New Year's Eve - Temperature 36C

Stompies isn't that a nicer word than butts. 

Well it has been a busy few days and one thing I have learned is that the brakes on the Mean Machine work very well, I went on a ghost walk tour with Ailsa in Prince Albert on Friday which finished at 8:15pm so it was just getting dark and I had a 120km drive back to Oudtshoorn, I was just getting into my stride travelling at the speed limit of 100kph when a Kudu minced across the road in front of me, the brakes stopped me hitting the animal but from  distance of about 12 feet it makes you realise how large these animals are.
I have been for a couple of local walks and today's was up to what I presume is the water tank on the western hillside above town, it was good to get some hills in before my leg muscles turn into knotted string but it was a little warm, thank goodness for the pool back at the B&B.
Yesterday was a bit of a fun admin day with visits to the farmers markets in George and Sedgefield, the latter is the best but I will have to learn how to use the video on my camera before my next visit to record the guys on point duty outside the market. I picked up some cheese, olives and pickled onions so lunch was a ploughman's. I also managed to get into the barbers before she shut at 12:30 and had an exorbitantly priced haircut for 50 Rand about £3.00 after that I booked a Stand up Paddleboarding (SUP) lesson for next Friday and then ignoring the option to go to Hoekwil for another portion of the best carrot cake in the whole world before wending my way home, I didn't want to enjoy myself too much!
The other day I went out with Joyrides which is similar to the bike-rafting trip I did in Tenerife but this time they dropped us off at the top of the Swartberg Pass and then we were on our own to make our way back to base. The trip down the pass was fun being all downhill but still a bit dodgy with the rough dirt surface, the hard work was the road trip back after hitting the tarmac, a total journey of 54kms and now I walk like John Wayne and don't sit down much either.
I have tried a number of restaurants in town and most are OK but the Santa Fe Spur is definitely the best for steaks in fact for all the grilled meat and at still less than a tenner for steak, chips, two beers and a generous tip how can you go wrong. I had a weird Spag Bol at one place, I think it was made with pure tomato puree and a huge amount of herbs, I certainly will not be trying that again.
Well time for lunch, I am going to try a padstall on the road out of town called Die Smitswinkle, it has received Marmite reviews on TripAdvisor so that should be fun.

As close as I could get to what I presume is a water tank/tower.

Looking east from the western water tower if you look carefully you can see the eastern water tower which is on the hillside above the B&B.

Xmas in the Little Karoo

What is going on? yesterday I searched the Satellite TV schedule for both The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven and neither were being shown it was all lame recent films that were being shown, instead I went to visit the Meiringspoort Waterfall all kitted out in my walking boots which were definitely necessary to negotiate the rocky path to the falls only to find that they were not required footwear for the crowd if kids who were running up and down the path and having fun in the pool at the base of the waterfall, any water feature is a magnet for the locals in this desert area. I spent the rest of the day chilling by the pool at Earthbound and I will be doing more of the same today.

The Meiringspoort Pass

My impressions of South Africa are that it is a very Christian country so I was surprised to find that, petrol stations and their attached supermarkets were open on Xmas day I thought that everywhere would be closed and today a lot of shops and the bottle stores are open.

Tomorrow is going to be a cultural day visiting museums.

A first for me.

I know as an Englishman I should be ashamed but today was the first time I have ever been to a cricket match. I have seen it on TV, played at school and even once in the army when my squadron were desperate for an eleventh man, I thought that I knew the rules but when I saw one player caught 4 times in the space of an over and not declared out I had to ask someone why not, only to be told that ball had struck the ground immediately after being hit - how can you see that sort of thing from 100 metres away, I think I will stick to rugby.
Actually I enjoyed the day at the Recreation Ground in Oudtshoorn where the local team Warriors took on Cape Town Cobras, it was a real family occasion where people bring chairs, sunshades of one form or another, refreshments (beer) and picnics/barbecues or Braai as they are called locally and believe it or not the entrance fee was £1.20. The Rec is right in town so when the players went in for lunch a large part of the crowd, myself included headed out of the ground for something other than the offerings of the onsite burger vans.

