AWW 14.07.2010: SparrowFart 2010

 

The long-awaited Breakfast of the Year arrived, and this year was to be even more special as Mike’s 80th birthday was the following Saturday.  A temporary blip had prevented Mike from leading the walk this year, but as usual he was over-involved with all other aspects, and had nominated Chris  ‘in loco ductoris’.

I had noted these dictatorial tendencies and had my daughter Oriana mock up this telling poster:-

 

which was also used as a clue to a cache I published for the Birthday Boy to find, while we were out working up our appetites.

Turnout was staggering – a much too early request for numbers made at the beginning of June had only resulted in a couple of applications, until Tina and Chris both sent reminders a few days before the walk.

SparrowFart Walkers:

Leaders: Chris & Antje

Walkers: Terry A and Jill, Paul, Myriam, Susan, Dina, John O', Frank, Lindsey, Andrew, Ian W, Alex, Ingrid, Janet, Peter S, Ian S, the Pease family represented by Rory, Heather, Anna and her friend Sophie, houseguests from Belgium, Gerard and daughter Elise and a welcome return of long absent WW Peter H.

Dogs: Tiggy, Maddie, Nandi, Rusty, Bella and Shelley

Extras (Support Crew and Breakfast) : Jyll, Marg., Mike, Phil, Julie, Michael, Joan and grandson?, Gerard’s wife,
Oscar, Jess?.

(If I have missed anyone please let me know!!)

Counting heads all got a bit confusing,  though the walkers were accurately reported thanks to photos and Antje’s determined count as we filed out of the rear of Quinta Espargosas, I had to guess at the other participants.

21….22…..23…..

I get ahead of myself!  By this time the group photo had been taken by Phil, and we left only 10 minutes after ETD at 0655 hrs.

Press play arrow above for an appropriate musical treat – and we even had young maidens with us – for a change!

 

This was the track of the walk. Construction site not shown!

Stats:

Total Distance: 11.8 km
Moving Time: 2 hrs 52 minutes
Total Time: 3 hrs 9 minutes
Moving Average: 4.1 km/hr
Overall Avg.: 3.7 km/hr
Total Ascent: 166 m.
Max Elevation: 67 m.

Tilley Count: 7 (thanks to Terry & Jill A and congratulations on their investment!) Could have been more: Note for Blog: Employ a researcher to survey the total Tilley Investments of active AWW’s.

 

Despite having to leave for UK the next day, Chris managed to provide this modest but comprehensive Leader’s Report by early next day.

Just a brief blog I'm afraid, nothing much happened !
SPARROWFART 2010
A good crowd of AWW's, family, friends and guests gathered at the appointed hour of 6.45 am at Quinta  Espargosas for the now traditional summer Sparrowfart Walk, a term coined originally by Mike Pease who unfortunately was not fit enough to lead the walk this year. Chris therefore stepped into the breach, keen to maintain the tradition of a shorter walk but one with something for everyone.

 

Long shadows on the levada

After the obligatory team photograph the 25 participants set off at a brisk pace along the levada towards Palmares Ridge, where the extensive golf course construction works were given a wide berth.

 

Per Ardua ad Mare

Fortunately at such an early hour the construction machinery hadn't started up so the group were able to make unimpeded progress beside the new road towards the beach. Although access to the beach at Meia Praia has become increasingly difficult for dog owners, the more so since golf course construction work has closed off the only road leading to the lagoon area, we were still able to enjoy a pleasant stroll along a deserted beach.

 

Looking back towards Lagos……

 

….and forward towards Alvor

A cool breeze helped us along, in fact the slight overcast sky was a blessing despite the early start. Skirting the lagoon and then crossing the causeway towards the Oyster Farms brought us to the half way point, where everyone opted to continue despite the availability of transport back to base, provided by Phil.

Across the causeway

 

Steady progress was made towards the Alvor Estuary, where the first hazards of overgrown paths on the dykes were encountered, although few complaints were heard.

Not much shade …!

Avoiding the dreaded Muddy Bottom with it's close views of the Val de Lama salt pans, a direct line was made towards the Trig Point, which was not much in evidence until suddenly appearing behind a large bush exactly in the anticipated place.

T.O.T.P.P.

By now time was of the essence, but after a short stretch of bush whacking we encountered the levada path and soon we were on the homeward stretch, arriving almost exactly at 10am at Quinta das Espargosas where the usual substantial breakfast was eagerly anticipated. Alerted by the teeming hordes a swarm of angry hornets awaited us as we entered the Quinta, fortunately only Rory, a medical doctor, suffered a sting, possibly in the interests of medical research.

Getting in ‘under the wire’!

