My amazing week in Madeira

My all-time favourite HPB holiday has to be Encosta Cabo Girão, in Madeira. My family have been Bondholders all my life, so I have been to many locations, but Madeira is definitely my favourite.

Living 10 minutes away from Exeter airport, it is easiest to travel from there. Throughout the journey, I was really excited because of what my parents had shown me in the booklet and from the pictures, it looked so nice. And as it was October, and after the typical British dull and wet summer, it was nice to know we were going to a warm place nearer the Equator.

On the plane, when the cabin crew told us we were nearing Madeira island, I looked out from the plane window to the beautiful crystal blue glistening sea, the aquamarine sky lined with a few candy-floss clouds and the hot beating sun which also glistened like a golden penny stuck in a gutter.**quote**

Nearing the island, we passed Porto Santo, a smaller island than the one ahead of us (Madeira) with its golden sand beaches. We circled Funchal; and then landed in the airport. We were welcomed to the island by sun and a paint pallet full of colourful flowers. I could tell from the moment I set foot on the land that this was going to be an amazing week.

As we had never been to the island before, we had gone with the Travel Club – which was a great decision, as they were so friendly. On the minibus on the way we got a feel for the island around us.

The things that stick in my mind most are the whitewashed houses with the ruby-red roofs as we passed Funchal, the serene scenery (the Monstrous Mountains especially) and the long cable cars linking most of the island together.

Arriving at the resort, there was even more friendliness from the staff, and complimentary drinks (which quite a lot of the adults enjoyed!). Of course, I wasn’t bothered by this, I just wanted to go and start enjoying my holiday.

The apartment itself was lovely. The clean white towels, fresh linen and the balcony with the most amazing view of the sea (and also cute little lizards running along the wood).

Unfortunately, my Dad had said we weren’t allowed to go swimming until we had “explored the resort”. I couldn’t be in a bad mood about it though – a week of sun was coming my way! I cheered up when we got to the shop – they had cold ice teas which I could buy every morning! We also booked the restaurant – five days of breakfast and dinner. An amazing decision as the food was some of the best I’d ever had.

When we finally went swimming, I made the mistake of going in a cold outdoor pool – a big mistake, as it was freezing, but it was very refreshing. We settled in almost instantly – and it was an amazing holiday.

Not only the resort – it was amazing, but the island itself was too. We rented a car for two days, and it was really nice to see more of the island we were staying on. Probably the oddest thing was its climate – being a volcanic island, you could go from sunshine to mist and fog driving up into the mountains within about 20 minutes.

The funniest, however, was waking up in the morning to the beautiful sea view, and then seeing dozens of coaches lined up to look at the view when we had it on our doorstep. I would strongly recommend Madeira, it was a very memorable holiday.