Nearly everyone hides from the midday sun.

All shook up.

Today I went on a road trip that was recommended to me by a guy I met yesterday in De Rust, he didn't tell me that the Prince Albert Pass was another dirt road which in places was nearly too much for the ground clearance of the Mean Machine but she managed it fine more than can be said for me after 80kms of rattling around in the oolu I needed a beer and lo and behold Tiffany's sold Castle Lager on draught and the burgers were on special offer, wonderful.

MM at the start of the Prince Albert Pass.

An unexpected find in the middle of nowhere, these South Africans seem to have a naughty seaside postcard sense of humour.

I have not watched much TV over here nor listened too much to the radio so I do not know how much advertising is going on for Xmas but it does seem very low key, I have noticed a few Xmas tree stickers on shop windows and the occasional Xmas song in the supermarket but that is about it which is a relief after the way things are these days in the UK, why do we have to import all that is bad from the US? Halloween, Black Friday etc. Sorry, mini rant over.

My room at Earthbound B&B

Outdoor living area with beer fridge.

Marie's (my host) nod to Xmas

My Xmas will be mostly outdoors and I will report more with pictures soon.

Words only.

This really is a lovely little town and wherever I go people want to talk, I know it is not my magnetic personality it is just the normal way of life here. I have visited all the antique shops in the town, the guy I met last time has sold out to a lady who admits that she caters to the feminine side of the trade but that did not stop her chatting to me for half an hour and guiding me to the other dealers in town as she said they are all selling different lines of antiques and all making money so really there is no competition.

I have now been here three nights and tried different restaurants each night, tonight's' was the most expensive for ostrich steak and a bottle of wine but that came in at half the price of a decent meal at a Brunning & Price place. I have now done all the explorations of the town so I went out for a waterfall walk to Rust & Vrede which I believe is rest and peace in Afrikaans, it was not a challenging walk and the waterfall was only a pale comparison to Aber Falls but it was a good experience to be there early and have the place to myself for half an hour, the only problem was that the waterfall was upsun so none of the photographs were any good.

Well all the admin is now sorted so from tomorrow the adventures begin again hopefully with some photos to show for it.

Earthbound again.

Back on the dirt, heading 

for the Swartberg.

No barriers on this track.

If you look carefully you can see the track up the Swarzberg Pass.

The journey from Ladismith yesterday was via Calitzdorp then back onto the dirt roads and over the Swartberg Pass to Prince Albert. As soon as I hit the city limits there was a sign pointing to the Bush Pub and it was 12:30 so it would have been rude not to have a look, it turned out to be a good choice and two and a half hours later I drifted down to the Travellers Rest B&B where I met Jude & Bryan who had recently moved over here from the Wirral to run their own business. Yesterday evening I had an execrable meal at the Gallery cafe (I will not say anymore but the line to TripAdvisor was glowing) Anyway I had a beer and a good chat with my hosts afterwards to calm down, they are a lovely couple and I can recommend staying at their gaff if you are ever in the area.

Today saw me drive over to Oudtshoorn on tarmac to my home for the next 16 days, Earthbound. This is the third time I have stayed here and I cannot fault the place, the owner Marie's attention to detail is amazing, I personally would class this place as 5 star.

After all my off road journeys I found that this car is not dust proof so i dropped it off at a valeting service whilst I went to collect some beers for the fridge and a full valet inside and out cost me the princely sum of £6.00 including a JB sized tip.

This is going to be the chill out part of the trip so my reports may be a little less frequent but Oudtshoorn itself is quite centrally located and visits to the coast, the desert and all sorts of other locations are all on the cards.

