AWW 13.06.2012: Levada Ladies´ Excuse Me; or Whaur´s the Drambuie?

 

The run-up to this mini-expedition became somewhat complicated for the Leader just after it was publicised, first because the local wire thieves struck yet again removing landline and internet communication from Torre e Cercas for maybe the fifth time in the past two months; and secondly, having said that there would be water in the levada for dogs, he found when doing a mini-recce (yes, there are such possibilities)  three days before start that the levy was dry. (Cue Don Maclean and American Pie). All warnings had to be routed through the long-suffering Janet. However just in time, communications were restored and a message of encouragement was received from Tina:

Dear John,

Would you like us to bring some cable back from B&Q for you? Have a great walk everyone, just to let you know it is p……….. down here in UK, we are losing friends as it started when we got back!!!! Love to all

Tina xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank,Tina, either that, or a job lot of optic fibre, please. Weather here is fine!!!!  And someone´s phone call to Aguas Algarve clearly had had an effect because when we walked the levada was full with a brisk current. For a small walk there was a remarkable amount of enthusiasm: Lindsey came expecting a geocaching exercise with a bottle of the golden liqueur Drambuie as a prize: Maria arrived at Restaurante Mira Rio a whole hour before kick-off: and Marian Hall, after holidaying on the Canal du Midi in Bordeaux, found all trains south were on strike and flew up to Paris on Tuesday and then down to Faro just to be with us. The male: female imbalance was always going to be there, but at the last minute, Bob,Alfie and Amos all had to cry off because of mechanical problems, so the men were even more heavily out-numbered than usual, as can be seen in the pic.

The Starters

Ladies: Marion, Célianne, Maria, Lindsey, Janet, Hilke, and Ingrid.

Males:  JohnO, JohnH (Leader), and Harry the dog.

The Track (click to enlarge)

We set off promptly at 9 a.m.and were soon moving along the levada footpath.  Some snakes were spotted in the comparatively strong current - “water snakes” was one opinion. I thought however that they were not waving, but drowning. But our resident herpetologist (Janet) had forgotten to bring her Observer´s Pocket Book of Portuguese Snakes with her, so identification was not possible. The walk in the shade along the levada to Ilha do Rosario provided good views of Rio Odelouca at high tide.

The customary group photo by the Ilha at the confluence of the Rios Odelouca and Arade was taken where we were puzzled by the three-sided marker stone which indicated that Silves was 16 km away. As the crow flies, Ilha to Silves Castle is only 4.46 km, according to Google Earth.

A short stroll further along and we turned left from  the levada into Cottage Road where we examined a strangely-roofed armazém, purpose uncertain.

Then upwards towards Ben Drambuie, Lindsey getting quite excited by now. However, the Leader had a trick up his sleeve and half way up we veered left again and descended through the central valley and moved north before climbing gently up to the view back over Miro Rio, whence we had come. 

It was about this spot that Célianne was overcome with mirth at some risqué remark by Ingrid, who it seemed had just received a call on her mobile from her dress designer in Dublin (as one does), and asked me to record and blog it. Malheureusement, my scrap of paper has disappeared in the wash and my innate discretion precludes me from any attempt to reconstruct the remark. On such mischances, priceless moments in history pass forever from our ken.

Bananas consumed and Harry watered, we made a quarter circle round to the east until the Leader recognised a marker tree and pointed the way down.

Down that way

And so down the group obediently went…….

…. until the Leader called a halt at the precipice just above the Falacho Rehabilitation Centre and said he thought there should an easier way down if we went off piste and traversed to the right through some prickly scrub. This caused Hilke to put on some body armour –protective leggings, or greaves,in armourer terminology (Mike Pease would call them ocreae.)

Hilke before                                                     and after

Marian and Maria between them managed to locate the expected but unrecce-ed path and we soon got down to Clube Road without great difficulty.

Then we admired the flora as we meandered by track and levada pathway to the gates of Clube Nautico where by common consent we spurned the temptations of its bar, and instead immediately began our ascent of the east face of Ben Drambuie.

Pause before the final assault

On the summit at last, good views were obtained of Silves to the east and Portimão to the west.