 

An enjoyable early morning walk which seemed to please everyone, including Mike who was anxiously awaiting the groups timely return. He then famously admitted that he did in fact have a significant birthday shortly, which might involve a small celebration later in the week. We hope that the AWW's annual Sparrowfart walk has set the tone for this, not least by the presentation of a bound volume of the blogs covering walks undertaken during the 2006/7 season, some of which were led by Mike himself. We look forward to his being able to do this again sometime in the future.

A Birthday Present…..

 

The front page and inscription

No. 80 on your hymn sheets please….

Scrambling in the kitchen

 

Tucking in…

Mike demonstrates the ‘Drunken Master Death Claw’  move

The Happy Couple…

CB’s Sign-off

Well it was a great occasion to end the season and this Blog Series anyway.  Mike eventually managed to find his cache, entitled ‘Mike’s Cache: ‘Twas a very Good Year’ before any of the local geocachers got there, and there have been several very nice comments and wishes from the local geocachers on the cache page. Everything went flawlessly - I think, and at this time of year an early walk followed by breakfast rather than the usual libations would seem to be a preferable option.

Late Edit: Lack of a suitably processed picture regrettably caused omission of the huge thanks to Jyll and Marg for preparing the ‘Full English’, and what a great job they did considering the ravening hordes they had to feed. Now Phil has sent this picture in.

Jyll and Marg – Big Breakfast Chefs!

A great pity some of the Class of 2010 couldn’t be there for one reason or another, but you can rest assured we talked about you.

"Keep not standing fixed and rooted, briskly venture, briskly roam" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

“When time who steals our years away,
Shall steal our pleasures too,
The memory of the past will stay
And half our joys renew.”

                                                                Thomas Moore

On a final note, I think (and some of you will be relieved to hear it) that I have gone about as far as I can go with the AWW Blogs, this being the 5th in the series, so this will be the last, unless someone else has the motivation to continue, when I will be pleased to pass on the technical details for setup. Thanks to John H. and David for acting unpaid assistance and of course to all the leader’s who wrote their accounts without having to be bullied too much!

Let’s Play it!..

AWW 07.07.2010: BSJ Abbreviated

A little music to commemorate the day!
Click the play button and wait to load with your speakers on.

Isn’t that lovely and almost topical – you can continue reading while listening!
Yes, less than a week after generously volunteering to lead the notorious walk in the Mata Nacional of Barão São João, and in the middle of a searing cloudless heat wave, we were awoken in the small hours by howling wind and a thunderstorm, including a short but heavy downpour – in Lagos anyway! The ‘Rainmaker’ was back on form!
The dust had cleared and the morning air was detectably cooler as a hardy group of nine gathered in the car park outside the BSJ Cultural Centre at the entrance to the Forest at 0830 hrs.

A welcome gloomy start.

No significant navigational errors had been reported – until later on our return, when Chris found a receipt from Raminhos in the name of Peter Schroeder tucked under the windscreen wiper of his Peugeot Partner. The mystery was cleared up when Peter rang Myriam to tell her he had left a note on her Citroen Berlingo, as he had missed his way and gone to Pedralves, not arriving at the start until 0845 am, by which time we were well past Sculpture Hill.
The moral of the story is – Always tell the Leader if you intend to walk or at least carry a mobile phone. The Leader may still not wait for you, but at least your ears will burn for a few minutes!  Now who moved the receipt from the Berlingo to the Peugeot?
The walk had been advertised as ‘A Walk on the Dark Side’ as it had been my intention to try and slink through the shady bits of the Forest to avoid the direct rays of what had been a very hot sun for the past week or so. In the event, it was a pleasant cool start and we didn’t need the shade much until the latter half of the walk when we were back in the Forest, and by which time a cooling breeze had arisen from the sea to the South.
Leader : Paul
Shady Walkers: Phil, John O’, Hilke, Antje, Chris, Tina, Frank & Myriam
Dogs: Tiggy, Bella, Shelly, Maddy

The route

Stats:
Total Distance: 14.6 km
Moving Time: 3 hrs 9 minutes
Total Time: 3 hrs 28 min.
Moving Average: 4.6 km/hr
Overall Average: 4.2 km/hr
Total Ascent: 184 m.
Max Elevation: 179 m.
Tilley Hats: 5/9
Avg. Age: 64 yrs 11 mths. 23 days
A fine set of stats for a July walk I think you will agree!
Very little to report about the walk itself – the usual political, sport and human interest matters were discussed in depth, and of course we dissected minutely the activities of those who were not there.

Still no shadows!