Ladismith

My first impressions of Ladismith were not too positive but after meeting the people here my feelings have change, there seems to be even more integration the further east I travel but the town itself is a little lacking in woomf however there is some great scenery and on Alex (my B&B propriotor's) suggestion I went up the Seweweekspoort pass today to a private game reserve, he was also kind enough to introduce me last night to his favourite Friday night hangout where I enjoyed a good slagging from the locals and my first kudu burger, delicious. Alex is an expatriate Glaswegian who never stops talking - now who does that remind me of but he has been a star recommending all sorts of places to see over the rest of my travels here.

The deceptively easy start to the pass

Uh-ohh

Missing Photos

The Mean Machine at the top of the Tradouw Pass

Looking South, downhill, to the farmlands.

Looking North, uphill, to the Little Karoo.

I avoided this place on my first South Africa trip but after Googling the place I called in for a beer yesterday, it is just a bar with ladies dusty underwear hanging from the rafters.

This truck was full of tourists visiting Ronnie's - you would have to be Intrepid to travel around the Little Karoo in a greenhouse on the back of a lorry!

Montagu to Barrydale

Barrydale

The distance between Montagu and Barrydale is only 62km or about 50years. Montagu was an epicurean delight with tasteful galleries and well spoken ladies of a certain age tottering around its clean Victorian streets, Barrydale is South African modern with garish tourist haunts on the main Route 62 but the town away from all that is more laid back with some hidden gems. I am staying at the Blue Cow Barn in a barn conversion, the owner also runs The Blue Cow Cafe @ the Barrydale Waterfront which is a cafe overlooking a large pool which contains masses of huge Koi carp and surrounded by nesting sites for brightly coloured native birds a lovely place for breakfast and lunch.

 Jacaranda tree with  bougainvillea growing through it

My room at the Blue Cow Barn

Looking back at Montagu

I spent a lot of time just exploring the town on foot but i did take a trip over the Tradouw Pass which was a pleasant drive with great but not spectacular views. Again I can recommend Barydale for good honest South African food by that I mean meat, the Art Hotel is a case in point, an award winning chef immaculate service and all for the cost of a McDonnalds in the UK. I also tried the local Pakistani take away, they seemed very surprised to see me but the chicken curry and roti took me back the my last visit to the sub-continent fantastic taste and so far nearly 24 hours later no repercussions.
Today I stopped off for a 3 hour lunch on the way here to Ladismith and I am now going out for a Friday night burger, more soon

Another gorge walk.

We left the excitement Friedenhof on Saturday morning and on our way to Montagu in the Little Karoo we slowly went back in time. I struck lucky this time, of all the places we passed through and explored on the way here Montagu is definitely the most pleasant with more restaurants and art galleries than would be expected in such a small provincial town. I am actually sad that I will be here for only 3 nights as I have not had a bad meal so far and there are places that I haven't tried yet.

Brilliant roadside stall on R62 which sells everything you might need

Harry and Marmalade strapped in.

Jacaranda trees near the Bree River

The temperatures are more pleasant with an expected high of 28C but even so I went early today to avoid the midday heat on a gorge walk up to the Avalon Springs thermal resort, this was a little less strenuous than the Samaria Gorge in Crete a distance of only 3km each way with refreshments at either end, you would have loved it Jane, just enough of a challenge to make you feel that you had earned that beer at the end, thought it was a little intimidating expecting baboons, snakes and leopards to ambush me at every turn but as it turned out that besides the myriad of birds that kept me company the only animal that contested my passage was a tortoise.

Did I just hear a baboon?

Cool place for a panad.

What lurks down that tunnel or in the bamboo???

He did't even blink as I walked past.

Ducks 'n stuff continued.

