Pat decided to go painting - she's designing a cover for her latest 'British Cosy' genre book.
The rest of us drove to Camacha for a gentle levada walk - Levada da Serra to Largo do Miranda above Funchal, then descending to the Levada dos Tournos for the walk back to Camacha.
Lots of people were walking these popular levadas, including several large guided groups. Thomsons charge over €35 per person per day for such excursions! Gorse, daisies and sweet peas were amongst the colourful flowers lining the path as we passed through verdant green eucalyptus woods.
The day was warm but overcast. Blossoms of a host of flowers adorned the path. We reached a tunnel. It's known to us as 'Walton's Wade' in memory of Barry's adventure here on 22 November 2009. Today we managed the 500 metres underground along a narrow 'towpath' with no untoward incidents.
After 20 km and nearly six hours on the hoof, we found ourselves back at cloudy Camacha at 4 pm. "Let's go to Pico do Arieiro" suggested some joker. Four of them actually. I thought it was a wind up. I was wrong. Soon I was chauffeuring the foursome up a 1000 metre ascent full of potholes in a thick fog.
"Blue sky up there" observed Sue. Amazingly she was right. I'd been proved completely wrong. We emerged into bright sunshine and calm weather above the clouds at 1810 metres. What more can I say. The lower picture should be sufficient. We lingered at this viewpoint with views to Pico Ruivo, the 1862 metre high point of the island. Yesterday's summit, Pico Grande, was also just about visible.
The drive back through more fog wasn't that pleasant.
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