Gordon: Yesterday dawned beautifully, with sun, a gentle breeze, and the usual mild temperature. The forecast was for significant rain today, so we wanted to have an outing before the anticipated indoor day.I plotted a 47 km circuit that would take us...
Ruth: We have done the math. We have to slow down or we will run out of roads! We have three islands with winter ferry service and we could cycle around Pico, the largest, in three easy days. We have more than five weeks! I thought we knew how to travel slowly...
Gordon: This morning we took the ferry from Horta to Madalena, on the island of Pico. The crossing only takes 30 minutes, but it felt like an adventure. There was a strong breeze blowing, which, combined with the mid-Atlantic swell, had the modestly...
Ruth: Gord, at 61, can now measure his age in geologic time. At this far corner of Faial we spent the day exploring the new land formed by volcanic eruptions that started in September 1957, shortly after he was born. Gord is indeed older than dirt, or at least some...
Gordon: Like all of the islands in the Azores, Faial is of volcanic origin. The island is dominated by one large volcano which is referred to as the “caldera”. The rim of the caldera is at an elevation of 900 to 1050 metres, and much of the time it...
Ruth: Life gets better on a bicycle. Today we cycled from Horta to Capelinhos on the far end of Faial. It was a beautiful ride along a jagged and varied coastline. My fears that this year’s islands would pale in comparison with the ones we explored last year...
Ruth: What a difference a day makes. After 10 hours of sleep I woke up feeling much more like myself. The travel gremlins have retreated and instead our bikes and bags have arrived. We celebrated by hiking around the headlands near Horta and then polishing off a...
Ruth: We just arrived in Horta on the island of Faial in the Azores. We left Victoria after a very rough start to the year. Gord and I are still shaken by the lost our good friend Blair. He died on December 30 of the flu. Nobody is supposed to...