I had intended to climb Table Mountain this week but with a near three thousand feet climb and temperatures approaching 40C I took the adult decision to say no and I will try again next time. I have been stretching the legs at various wineries and I can recommend Spier Winery in particular, it has a huge acreage which you can walk around including trails of 5 and 10km and there are three eating establishments and a wine tasting centre with knowledgable staff. I must admit the diverse low priced good quality food over here is going to be my downfall even more so than the diverse low priced good quality wine and beer so in five weeks time the blob will be landing at Heathrow unless I up my exercise regime.

Ducks 'n stuff.

The duck parade

The duck wrangler with 4 eggs picked up en route to the vineyard

Yesterday on the recommendation of my host at Friedenhof, Kyle, I went to Vergenoegd Wine Estate to see their duck parade, every morning at 10:30 they release up to 800 Indian runner ducks into their vineyards to keep down the bug and slug populations, i got there early and had their interpretation of Eggs Benedict (not duck eggs I hope) at a ludicrously cheap price followed by the best cup of coffee I have had for six or more months.

An interesting few days.

We are now in Montagu on the edge of the Little Karoo and the weather has changed, not quite long trousers but blissfully cool after the last few days.

I have enjoyed the last four days at Friedenhof the location is midway between the winelands of Stellenbosch and Cape Town itself, I did try to pay a visit to Cape Town but traffic has increased hugely since my last visit here two years ago so I gave up that thought and went to Groot Constantia for a few bottles of my favourite Cabernet Sauvignon and then went to have a look at Century City - bad mistake, it is retail hell with over four hundred retail outlets but I did find an excellent samosa shop and the tourist information office. It was very crowded so much so that I now do not believe that there is a recession here in South Africa.

Friedenhof was a quaint little place, there were chickens and LOUD roosters and six dogs who defended the boundaries vociferously, I also had a male secretary bird who practised his display routines whilst  was breakfasting on my patio.

My room is on the left

In limbo

I am having serious IT issues and I cannot access the internet on any of my digital devices using Microsoft or Apple, I managed to connect to this site via Google Chrome so I aim to make the most of it.

Marmalade and Harry decided to accompany me on this trip, I think they got bored and cold last November whilst I was laundering my passport and picking up parking tickets in Spain, they are enjoying the temperatures over here but 35C was a bit too much for me in Stellenbosch at lunchtime today.

Anyway to start at the beginning, my good friends Peter and Helen gave me a lift to Llandudno Junction to catch the train to Heathrow via Euston, my seat ticket put me opposite Mike and next to Leonard a father and son team from Wisconsin who are travelling around the world for a year or so, they were good company after I got over the embarrassment of Leonard's conversation which mostly consisted of the F word and not in the quietest American accent I have ever heard, but the journey down to Euston passed quickly with us all telling tall stories.

Security at Heathrow Terminal 3 was a dream compared to Manchester Airport, the staff are efficient but personable and the queue was less than 15 minutes. In my estimation British Airways are coming on by leaps and bounds, not only was my seat in the World Traveller section comfortable with extra legroom but the attendant on my aisle was not only professional but young and took the time to make you feel as though you mattered, well done BA it has taken a while but you seem to be getting there.

Yesterday was a bit of a write-off, we landed just before 12pm local time and after an hour's queue to get through immigration/passport control my trainee counter clerk at Avis took another hour to sort out my hire car which is a very basic Hyundai i10 but to be honest it is fine for what I will be using it for and at less than £13 per day I cannot complain. I had researched the journey to my first stop between Stellenbosch and Cape Town and it worked perfectly, who needs satnav?  We arrived at Friedenhof to be greeted by Kyle who showed us to our home for the next four nights so after dumping the cases we did the normal orientation and necessities shopping before having a shower and a South African mega burger - no bun required, before an early night. 

Nine hours sleep last night, wonderful, and a relaxed start to the day with breakfast on the terrace and then some wine tasting and wine buying followed by lunch at the Deli-CAT-essen in Tokara winery outside Stellenbosch, this was a fortuitous find because it is not advertised in the tourist brochures and I only stumbled on it because I had arrived too early for the restaurant so I went for a walk in the grounds. The clientele were all local and I would estimate at the middle to top of the social spectrum which is probably why I was relegated to a bench on the edge of the patio but great plate of charcutterie and cheese along with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon along with this view made it a lunch to remember.

