Today we chilled and got ourselves organised for our adventure on Sao Miguel. We had been told that getting around the island by public transport was a no go as the buses were infrequent and there were parts that were difficult to reach without a car or scooter but a trip to the Tourist Office on the sea front dispelled this myth. With a bit of forethought and planning most of the walks and sights were accessible by bus and the office helpfully gave us routes and maps for hikes all around the island, with a bus timetable and advice on which buses went where and when. We were excited! SEE MORE DETAILED INFO.ON WALKS AND TRANSPORT LINKS IN INFO SECTION

There are several recommended treks but as we only have a few days here we sat down and looked through our options. We decided to explore the West of the island first, taking the 08.20 bus to Sete Cidades to walk around and about Lagoa Azul. This trek was just under 8km one way to a viewing point, and then obviously back. Another trek that looked interesting started from a small village to the East of Ponte Delgada, Remedios, and included passing through creepy, dark tunnels! So we had 2 walks with buses planned. After that we would head to Furnas, a town famous for it’s natural hot springs and thermal pools, and no doubt some more beautiful walks.

Plan made, Jolien and I took a walk around Ponte Delgada. There is not a great deal to see in this town but it is pretty enough, and has a large port and an open swimming pool I’m sure is popular in the summer. It has lots of nice bars and restaurants offering good local food at reasonable prices, and some interesting architecture and monuments, like the city gates. But importantly, if you have no car and want to explore, it has the best transport links!

The weather here changes in an instant, within a 5 minute period I’d gone from taking my fleece off in the sun to getting my raincoat on fast, battered by wind and showers, but there’s often rainbows over head! It is totally unpredictable and the forecast it self is ever changing…. I guess for walking you just need to take everything needed for rain, sun or wind…. That said, the climate is mild and the temperature does not drop in the evening like it did on the mainland. Today we had cloud, showers and mainly sun with temperatures of about 15°C