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