The view from my bench at the deli-CAT-essen at Tokara Winery

The winery wine-tasting/restaurant area from the 'Selfie Platform' ??

Saga in Crete

This trip was planned to tick off two items on my bucket list, the Minoan complex at Knossos and the walk through the Samarian gorge, both have been successfully accomplished.

The tour of the archaeological site at Knossos was interesting but the history of the Minoan dynasty was more so, I had not realised how powerful they were nor how far back their civilisation went, this is a subject for further research. I visited the archaeological museum in Heraklion which displays finds found throughout the island but mostly at Knossos and I was impressed with the quantity and quality of the objects on display but the items that stood out for me were 1. The Bee Pendant, a piece of jewellery more than three thousand years old which I doubt could be bettered today. 2. The Bulls head which was so beautifully made that despite being made from stone seemed alive. 3. The Snake Goddess, this lady showed her power in so many different ways.

Yesterday I did the walk down the Samarian Gorge to the sea, a total of 10 miles mostly on quite rough ground. I was fortunate enough to do the walk with six members of the Llandudno Social Meetup group so my thanks to David, Val, Pam, Linda, Keith and Jane for your valued company and support. The walk wasn't easy but I felt that I had really accomplished something and then this morning I was hit with the price of tight, sore calves and aching knees, just one more benefit of getting old!

Today I did have plans to go up to the fertile high plateau but it has now turned into a rest day.

I booked the trip as a Solos holiday with Saga but on arrival I found that there is a standard Saga holiday running alongside the Solos event. The Imperial Belvedere and its sister hotel the Royal Belvedere are one large complex outside Hersonissos and on an all inclusive basis are an ideal resort for families but not Sagaites who do not want wall to wall activities and an awful Europop soundtrack  until 11:30pm each night and the noise in the restaurant (which is more like a school canteen)  means that conversation over dinner is out of the question the only saving grace is the dedicated Saga lounge which provides a relatively quite haven away from the mayhem.

Time to go home.

My spell of lazing in the sun is over, today I am staying the night in a hostel in Alhaurin de la Torre in the hills above Torremolinos before I catch a flight home tomorrow.
It has been a lovely break hiding from the sun and playing in the pool with Keira, Kay, Charlie and Zane and I did manage an excursion to Seville to see the sights, if ever you are looking for a residence in a hot country I can recommend the Alcazar in Seville, cool rooms and shaded gardens, the ceilings are beautiful especially the Ambassadors Room. Sunday is a good day to visit the city but go early to avoid the queues.

Idling in the sun.

We whities from Blighty hide from the sun for most of the day it peaks in the low 40s in the afternoon so we only come out to play after 6pm.  I am not sure if I could get used to this lifestyle of dining around 9 pm then staying up to the early hours and consequently not getting out of bed until mid-morning.
It has been fun to play out with Charlie and Zane, they are both waterbabies and wear all the adults out, good also to have time to talk to Keira and Kay about subjects many and various.
Back to reality next week but I will mis walking around in just a pair of shorts.

Oh no.

On my last trip down here I made a comment on my blog that Vejer de la Frontera was deserving of a visit for a day or even a weekend. Yesterday I took the scenic route through the mountains and on back roads to Vejer meeting hardly any traffic on the way, imagine my horror to find that thousands of people agreed with my thoughts of four years ago, the place was packed to the rafters so I beat a hasty retreat only to find long traffic queues on the coast road, fortunately not in my direction of travel. I gave up and went back to Jimena where I made the aquaintance of Gonçalo an itinerant artist who was recovering from a five day party at the local fiesta, he had an interesting view on his entitlement to an income from the government to pay for his drink, drug and smoking habits but he is a talented artist and sculptor.
I must make a mention of Melissa who owns and runs Casa Henrietta, the place is clean, very reasonably priced and a delightful place to stay.
This morning after a leisurely breakfast I took the mountain roads again and headed up to meet Keira and Kay who are renting through Airbandb for two weeks, their little cabin is on the outskirts of Seville but 400 metres from the nearest houses and part of a farm type complex with chickens, dogs, bats and lizards for company but most of all a little swimming pool, wonderful.

