4,000 miles to NOWHERE
Ana Davies, 60, from Cardiff, was looking forward to sun and sea, but the weather had other plans…
Flicking through the brochure, I admired a picture of our hotel.
‘We’ll be there this time tomorrow,’ I smiled to my husband Paul, 71.
We were all set for our holiday to Funchal, Madeira.
With sun, sea, and gorgeous greenery, it was a far cry from the dental surgery where I worked.
Paul and I both needed a holiday in the sun, so we’d booked this mini break to the sunny Portuguese island to celebrate my 60th birthday.
The next morning, we woke up at 4am, all ready for our journey to paradise.
As we drove from our home in Cardiff to Bristol Airport for our 7.30am flight, everything was running like clockwork. ‘Won’t be long now!’ I smiled.
And, before we knew it, we were up and away.
I nodded off during the flight, but as the plane neared the island, I felt a sudden jolt.
‘It’s just a bit of turbulence,’ Paul comforted.
But the violent jolts continued – and got worse.
Soon, the pilot announced the bad news – strong winds were preventing us from landing so we were diverting to Lisbon. My heart sank. ‘We’ll get there eventually,’ Paul said, trying to stay positive.
Landing in Lisbon, we at least had a chance to stretch our legs while the plane refuelled.
An hour later, we were back in the air, but as we circled Madeira for the second time, the familiar shudders began. ‘Not again,’ I sighed. Again, we weren’t able to land in Madeira, and this time we’d have to land in nearby Porto to refuel the plane. But it got worse. Conditions became so bad, we were given a choice: either fly back to Bristol or get off in Porto.
By this point, we’d been travelling for 10 hours, and I was so exhausted.
‘I just want to go home now,’ I sighed to Paul.
Three hours later, we were back in Bristol, and 17 hours and 4,000 miles later, we were right back where we started – sat in our living room in Cardiff. I was so disappointed. The next morning, instead of sipping delicious Madeiran wine in the sun, I was back at work at the dental surgery.
We’re currently in the process of getting our money back for the package holiday, ready to spend on our next trip.
Hopefully nothing will go wrong this time!