Up and up, round and round and over the top of the mountains and back down the other side – we love these roads that twist and turn and offer a slice of a village, a jaw-dropping precipice, or a glimpse of ocean.

Or there is the faster way – roads that are a series of tunnels that have been burrowed through the mountains or the cliffs along the coastlines. The tunnels vary in length up to the longest one we went through at 3.1 km, and  on the newer roads they are lined and illuminated, whereas the tunnels on the secondary roads are older, hand-hewn and dark! I read somewhere that there are more tunnels on this small island than in Switzerland!

A visit to the rum factory in Porto da Cruz. I love the poncha (punch) made of orange juice, rum, honey and passion fruit!

After visiting the Whale Museum, we stopped for another delicious seafood lunch at Muralas Bar in Canical – a simple and busy little restaurant with many local families enjoying a leisurely lunch. (Local mussels with garlic, parsley and butter, grilled shrimp, and scabbard fish and chips).

We set off to hike to Ponta de Sao Lourenco, but with unsuitable shoes and full tummies, we decided to only go part way and back.