We took the 09:00am bus to Furnas, a journey of about 1.5 hours and costing around 3 euro 50 each.

Arriving in the chilled little town early for our accommodation, we took a coffee and breakfast at a sunny bar. The town was surrounded by green hills and felt tranquil and pretty compared to busy Ponte Delgada.

We had booked a twin room at an AirB&B called Casa da Tia Benta and it could not have been lovelier. Greeted by green fingered Jose we were shown around the beautiful old house and gardens which had once belonged to his grandparents and had been lovingly restored using traditional materials (basalt, iron and wood) and retaining original features, such as the old wood stove formed out of volcanic rock and the brackets for hanging pigs to feed the family all year! The house had a few rooms and as we were the only guests we had it all to ourselves, an ancient, cosy place complete with Netflix, super internet and great showers! The garden was a tropical paradise and clearly Jose’s pride and joy. He gave us a tour and encouraged us to try the oranges, lemons and herbs as we went.

The house was central in the town and the two thermal baths were close by, as well as markers for the walks around the nearby lake. We headed out to try the furthest spa, about 5 minutes away on foot – the Poca da Dona Beija. These thermal pools are part of the natural phenomenon that results from the volcanic activity in the valley of Furnas. The place had 5 pools each supplied with the therapeutic waters stored underground. Apparently the water is heated and enriched by minerals in the surrounding stones, before being forced back to the surface by high pressure!

The place was open from 7am till 11pm and cost 6 euros a person. It seemed like it could be an interesting experience to come back here one night, maybe tomorrow !But for today we just spent a couple of hours chilling in the different pools, which were a constant 39ºC, before heading back home to shower. The water had left us looking quite orange, like a fake tan gone wrong….

Following our own ‘beginner’s guide to lighting a fire’ video,we successfully creating a roaring inferno to warm the house up and chilled out eating pancakes with sugar and juice from Jose’s home-grown oranges and lemons. Delicious!