We kicked things off bright and early with a flight from Bristol to Madeira — sleepy-eyed but buzzing to finally get going. The airport in Madeira was surprisingly efficient, and before we knew it, we were handed the keys to our little rental scooter. Honestly, the whole pickup process was so easy it felt suspiciously smooth. No complaints there.
With our helmets on and bags stuffed awkwardly between us, we set off along the coast, first stopping at Machico for a quick look around, then heading onwards to Caniçal. We hit a bit of a snag when the road was closed near the village, but we parked a bit further out and walked in, which turned out to be a win. The “village” we were aiming for turned out to be more of a resort, but it had its perks — namely, a fast food place where we finally got something to eat. Service was… let’s call it relaxed. Island time, we guess.
We wandered down to the marina afterward, which was pretty picturesque and made up for the underwhelming chips. Along the way, we also encountered what we later learned was vulva rock — appropriately named, if a little on the nose.
Then came the ride up into the hills to reach our Airbnb. Let’s just say the scooter was really put through its paces. Steep, winding, and slightly terrifying roads led us to our new base, where we were greeted by a curious cat who instantly adopted us. Obviously, we named them Dusty.
After settling in, we scooted to the shops to stock up on food for dinner and tomorrow’s lunch. Back at the Airbnb, we crashed for a bit and started watching Yellowjackets — which is a chaotic but addictive show, highly recommend.
Dinner was a simple cook-in affair, shared with our new feline friend, who came back just in time for tea and joined us on the balcony as we ate and watched the clouds roll in. It was one of those low-key but golden travel moments. Then reality hit — we were way more sunburnt than we thought. Turns out “cloudy” in Madeira still equals UV. Lesson learned.
Getting Dusty back outside for the night took some gentle persuasion (read: a blanket lift and escort service), and then we finally collapsed into bed — tired, a little crispy, but happy to be here.
Tiana’s rating: 7/10 – “Tired and sunburnt.”
Ollie’s rating: 7/10 – “Good when we got here, tired and stressed before.”