There is no trig point up there, but there is a pylon with intriguing signage – RSFGC 2008. Could this be evidence of the historic 2008 expedition to these parts sponsored by the Royal Society For Geo-Caching? Who knows?

Here  Hilke stripped off the body armour  but in her haste to get into the group photo…….

…….left one half on the ground. She went back next day, succeeded in recovering it, but still even then failed to unearth the mythical bottle of golden nectar.

It was now 11.30 a.m., the hour by which the Leader had originally reckoned we should have been back at Mira Rio, but it was a fine day with a cooling breeze and we were in truth in no great hurry. We made our way back down to the cottage on the levada where one of Maurice´s signs was spotted.

Then we ambled back diverting ourselves with photography of debris floating along in the  levada current.

Back at Mira Rio just after 12 noon, the male compliment received a welcome boost from the presence of Rod Frew and Ian Scott (with Maddie) who had decided to talk the talk rather than walk.

And that was it; at time or writing, it looks as if this was the last walk of the season. Always good to finish with an easy one.

Historical Footnote

The hill is nicknamed Ben Drambuie in honour of a band of itinerant distillers called  Mackinnon “come down from the Isle of Skye” who settled in that area in the early 20th Century. The Portuguese name for it is Cerro da Rocha Branco (White Rock Hillock), not quite so evocative.

And of course we cannot – must not -  forget

The Statistics (courtesy Ingrid) 

Moving time 2 h 24 m:  Total time 3 h 01 m
Moving avg 4.2 km/h: Overall avg 3.4 km/h
Total ascent 195 m: max elev. 265 m
Distance 10.2 km.

Just as well we made it over the 10 km mark; I believe that under sub-committee rules, anything less than 10 clicks does not count as an AWW.

AWW 06.06.2012: Vale de Vila Vander, or Frew With A View

 

The Frew View

Announcing this to be his last walk this season, Rod yet again stepped into the breach to lead yet another AWW. And, to boot, he hosted it from Monte dos Alisios.

The Starters

 

The Track (courtesy Ingrid)

The Statistics (courtesy Ingrid) 

Moving time 3 h 20 m: Total time 4 h 04 m:
Moving avg 4.1 km/h: Overall avg 3.4 km/h:
Total ascent 229 m:  Max elev. 271 m:
Distance 14 km.

Participants

Leader: Rod

Present: Ingrid, Alex, Jim, Lindsey, Janet, Jan and Rayner Otter, Antje, and the irrepressible JohnO just back from his expedition to Campostela 

Dogs: Misty and Ember

The Leader´s Report

“Vale de Vila Vander

“Gathered at Chez Leader of the Day for a 9.00 departure...although coffee service was apparently available, curiously nobody seemed to want it and when somebody finally thought they would it was of course time to go.....or was that a put up job?

Away they go

“Anyway we departed on a very warm morning along the flat, agricultural, plateau area of Vale de Vila. Sadly some dogs in the region had been poisoned (protection of birds by the hunters it is said) so wisely Antje had left Sasha behind. Misty and Ember were kept on leads. No events of singular importance occurred as we wandered through citrus groves and open scrubland until Misty, maybe wanting to make a point about continuously being on a lead, developed a most disturbing asthmatic wheeze which required some remedial attention......although recently acquired CPR and mouth to mouth breathing skills were not required!!

Misty wheezes

Time for a drink

Too long gone for our resident herpetologist to identify

Horticultural corner

“Out of the breeze it became really quite hot so we had a number of drink stops.....a particularly welcome one by an orchard where the irrigation system was on its last legs (maybe some of the walkers and dogs too!!) and and copious refreshing jets of water were squirting everywhere.

M. Le Blogeur caption – Jan et Janet

Gentle going

“A flat walk being totally out of the question for any WW, a couple of gentle hills were thrown after the refreshment in to remind people they had been on a walk. And of course we couldn't miss a final photoshoot at an inevitable trig point.

At the trig

And home they come

“This was only 20 metres from Chez Leader so much needed refreshments round the pool were quickly in hand.”

Relaxing in the welcome shade.