Spain again.

I am travelling super economy on Ryanair with just hand luggage so Harry and Marmalade have stayed at home to guard Llys Onnen. The journey went reasonably well subject to the usual delays, queues and other stress points, the car hire interlude was amusing - I had an elderly English guy who tried to jump the queue in front of me, I remonstrated with him, quite amusingly he got all huffy but in the end his British sense of fair play won out and he invited me to go first. The next fun was the charming man who was filling in all the car hire forms, when I refused the extra insurance at €120 for the week predictably the charm disappeared and he became Mr Surley.

I drove down the non-toll coast road from Malaga Airport through the resorts of Fuengirola, Marbella etc and it confirmed my opinion of such places - to be avoided at all costs, it was a pleasure to turn up into the hills to my destination for the next three days, Casa Henrietta in Jimena de la Frontera, a quirky, hippy establishment that I stayed in for one night on my first road trip in 2013.
I visited the castle here before I checked in, believe it or not I did not notice it on my last visit. The views from up there were incredible, I could see Gibraltar quite clearly but the countryside is very parched and brown after the heatwave they have had, I feel sorry for the cattle and sheep.

Well it is dinner time, I will check out the restaurant that I had pig cheek stew in last time but I have the option of dining in this hotel apparently they only provide evening meals in the season.

Water, water.

I assume that Cancer is a water sign, I seem at my happiest and most relaxed when water is a part of the picture.

Today started again with the full heart attack on a plate but it was too big and I mean who can eat four slices of fried bread and black pudding as well as all the usual suspects, tomorrow I may just go for the cereal.

We were on the road by 9am and first stop was the Royal Navy museum in Hartlepool where the main attraction for me was the Trincomalee a Royal Navy sailing ship built in India in 1817 just 2 years after the Battle of Waterloo. It was a dream come true to see an actual 46 gun ship of the line from my hero Hornblower's era and the various other displays in the recreated 18th century dockyard only added to the experience.

Another trip exploring remote villages eventually brought us out at High Force waterfall in the upper Tees valley, I had seen photos and indeed I took some of my own but it is hard to capture such a physical force of nature in words and photographs.

Very little walking today but I have racked up over 18 miles since last Friday and fingers crossed I will be standing on the top of Roseberry Topping tomorrow morning.

This trip has opened my mind to UK holidays, I knew Britain was a beautiful place but to realise how much there is to see and do has brought it home to me. I know it has been helped by the good weather but now I can see no reason to go abroad during the summer months.

3 NT

Today started perfectly, full fry then programme the Tomtom for the shortest route to Hardcastle Crags and she took me on a wonderous journey through town centres, back streets and unused country roads including the full cobbled length of Heptonstall. The valley Hardcastle Crags are in could be a good day out with possible walks of 6+ miles and facilities close to hand, I did the short Crags Constitutional which was a level people free walk with wildlife all around.
The next stop after negotiating a manically busy Hebden Bridge was East Riddlesden Hall which turned out to have interesting grounds and a number of keen volunteers with a huge knowledge of the place but not really my kind of venue. Now Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Gardens were something else entirely, the abbey ruins again amazed me how the people in those far off times could build such huge and intricate structures without modern aids such as cranes and the water gardens were peaceful and beautiful, if one tenth of my photographs come out well I will be very pleased.
I am now in Welbury in North Yorshire for three nights, the locals have been friendly and offered lots of good advice and recommendations for my next few days, so watch this space.