The wind turbines seemed to have reproduced since our last visit and the side-effect was the tracks had been flattened and widened to allow construction traffic access.

At last some sun

I nearly walked past the only trig point on the route, until Tina and some others rudely reminded me and insisted on T.O.T.P.P.


10 seconds was only just enough for me to take my place on the other side of the sand pile!

Maddy supervising the swimmers

There were several ponds on the way round where the dogs cooled off, watched enviously by some of the walkers.
The leisure area and fitness circuit near the Casa de Guarda have been expanded, and I do hope that it is maintained and kept clean. There are barbecue pits despite the dire warning of the elevated risk of fire throughout the summer at the entrance. The warning boards are falling into a bad state of disrepair, which probably means they don’t apply any more!

John O’ taking a rest after a few ‘chin-ups’
All the way round, Hilke had been making mysterious inscriptions in a notebook she was carrying. I detailed the papparazza to record this in case of future legal action had she managed to record the chance non-PC, racist or sexist remark that any one of the assembled company had inadvertently and completely unintentionally made.

When she realised the game was up, she pretended that she was just noting the walk route in case some of her friends wanted to repeat it. As if !!!
  For once there were no pictures of the Aprés Walk gathering, mainly because our final selection of the  Bar Central was a dog-free (and cigarette-free) zone and many participants were outside on the 50 cm wide pavement. The Palm Tree Bar, which is our more usual stopping place was overcrowded with draft dodgers, unemployed builders, artists and general unwashed expatriates with which BSJ seems to be populated, and there was even less parking space than normal.
We certainly enjoyed the outing, and it reinforces the point that walking can be a year round pursuit over here, as long as the selection of walk, start time and duration are sensibly chosen, and also that occasionally someone who has a proven record of producing rainy walks can be persuaded to lead.
Next week – SparrowFart – and if you haven’t done so already, contact Chris about the walk, and Mike about the catering for the Season Finale – or is it the start of the New Season?

“They are not only idle who do nothing, but they are idle also who might be better employed.”    Socrates

Drinking, when we are not thirsty and walking  all year round, madam; that is all there is to distinguish us from other animals.   
(adapted from) Beaumarchais, Pierre De

AWW 30.06.2010: In the heat of the summer

I hadn’t even found out about this walk until shortly after we came back on Monday morning, but John H. the Acting CB must have an informer at the Airport because within minutes there was an abdication email saying “You can do the Blog this Wednesday, because Hazel has set me the task of cleaning the Augean Stables, and I won’t be able to join the walk!”

  If only he had researched the legend, he would have swiftly diverted a river or two (I know – hard to come by in the Algarve in summer) and reported for the walk and given me time to allow my jet lag to settle enough to enable me to remember how to Blog.  Anyway, heartfelt thanks to him for keeping it all going in such style while we were away.

     As if that wasn’t enough, when we reported for the walk, having augmented the numbers, not only by our own presence, but by encouraging Ian S. and Maddie out of retirement, and recruiting Phil and Susan at dinner to join in, Hilke welcomed me back by stating flatly that this wasn’t an official AWW walk, and that she was just going for a walk on her own, but we were welcome to walk close by if we wished, and ergo, she would not be writing any Leader’s report!

     This was tantamount to the indiscipline shown by the England dressing room prior to the World Cup game against Algeria, so I patiently pointed out the criteria for an ‘Official’ Wednesday Walk ie it had to be Wednesday, and have more than one Wednesday Walker of each sex and a dog present, and she relented and produced the superb text below, almost before we had reached home afterwards.

Starters in the early sun.

Leader: Hilke

Participants: Myriam, Paul, Dina, Tina, Frank, Antje, Chris, Ian S., Susan, Philip

Dogs: Bella, Shelley, Tiggy and Maddy

 

Track (click to enlarge)

Stats:
Total Distance: 9.75 Km (for some)
Moving Time: 2 hrs 37 min (the hardy ones)
Total Time: 3 hrs 6 min. (Pro Team AWW)Moving Avg.: 3.7 km/hr (it was warmish)
Overall Avg.: 3.1 km/hr Faster in the 2nd half)
Total Ascent: 200 m.(I don’t know how)
Max Elevation: 49 m. (Must recalibrate)

Average Age: 64 yrs 9 mths 13 days (known data only)

 Hilke’s Report:

Little did I think of writing a blog when I offered our walking group they could join me on my walk on the cliffs from Benagil towards Nossa Senhora da Rocha and back. I did not expect many to come because of the heat. But as it turned out, Paul and Myriam had just got back this week, so we had an official starting photo and the chief blogger kindly allowed me to write a bit less than usual, he thought about 400 words would be quite enough. So here it goes:

Some growth of bushes 

With quite a good turnout of 11 people and 4 dogs we started on time from Benagil. The Câmara of Lagoa has signposted the path until Praia da Marinha and called it the “the Seven Hanging Valleys”. They have also put up quite a few information posters about the Algares and about nature in general.

