and resting point, the concrete path soon giving way to a steep descent on a rough stones and clay down to an ancient bridge across the gorge. From here

Summer 2020, post lockdown and five glorious weeks on Madeira! We were so lucky that the lockdown was eased and travelling permitted....

In the afternoon we board a catamaran and take a boat trip, a wonderfully indulgent way to spend an afternoon, lazing on the nets with...

I mentioned the cleanliness of the streets and towns in a previous entry and this really is a feature of Madeira wherever you go. Civic...

A few days later we stop at Madalena Madalena do Mar, an unplanned visit but what a pleasant surprise! A sleepy place and perhaps not a...

After our recent local successes, I was really looking forward to going back to Madeira and doing some serious walking, and was impatient...

Our house, The Perfect Cottage (that is its name although it is also a perfectly good description), lies at the end of a very long, steep...

With restless feet, we drive south to walk part of the Levada do Norte at Estreita de Camara do Lobos, although as its name suggests, the...

We are satisfied to spend much of our time at home, rising late each morning then reading and, in my case, writing. We are visited often...

After our recent local successes, I was really looking forward to going back to Madeira and doing some serious walking, and was impatient...

A couple of days later we decided to walk down to the seafront at Sao Vicente, a downhill walk made difficult in parts by the steepness...

We take what has become our regular flight from Manchester, arriving at around 8pm, the difference this time being that we plan to stay...

Before I begin, I should probably explain how we came to own a second home in Madeira. It was our first visit to Madeira in the spring of 2017 and I will never forget my first dramatic view of the Ribeira valley which cuts through from the south to the north side of the island. We could be forgiven for thinking we had fallen into a set for The Lord of the Rings, or travelled to a tropical rainforest; the mountains soared steeply on both sides under a clear blue sky. Waterfall