Madeira

Hi everyone,

We've now been in Quinta do Lorde marina in Madeira for a week.  After a few days of boat jobs we started exploring the island.  We bussed to the main town of Funchal to explore and visit Mark of sv Tuuletar.  We walked east to take a look at Baia d'Abra from the land side.  And we hired a scooter for two days to tour the island.

The bus trip to Funchal takes about 1.5 hours, sometimes requiring a change in Machico.  Funchal is located in a relatively wide valley on the south coast of Madeira.  Along the sea front is a nice promenade and dual carriage road.  Back from the road is a pedestrian lane running through the town filled with bars, cafes and artwork.

Beach-side road with many pedestrian crossings

We met with Mark of sv Tuuletar and he gave us some tips for exploring the town.  We walked east along the sea front to a cafe overlooking the bay where we had a good, cheap lunch.

View east from the cafe

After lunch we walked along the lane back into town.  It is lined with bars and cafes with lots of colourful artwork on doors and walls.

Door art

More door art

In the lane

From the lane we returned to the sea front to board the cable car.  It runs up to the hill overlooking Funchal.  At the top there are botanical gardens and the famous toboggans which tourists can ride down the streets back into town.  We had afternoon tea instead.

Ascending in the cable car

Afternoon tea overlooking the town

Descending in the cable car

Funchal from the cable car

Back in town we continued along the lane admiring the artwork.

Funchal building decorations

Nice wall art

In the lane

Back in Quinta do Lorde we explored the resort.  It's pretty quiet at the moment, probably due to Covid. The marina seems to be the only part open.  There's a nice square, a small church and a faux lighthouse.

Square with 'lighthouse'

We walked east from the marina to see the eastern extremity of Madeira.  We didn't pick a good time for it with strong winds and rain showers, so only made it to the saddle between N and S coasts near Baia d'Abra.  The N coast is rugged.

View along the N coast

Rugged and colourful offlying islands

Quinta do Lorde from the E

Our first day with the sccoters was showery.  We drove across the island to the N coast and W along the coast to Sao Vicente, stopping at several lookouts and cafes.  From Sao Vicente we drove S across the island to Ribeira Brava.  The coast and the mountains are spectacular.  The roads are either slow and twisty or fast with many tunnels.  From Ribeira Brava we returned home along the expressway which is a dual carriageway with many bridges and tunnels.

Many of the lookouts have shrines

Rugged coastline

Through the mountains

On Day 2 we had much better weather and we could get moving much earlier.  This gave us time to drive right around the island.  We took the expressway W to Ribeira Brava then continued W along the S coast to Ponto do Pargo, the westernmost tip of Madeira.  Along the way we had a look at Calheta marina.

Calheta marina

View E on the SW coast

Farm near Ponta do Pargo

From Ponta do Pargo we drove N to Porto Moniz, at the northernmost top of Madeira.  This road is very twisty and the landscape very damp with ferns everywhere - a very nice drive.  The road emerges above Porto Moniz with a spectacular view over the coast and the town.  From there a series of switchbacks take you down to the pretty town.

View over Port Moniz

View from the waterfront at Porto Moniz

View E from Porto Moniz

Porto Moniz harbour

From Porto Moniz we drove E along the coast.  This road is modern with a seemingly endless series of tunnels through the mountains, interspersed with amazing views over the coast.  We stopped in Sao Vicente again, barely recognising it in the sun after arriving drenched the day before!

Sao Vicente

From Sao Vicente we drove E and tried another road across the island.  Unfortunately it was closed for repairs but we got some good views of the valley.

The valley towards Rebeiro Frio

More artwork at a cafe in the hills

It's been great exploring Madeira.  We'd have liked to explore more of the mountains but seeing the coast was spectacular.

We're now waiting for a weather window to sail to the Canaries.  The outlook isn't great and there is a big low pressure system coming through later next week.  We expect to take a short weather window earlier in the week which will probably require us to motor part of the way.

Trust all's well where you are!