Promenade

Along the coast, west from our apartment, there was a beautiful promenade.  Paved and planted with exotic flowers, it gave us some great views across the sea and the town.  Everywhere, banana plantations were growing, indeed there was hardly a single garden which didn't have at least a couple of banana plants.  This plantation had hundreds of them.

Further along, we had great views across the old fishing village of Camara de Lobos to the vertical cliffs of Cabo Girao, 1,900ft of sheer face.

The sea is so blue along here but there are no sandy beaches, so artificial lidos have been constructed along the coast.  Nice to look at, but probably very hard to lie on.

The whole way was planted with trees and shrubs of varying types, some flowering, some not, but all beautiful.

Turning back toward 'home', we got a good view of the tiny island of Ilheu de Gorgulho, with the backdrop of three much larger, deserted islands on the horizon which make up the Ilhas Desertas some 11 miles away.

Funchal again

Landing at Funchal airport turned out to be rather more hair-raising than we had expected - or hoped.  It was recently said to be among the top ten most dangerous airports (not what you want to read days before going there) and it was easy to see where this reputation comes from.
The approach was from the south-west which meant a tight turn within the confines of the bay, trying not to get too close to the hills.  Then came the buffeting from winds funneling down the many valleys on the side of the mountain.  We were just about to touch down when a large gust blew us to one side and the pilot had to quickly put on full throttle to take us back up steeply and bank around again for a second try.  By this time the whole cabin was quiet!  Thankfully, we made it at the second attempt and a spontaneous round of applause broke out for the pilot.  Here, the picture doesn't quite reveal how close the hill on the far side of the airport is, to the runway.  Click on the picture for full size...

When we were down and all three sets of wheels were on the deck, we were still being thrown about by the cross winds as we taxied along to the new bit of runway which, alarmingly juts out over the sea.

Still, at least they give you some nice flowers to look at while gathering what's left of your nerves together and getting off the plane looking forward to taking off again at the end of your holiday!  No wonder they only let the most experienced pilots fly into Funchal.

Funchal

Back home again yesterday evening, from our trip to Madeira.  Neither Malcolm nor I had ever been to Madeira before and we were both impressed by our stay.  If there were to be any criticism, it would be the traffic in the main town and resort of Funchal.  It was so busy, but the views of the surrounding island, made up for that.  There will be many pictures from our holiday over the next few days, but for now, here are a couple to be going on with.  Firstly, the view from our 10th floor balcony, one of the best we've ever had on our holidays, with views over mountain and sea.

Our first walk into town on the afternoon we arrived, revealed streets lined with Jacaranda trees.  Here, seen around the area of the very posh Reid's Palace Hotel.

They seem to like their statues in Funchal and there is hardly a street corner which isn't adorned with some sort of monument.  Many seem to be of women with their 'bits and pieces' on display.  I hope they have a good, high-factor sun cream on as there are some parts where the last thing you want is a blister!

More to come...

Carpet

A cool breeze was blowing as we set out this morning, making us wish we had put on an extra layer.  We were soon out of the wind however and with the sun shining on us, it soon warmed up as we walked up Shipley Hill.  The bluebells are quite magnificent.

Carpets of them are covering almost every square inch of the woodland floor at the moment and the fine, dry weather has meant that they are not being spoiled by being rained on.

Other blossoms are adorning the trees too with crab apples in full bloom, casting their petals on the floor as the wind stirs them.  It's all very lovely, especially when the weather is still being so kind to us.  Having said that, we really do need some rain now as the ground is beginning to crack and plants are starting to wilt in the sun.

Still, lets just enjoy it while we can - no doubt we will soon get the rain we need and we will then be moaning that things are too wet!

Ducklings

Back to normal once more after Easter and with the weather still nice, but a little cooler, it was off round Straw's Bridge again this morning.  Glad we did too as the first of this year's ducklings were dabbling around in the shallows.

Ten of the little darlings, flitting about picking small insects from the surface of the water while their mother looked on.

Most of them didn't stray far from their parents - father was there too - but a few struck out on their own.

A quick quack from mother, soon brought them all scurrying across the water again.

More Bluebells

Another glorious day and, as we will not get a walk tomorrow, we decided to have a longer one today.  So, we set out for Shipley Hill to see the Bluebells in the woodland there.  We were very glad we did.  They're magnificent.

A photograph seldom does justice to the sight of a carpet of Bluebells, but with a little digital enhancement, they stand out just as well as they do in the 'flesh'.

Around the Old Hall gardens, the Rhododendrons and Azaleas are beginning to open their flowers.  Large-flowered and very showy, they add yet more colour to the countryside, just as there seems to be such a glut of it.

A closer look reveals the spots on the inner surface of the petals and the delicacy of the stamens.

The darker coloured Rhododendrons are not yet open, but the whites and pinks are beautiful enough.  They look even better in the glorious sunshine we're having at the moment.

Walking on from the hill, we headed for the village of Mapperley again and headed back homeward through a flock of free range chickens scratching in the sun, then via the old West Hallam colliery site.  A Lilac tree in one of the village gardens attracted my attention as we passed, not only for it's flowers, but also it's fragrance.

Bluebells

It's that time of year again.  The Bluebells are carpeting the woodland floor and filling the warm, spring air with their hyacinth-like scent.  It was so beautiful this morning as we walked through Mapperley Wood, we didn't want to come home.

Malcolm too was enjoying the sunshine and the flowers.

The smile says it all...

Recently arrived Whitethroats (Sylvia communis) were adding their songs to those of the other summer migrants and the Skylarks were soaring into the sky with their seemingly unending song.  Simply beautiful.  As we walked around Mapperley Reservoir, the Forget-Me-Nots were also blooming along the footpath edge.

Lastly for today, the delicate pink flowers of the Lady's Smock (Cardamine pratensis) were lifting their faces to the sun.  These pretty members of the cabbage family are a great favourite of the Orange Tip Butterflies which were flitting around.  Although I didn't notice it at the time, I managed to catch a small predator sitting on one of the flowers.  A Crab Spider can be seen if you look closely sitting on a flower waiting to pounce on one of the aforementioned Orange Tips.  Click the picture to get a larger version and see if you can spot it.