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!..