Good Afternoon my friends.
Well
I will start back in November 2013 when we left the UK for a four week
holiday in Madeira, Funchal to be precise. We love this place and treat
it like a second home and have been coming back for 11 years now.
The first week
we were there was warm and we had a couple of very nice days but we
also had rain, not too surprising for the time of year. We visited our
usual cafes and shops and had a lovely chilled out week. Peter decided
not to bother diving, after all he was there for 4 weeks
The second week
started rather nice but the rain, although still warmish, was a little
more frequent and the sea was becoming a little rougher and starting to
roar. I don't know what it is that makes it sound different, but it
does. We could see White Horses starting to prance on the water a
little bit further out from the bay. Not a good sign.
The
jetty was starting to take a pounding and the "BOOM" as the waves hit
the bottom of the walls before showering down on the top was quite
impressive.
By this time the attendants were removing all the sun
beds from around the pool and taping off the way down to the jetty. The
red flags for no swimming were all around but I think only a suicide
case would try the sea in that mood. We stayed in and I got quite a bit
of work done, the sewing was taking shape, I had taken hexagons and
diamonds to make a small lap quilt. I had also taken some knitting to
make myself a cardigan. Both progressed well.
I felt sorry for those on the cruise liners arriving in the harbour.
 |
| The tongues licking the heliport. |
Later the second week the sea decided to show
its power and for two days we had waves starting out in the bay at 15
mtrs high. They crashed on the rocks and sent their spray over
everything, landing and running back into the sea like hungry tongues
grabbing what they could to take back as a trophy. They also left their
calling cards in the shape of large boulders from the sea defences.
You can see the boulders on the red tiled surface to the centre left of the picture.
They
don't look very big do they? It took three large strong men to lift
them back over the low board into the sea. Some had to be returned by a
bucket on a digger. These boulders had also been thrown from the
jetty, over the walk way around the swimming pool and into the pool
itself causing considerable damage to the pool floor and taking with
them some fishes. Fortunately it also left some water for them to swim
in.
Week 3 The
storm
proceeded to increase in strength and by the beginning of week three we
were warned that the whole island was on Purple alert. No-one could
remember this ever happening before. Not even in the terrible floods.
Boats were moved to what was hoped to be safe anchorage. Liners already
in port had to stay where they were and others were told not to come.
People due to fly home were brought back from the airport and returned
to their rooms. There was no way in or out of Madeira for 3 days. It
was the worst storm the island had seen in 60 years. The damage was
extensive. At our resort alone they were counting damage in the tens of
thousands of euros. The new indoor pool and been trashed with the
glass windows just fragments lying around the pool area and in the
water. The roof was badly damaged and boulder were sitting in the
coffee area waiting to be served, in vain. The new coffee machine was
totally demolished. Served them right.
 |
| The jetty is under there somewhere. |
 |
| Just a small part of the damage |
| to the 1st floor roof |
 |
| We are on the 6th floor and this little beauty soaked us through |
This lasted for 3days. Hotels had their swimming
pools broken away from the swimming area and left hanging in the sea
where the water had eroded the sand and pebbles from underneath and the
whole area just collapsed. I felt so sorry for the islanders. Their
main source of income is tourists.
On the Sunday morning of week 4
I was awakened by the silence. The roaring and booming had stopped,
the patio on the balcony was covered in sand and sea salt but there was
no water. The white horses had returned to their stables for a well
deserved rest and the waves had returned to being gentle swells onto the
beaches. The ships were moving out of the harbour and others were
coming in, apparently having run the gauntlet as the storm headed over
to Tenerife and the other Canary Islands, its ferocity causing them
considerable damage too. It took another two or three days for the
water visibility to clear and then Peter along with the other divers
went to see if they could find some of the items the hungry waves had
taken. The boat divot's were found and a crane had to be arranged to
lift them out of the water. A piece of concrete about 25ft x 20ft which
had been torn from the end of the jetty was found scattered around in
quite small pieces. It was over 10" thick. But week four continued as
usual, sunny and warm and we were able to visit the town where the
Christmas festivities continued apace. My lasting memory was sitting
OUTSIDE our favourite cafe on the 21st December with no coats or
cardigans, the sun shining for all it was worth, drinking coffee and
eating Christmas custard tarts, listening to the local school choir
singing carols in Portuguese, English and German whilst the finishing
touches were put to the Nativity Display. MAGIC.
The end of an interesting holiday and what did I do? Well, knitted and sewed and taught patchwork to two new friends. Now
that is special.
Until the next time -
Bronwen
If you can dream it, you can do it.
