Friday, November 4, 2011.
The clouds looked dark and ominous, the horizon was too close for comfort, the air was heavy with the threat of rain; indeed there had been fleeting thoughts of cancellation… Yet, our ever-hardy troop mustered a healthy and cheerful 17 members at Café Lamy in Porches. We were very happy to welcome back Ian who had been laid low by various annoying ailments but is feeling much better now, and Alex, fresh from her birthday treat Stateside.
We set off almost on time under the guidance of Hilke who had reconnoitred the route with her usual thoroughness: we nearly did not get lost more than once! The paths and fields were a little muddy from the recent rain but that mattered little as conversations rolled in all directions: where else can so many non sequiturs be exchanged in so much earnestness?
Showing great consideration, Hilke had altered the route slightly to take account of the weather and of some trickier parts of the cliff walk, some walkers suffer from height perceptions and vertigo; in the end, all was well.
We nearly made it back to the Café without donning wet weather gear, very nearly but not quite: when the heavens opened, the angels wept all their pent-up frustrations at once! Boy, did it rain! Sheltering momentarily under a tree did little to alleviate the situation so we bravely decided to plough on; from the back, our group looked at times like a multi-coloured gathering of burkas, but much noisier…
When Antje spotted some mushrooms, there was a short flurry of activity with much bending down and sniffing at each other’s pickings in some arcane ritual; probably best not to delve too deeply into it.
The rain eased off after a short while and the troop repaired to Café Lamy, thoroughly wet but with undampened spirits. Myriam started the demanding process of correcting monies from participants to RTC; a small plea here: extend whatever help can be extended to a hard-working Little Person? Thanks.
Beer and hot chocolate restored energies before the group disbanded, leaving a tiny committee to conclude the proceedings for day. Kind drivers brought their cars to the front of the Café to pick up their charges: Dina was so thankful that as she rushed out she mistook the ramp for the steps, slid down very gracefully before ending in a crumpled heap on the pavement, quite conventionally…Poor Dina!
A good day, thank you Hilke.
The Leader: Hilke
Walkers: Tina, Ian, Alex, Rod, Hazel, Maria, John O’, Paul, Myriam, Lindsey, Antje, Chris, Dina, Yves, Jim, Terry A.
Dogs: Misty, Ember, Sasha, Rusty
The Track
The Stats, thank you Paul.
Total Distance: 15.1 km
Total Time: 4 hrs 30 min.
Moving Time: 3 hrs 40 min.
Moving Avg.: 4.0 km/hr
Overall Avg.: 3.3 km/hr
Total Ascent: 405 m.
Max Elevation: 98 m
The Leader’s Report
Surf and Turf: a walk in the countryside and along the coast
This seems to be an ill-fated walk, as the weather-forecast had announced the same bad weather as last year when we did it. So, wisely, I shortened the walk a bit and could thus lure sixteen hardy walkers to join me on it. And our courage was rewarded, it kept dry for most of the time (only in the last 45 minutes of the walk did we get very wet indeed).
Snackbar Lamy had opened again today after their holiday, just in time for us to have a nice cup of something before the start. Not quite on time, I am afraid, as Paul did not manage to get the gorilla pod (is that the right word?) unscrewed from his camera after the photo at the starting point. He was still working on it when my dentist phoned, so I had a good excuse to arrange a new time for my visit there.
But after that we set off at a good speed.
Soon after Terry A. complained about the first hill (had I not promised an easy walk, and this looked like a real hill). And that from our Hill-Meister!
Again - like last year - we admired two big houses with perfect lawns, the one even with a very pretty garden as well. What a shame to have theses houses stay empty for most of the year.
Next we came across some horses, one still being a baby. You can imagine that this needed some time to talk to them, caress them and finally say good-bye to them.
We passed the ruin of a big farmhouse that must have been quite an estate once, but has been reduced now to bits and pieces. That obviously inspired some people to throw their bits and pieces there as well. You cannot imagine what it is that makes people throw their waste everywhere. (It might sometimes be easier to take it to the right disposal place).
Having passed Nossa Senhora da Rocha (shown in the background....)
we eventually came down to Cova Redonda Beach where we safely navigated the sea climbing through a little arch in the rocks and left it on the other side through the Vila Lara Resort
A coastal path with beautiful views of beaches and rocks took us to Armação de Pêra, where we had our lunch break on the beach.
Vibrant, even under a dull sky; thank you Algarve.
Some sat and ate; some stood and ate; some prayed…then ate!
Ian considered finishing here as it was his first appearance after an operation. But after the break he had recovered and in view of the pending RTC decided to continue with us.
The smile said it all…
The last stretch would take us from there through a valley, where you could meet herds of sheep or goats (not today, though), lonely places just a short way from the main road up to the EN. 125. Very quiet, until suddenly the rain came pouring down, it made a noise like hailstones, so big were the drops.
The man in the Chinese shop said it was: ‘Bulbelly quarity’,
The lying Thod!
But nothing could impair our mood now, too close were we to the end of the walk and the dry clothes in the cars.
them along next time?
Mmm, mushrooms! Yummy!
Myriam ordered sun for the rest of the walk because she wanted her clothes to dry off before reaching the cars, but I did not succeed in arranging that (in contrast to the train passing us on one of our earlier walks that Paul had ordered).
But we arrived back at Snackbar Lamy without more rain. It only started again when we were safely in the dry.
A well-earned pint and crisps!
This walk will have to wait for another year to be repeated as it can only be done when the dogs are allowed on the beach. Maybe we will be luckier with the weather next time.
Dedication to the task
Video of the week:-
In conclusion: "Never in the field of Wednesday Walking have so Few been counted so Many Times by one leader!"
Thank you, one and all.
Excellent photo captions! Thank you, Blogueur.
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