Ponta Delgada; Friday, 02 March, 2018

I’d stayed over in Gatwick the night beforehand, partly as it was a very early flight, but also due to the impending poor weather in the UK with heavy snowfall expected. In the end the snow hadn’t fallen overnight, but it was bitterly cold as I headed over to the inter terminal transit to head back to the South Terminal and security – I’d been able to check my bag in the previous night.

A smooth journey through the airport and with no sign of the bad weather striking, it looked like everything was going well. We pushed back on time and headed towards Madeira.

The first indication that things might not go to plan was about an hour out from Madeira as the pilot came on the PA to say that at the moment they were still confident of landing in Madeira, but they were prepared to divert to either Porto Santo or Lisbon if the winds continued to gust badly at the airport.

Thankfully there was a lull in the winds and, after a particularly unpleasantly rough approach, we touched down at Madeira airport, I collected my bags and headed for my hotel in Funchal – albeit into a really stiff breeze.

After checking in I stopped at a restaurant near the hotel for a very pleasant lunch and then had a bit of a wander round the old town before picking up one of the open-top sightseeing tours.

I did both the Funchal and the costal tours before heading back to the hotel to freshen up and then back out for dinner in the old town.

Just before I went to bed I booked an airport transfer for the following morning.