Tuesday 20th October - At Sea
On our way back now, just along the coast of Portugal and the sea is a bit
lively. HRH has already decided she is going to be ill! God help us when we
cross the Bay of Biscay tomorrow!
Anyway, winding back a bit. Firstly, apologies for the last diary entry. It
was as boring as **** I know. Couldn't get in to the swing of it at all and
still not feeling great. Hope this one is a little better.
On Sunday we were in the beautiful island of La Palma. It was still warm - a
lovely temperature in fact but the sun had deserted us.
No tour planned here so were thinking of just strolling around the port city
of Santa Cruz. However, there was a car hire place just inside the terminal
building on the quayside so a short while later Trev was at the wheel of an
olive green Citroen (yuk!) Xsara as we headed south to the tip of the
island.
It's very green here - much more so than at our previous stops, and very
mountainous too. The devastating effects of the recent forest fires can also
be seen, however the 'green shoots of recovery' are very real - unlike the
ones our politicians talk about!
The other thing to mention is bananas. Everywhere you look there are banana
trees - everywhere. Must be one of their biggest exports.
We rounded the bottom of the island and stopped at a beautiful little bay on
the west coast for coffee, then headed back to Santa Cruz through the middle
of the island winding around some very tight bends and narrow roads on the
way. Finished our drive with a quick look around the small city, though
being a Sunday, not much was open. However, this has already gone on 'the
list' as a likely destination for some winter sun.
A short while later we were safely installed in the Golden Lion for some
much needed 'medication'.
Spent the afternoon sunbathing - minus the sun but it was still very
pleasant. Then a kip in the cabin, drinks at a cabin party, dinner then bed.
Not getting into the party spirit at all on this cruise.
Monday morning and dawn heralded our arrival in the port of Funchal, capital
city of Madeira. The sun had returned thankfully for what is our last stop
before heading home. We had pre-booked a tour on the 'net and the minibus
met us on the quayside. Had a very interesting tour stopping at a couple of
high look out points for some fantastic views of various parts of the island
before heading down into Nuns Valley for our final stop. There is no doubt
about it - Madeira is a beautiful island. You need to be fit to cope with
some of the hills though. A car is more or less essential.
The usual location for lunch and then on deck to sunbathe and watch our
departure. The P & O 'Oriana' is in dock beside us and she too is heading
back to Southampton. It was decided that she would depart first and as she
eased past us out into the sea there was much sounding of fog horns. Soon
after, we too let go and set sail for Southampton.
A drinks party in the 'Queens Room' (an appropriate name if ever there was
one) this evening which was pleasant enough. We elected to give the dining
room a miss and instead availed ourselves of room service which was very
nice.
At time of writing, the sea has calmed a little but it's still very windy
and sitting out on deck is not an option. If the spray from the sea doesn't
get you, the spray from the swimming pools soon will!
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