The Leader is easily amused….

This part of the walk is one of the most beautiful sections of the Barlavento, to my mind at least, but maybe I am a bit patriotic as it is close to where I live. We had lovely views of lonely rocks in the sea, (but here I must admit that I was not well prepared in my job as leader, as I could not give Ian an appropriate answer concerning their names), of arches and of canyons, which could well have been used as scenery in a western film. (he was just being provocative!)

Blue as far as the eye can see…

Between Praia da Marinha and Albandeira there was a good opportunity for the dogs to get into the water and cool down a bit, but otherwise they had to rely on their owners feeding them water, as dogs are not allowed on the beaches in summer.

Ian pretends to have a stone in his stout walking boot!

In Albandeira Antje, Chris, Ian, Susan and Philip stopped, had a rest and then ambled back towards Benagil whereas the hardier ones went on for another half hour.

Bella’s ear gets a tug..

On our way we met a young family with a toddler on their way to the beach, but the little one was fascinated by Frank’s dogs and would rather play with them than go the beach. They were really patient with her and we were advised by the mother not to forget the north of Portugal in our walks, the Serra do Gerês was strongly recommended by her (Here’s one idea for you, Rod!).

Sea Stack and Cairn

We also saw a Spanish Galleon

In Benagil we joined the others, who had arrived a quarter of an hour earlier, in a café right on the beach.

It was nice and relaxing to sit there, but as it was rather expensive, we did not make use of the kitty.

We had some good exercise and some lovely views which really made up for the heat.

CB’s comment: Not much to add – it was a source of ongoing horror to Ian that the price of a shandy in this beachside establishment was €3.00. He wasn’t mollified by the fact that I had two beers for the same price!  It is really nice that we have gone back to the practice of trying to walk through the summer, as we did when Maurice was leading, albeit more gentle and coastal or ridge walks .

This first walk back for us was in sharp contrast to walks that Myriam and I did while recently in Austria. I will include a couple of pix to make you feel cooler

 

The entrance to the Glacier 3250 m. Hintertux

Myriam in hard hat inside the Glacier

 

The Krimml Waterfalls

 

“Too hot to go to Church? What about Hell? “   Poster In Dayton, Ohio

“Summer walking is like a hot bath. Once you get used to it, it's not so hot.”    Chief Blogger

AWW 23.06.2010: From Aguas Belas and back or ABBA

Another early morning start, and a prompt one at that with the Leader particularly delighted that everyone turned up in good time.

The Starters (click to enlarge)

Present:

Leader: Rod

Walkers: Celianne, Frank W, Hilke, Chris & Antje, Dina, Tina, John H, Yves, Terry A.

Dogs: Misty, Harry, Tiggy, Bella and Shelley.

The Statistics:

Moving time: 2hr 21m

Total time: 3hr 18m

Moving average: 5.1 kph

Overall average: 3.6 kph

The Track:

The Leader´s Report, along with a handful of illustrative pictures:

"An 8.00 am start from Silves Cemetery and a short drive up to the beginning of the Aguas Belas valley. The early start to avoid the heat worked out as most of the, albeit gentle, climbing came at the start. Up on the ridge looking east to the Arade valley we could see the enormous amount of terracing and replanting that was being done in the Serra de Silves and big bulldozers are still at work. Many of the tracks too have been graded for better fire and forestry access purposes....and, apparently, BTT and quad-bike purposes!

Pause 1: up on Eucalypt Ridge

Terracing

Pause 2: "Rod, have you ever been lost?"

"Very little to relate really; few exertions and, unusually, no trig points..... but plenty of pauses. The Aguas Belas Valley itself lived up to its name and still had plenty of water in the stream... the dogs certainly had a good time. Only two minor events disturbed the pastoral atmosphere; whilst taking our 11sies under the shade of a spreading sobreira a couple of Equine Belas passed by, but such was the air of heat induced torpor that only the dogs (and Rod) were aroused! The only other event was when our leader deep in expounding the wonders of vintage port to Chris, tripped over an offending rock and fell flat on his face ... damage: minor only - lesson: look where you are bloody well going, even when conversing about highly important issues. By then we were but a short step from the Para e Fica bar and the usual rehydrations."

Doggy delight

A happy Hilke

Spreading sobreiro

Checking out an equine bela

Nearly home
No ice-creams

Bar and quad-bikes