Leaving Guernsey and arriving home

Pete and I had a last breakfast together before the taxi arrived to take me to the airport. I hardly had time to wave goodbye before the taxi driver quizzed me about what I might have left behind; we had to go through an inventory.

The flight home was very quick. All the passengers left the plane in a group, and as a group we lost our way and eventually came to an emergency exit. The leading man, without a second thought broke the emergency alarm to open the door, and he sped through, ignoring the alarm bell. The rest of us waited like lost sheep until we were escorted into the airport.

Eventually I bought a train ticket to Mill Hill Broadway, which mysteriously was more expensive than the one I had bought to take me to the airport; I was assured that this was correct! Mas met me at Mill Hill as planned, and we went home. Salty was coolly pleased to see me, and after a few welcoming bites nonchalantly strolled off into the garden. Mas and I snuck off to have a pub lunch together.

Pete called in the evening to see if I had got home safely.

Last day in Madeira.

We had an exotic breakfast of unfamiliar fruit, in the apartment; the fruit I enjoyed most was custard apple, and I was pleased to try it as my father had told me about this fruit which was a favourite of his from his childhood in India. I packed, and we did separate things until we had lunch together beside the swimming pool.

Robert and Tania drove us to the airport. On the way we saw a double rainbow, that dipped down into the sea, and when I tried to get a photo of this from the airport the battery in my camera failed. We sadly said goodbye to our friends as they were staying in Madeira for Christmas. Madeira is mentioned in the Guinness book of Records for the New Year firework display, but none of us stay long enough to see it.

Madeira is a beautiful and interesting place, although we only saw a small part of it. Funchal is said to be named after the Fennel plant (Funcho) which covered the area, and while we were in Madeira we saw lots of Poinsettia, Camellia, Bougainvillea, Hibiscus, Hydrangea and Agapanthus flowers. The air where we were staying was filled with the scent of Pine and Eucalyptus, and for the first time I saw banana trees bearing fruit.

Madeira is famous for embroidery, cane work and for wine; there are at least six varieties that are drunk world wide. Shakespeare's plays mention the wine of Madeira; it was also drunk at the inauguration of George Washington and to toast the American Declaration of Independence.

Christoper Columbus is said to have come to Madeira as a sugar trader, then returned a few years later and married the Governor of Porto Santo's daughter by whom he had a son. This was all before he set off for the New World.

The flight home went as planned, except for a period of turbulence when the air filled with unspoken prayers, and I could mentally hear Robert saying "Richard Dawkins wouldn't like it! "
(Robert had been reading his book while we were on holiday.)

Our plane arrived at Stanstead 40 minutes early, but our Minni cab driver was already waiting for us and we were gratefully home in short order, around midnight. It seemed terribly cold, and the house was like an ice box, and took 24 hours to get back to the right temperature. Madeira already seemed like a dream.

Last day in Guernsey

Saints Bay
We walked from Icart to Saint's Bay, eating blackberries along the way while people kept running past us along the cliff paths for a half marathon. We had a slice of gâche at Saints before walking up the hill.

We stopped to look at a large gathering of ducks on a pond, and as we left they all came out of the pond and followed us up the road, almost in single file. We were beginning to feel like Pied Pipers, but as they caught up with us, a man came out of his house with about three loaves of bread which he broke up and gave to them. After a lot of squabbling they ate the bread and walked back down the hill to their pond again.

We went to the airport by taxi, and flew back to Gatwick then Pete and I went our separate ways home. I got home only to find my poor husband ill with a cold.