Mist rolling in

A huge contrast to the sparkly sunrises this week. It started overcast and got thicker.

I went on a 10km walk of a section of the Levada do Norte. This is one of the most recent levadas, dating only from the fifties. It runs high up through some of the sunniest and most fertile parts of Madeira, starting not far from Cabo Girao and is like a ledge round to Ribeira Brava.

We joined at Quinta Grande and enjoyed the totally flat stroll through quite varied but exceptionally lush, countryside.

We paused briefly in a misty valley and then headed to Boa Morte where we dropped down off the Levada for a coffe (beer or poncha) and a much needed loo stop.

Well, one solitary Portuguese lady who had been wandering off to take photos with her smartphone, somehow didn't realise that most of the group had vanished, and must have kept walking.

Counting is tricky with members of the group sitting in different spots in the bar, or taking turns to brave the WC. It wasn't until we got on the bus that Edgardo realised she was missing.

He first checked where we had come from, and then drove the enormous bus to various vantage points to call her name, echoing around the terrain.

It was looking bleak and we were about to head home about an hour late, when a woman from one of the cottages ran out.

Edgardo's strong network had come up trumps and she was found, soggy and embarrassed, but safe.