Trip to Madeira with the lads

Back in 2022, just after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, a bunch of friends and I went on a trip for 3 nights to the Canaries and had an absolute ball. The craic was mighty.

So good in fact that we did another trip in 2023 and again in 2024.

Each year it's mainly the same gang, coming from a group of around 15-20 friends, a vast majority, I went to secondary school with and some are university friends.

We never managed a trip in 2025 and this year we got the show back on the road with a trip to Madeira, an island belonged to Portugal 🇵🇹

Take a look at where it is on this map. Yep, closer to Africa than Portugal, so even in late September the weather was beautifully sunny.

The island is incredibly hilly and in part II of this post, I'll show you thr traditional tobogganing that the island is famous for!

As soon as you land, the terrain is apparent as you can see from this photo at the airport. Those lights are houses on the hills behind the small airport.

Each year the responsibility for finding a villa falls on someone different and this year the organiser found a lovely villa.

Here are a few photos of the digs.

We were a short taxi ride to the airport and the same to Funchal, where the old town is located.

Hiking Trip

As I was saying Madeira is a hilly island and is a hikers paradise. Here are some photos to show you the beauty of it.

What a spot. Absolutely stunning!!

BOLD TEXT WHICH FOLLOWS IS AMMENDED SINCE ORIGINAL POST

Please note that photos 1, 8 and 12 from the following sequence are not my own and were sourced on Google Photos - in my haste to publish my post (those with children, careers, sports volunteering responsibilities may understand!) I did not call this out.

I apologise for this error and will cease posting on Hive for now

Thanks to all my friends here who have been so supportive always

Mind yourselves and Peace Out ✌️

Peace Out