England road trip.

It feels good, we are together again, Harry is made up to be up in the north of England where it seems his heart lies, Marmalade on the other hand is back being mardy I think she wanted to be travelling internationally, hopefully Harry and I can talk her round and stop her sitting there contemplating her navel.

First stop today was Knott End a tiny place on the end of a peninsula in north Lancashirewit a huge bay to the north and east across the mouth of the river Ribble from Fleetwood, the last time I was there was over fifty years ago when my sister's father in law took me there to show me the man who's job was to sweep the sand off the end of the Fleetwood ferry ramp, since then the Knott End cafe had been rebuilt but it was the same greasy spoon inside and serves up a huge all-day breakfast. Next stop was Ribchester and its museum covering the history of the Roman fort that was the reason for the growth of the town, it is a lovely setting with quaint honey stone built cottages and houses. From there we zigzagged acros country to tonight's overnight stop at the Old Stone Trough Country Lodge & Inn which for £30.00 per night B&B is outstanding value for money, I think all the patrons are working locally but far from home so far I have detected accents from all over the UK.

Tomorrow we cross the border into Yorkshire for three days.

The team.

The Saga rep in Scilly is the manager of the Atlantic Hotel which is run by the St Austell Brewery. Our tour guide is Chas, an incomer of 18 years standing who has an unlimited store of one liners and stories about the islands, his wife Cathy runs Scilly Walks and she is the resident archaeologist, so both good contacts for any future visit. This trip I am definitely the youngest Saga lout, the eldest lady is 94, she and the other sixteen are all interesting characters with their own stories to tell.

Seeking the sun.

OK, Tomtom offered me a route of 305 miles at 7 hours 10 minutes driving time and I covered less than 265 miles in 6.5 hours via Pentrefoelas, Bridgenorth, and Kidderminster to The Duporth guest house in Penzance, admittedly it was in one hit with no stops.

The B&B was interesting with a very shy gentleman who showed me the room who obviously did not want to engage in small talk. The room was a little tired with a spring based bed however the towels were soft and the in room, self serve breakfast was very good indeed, fresh fruit and yoghurt with toast and boiled eggs if you can work out how to use the egg boiler!!

A very friendly efficient chap relieved me of my car only a hundred yards from the Scillonian ferry that was to take me smoothly to the island of St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly. My first impression was that this could be a nice place to explore in a boat of some kind but the known 700 wrecks off the coast may indicate a measure of planning and care may need to be exercised. St Mary's is cute, quaint and apparently a desirable place to live and could be regarded as a paradise with warm temperatures, no crime and a population of only 1700 people but against that there are only three pubs, virtually no entertainment and it is very small, I think that gaol fever could lead to alcoholism very easily.

Today, Saturday we went to Tresco to visit the gardens which are full of plants mainly from the antipodes and South Africa and although they are pretty I personally don't think that are a challenge to Bodnant and other mainland gardens. The highlight of the trip was the walk round the island which gave us spectacular views of a coastline that could have been in the Caribbean or some other exotic location, I could visit there again.

Tomorrow is a free day so I plans a short relaxing walk after visiting the museum then on Sunday we are walking the islands of Gugh and St Agnes with the added incentive of a Cornish pasty for lunch.

Madeira photos.

As promised the photos that I could not upload whilst I was there.



The top of Pico Ruivo, Madeira's highest peak.

Sunrise from my breakfast table.

More cruise passengers arriving to clog up Funchal's streets.

Islas Desertas on the horizon, better view without the cruise ship.

Machinou the Irish Hawk paying a visit to scare off the pigeons.

Waterfall on the Risco Levada

Risco selfie

main waterfall at 25 Fontes before the organised tours arrived.

Laverda do Norte, wonderful peaceful views and easy level walking.

Journey's end, Camara de Lobos after a 1000 foot descent in 3 kilometres, that beer did not touch the sides.