Drinks were generously provided by the host, except for those consumed by Ian Scott who made an appearance at the end and brought his own bottle.. The bulk of this weeks´s photos kindly supplied by Ingrid – with RCB and Myriam nowhere to be seen, M.Le Blogeur still mysteriously absent and not even responding to RCB´s barbed comments (could it be that his hand-cranked radio transmitter has been confiscated by the authorities in Rangoon?), and ACB pleading a prior commitment in town as his excuse for avoiding the day´s physical exertions.

AWW 30 05 2012: A Tropical Heatwave, or Miss Piggy Explains All

 

In the absence of a walk this week, The Muppets – not for the first time – come to the rescue. Click on the following to hear their explanation:

http://youtu.be/y2he3gF5uSM

Meanwhile, our Rangoon Correspondent has bravely broken radio silence once again:

“A quick update from the Dig: there has been a small hitch in the proceedings and the Blogueur-digueur has suffered a wee upset in his efforts to shore up the defences of the Realm in time for One's Jubilee.

“A picture is worth a thousand worms, so herewith what happened.

“For info, the big wooden box contained some drying equipment removed a short while ago...”

 

Presumably “drying equipment”  is code for “Spitfire” . Ah well, nobody said that digging up crates full of old aeroplanes was going to be pain-free. We wish him well; keep digging, mon ami.

AWW 23.05.2012: Around And About Bravura

Have no fear, Gentle Reader, you haven´t inadvertently logged in to Hello! magazine. This opening photo is here solely for scientific reasons because it provides plausible evidence that, contrary to popular opinion, it is possible for Terry Mace to perambulate at less than 6.5 k.p.h  - when and if the occasion demands.

And, now that that´s safely placed on the record, we can resume normal service.

And so it was that on Wednesday 23rd May, lured by an early start, a forecast of moderate temperatures and the prospect of views of blue waters stretching serenely under blue skies, 12 of us met Rod the Leader at the Bravura dam. He quickly disillusioned us of thoughts of a gentle waterfront stroll by setting off determinedly away from the water on a 2.2 km route march along the tarmac direction Odiaxière. Chris and Tiggie very quickly sussed out how grim it was to be and retreated. But let me not anticipate Rod´s embellishing narrative.

The Starters

Leader: Rod

Suckers: Lindsey, Tina, Sue and Geoff, Peter S, Hilke, Ian W, Ingrid, Alex, John and Hazel, Antje, and Chris (fleetingly!)

Dogs: Misty, Ember, Sascha, Divana, and Tiggie (also fleetingly!)

 

The Track

The Statistics  (courtesy Ingrid)

Moving time: 3 h 32 m. Total time: 4 h 37 m.
Moving avg: 4.2 km/h. Overall avg: 3.2 km/h.
Total ascent: 254 metres. Max elev.: 251 metres.
Distance: 15.3 km.

 The Leader´s Report 

“We met in the spacious car-park of the Hansel and Gretel establishment beside the Barragem de Bravura.....although, as they don't open until 11am, coffee had to be left to the imagination! The turnout was heavily...8 - 5 indeed....biased towards the fairer sex(what is going on? !) but we set off, promptly at 9.00, on a warm morning and headed back along the road for a while before we turned off down a track towards the river and the Cotifo pumping station.

“The old path near the bottom had become overgrown to the point of being impassable so we carried on right to the bottom, which turned out to be almost equally impassable but we managed to safely cross a a rather damp sort of spillway bridge onto the main track.

A Question of Balance

“A couple of hikers with their dog who seemed to think we were encroaching on their territory was the only distraction as we wound our way eastwards up the valley. For a moment we thought of taking a turning to see if the sign pointing towards  Miseria  really led us there but thought it better of it in case it actually was. (It was bad enough as it was!)

“Oh, woe is me!”

Divana receives some TLC

“As we approached the ridge we passed through the abandoned former metropolis of Corte Velada and entered the territory of Corte Barriga , a vast agricultural ( well hopefully it isn't another golf course !) development which has entailed clearing and replanting hectares and hectares with cork and creating several irrigation dams in the valleys.....whose money went into all that ??!.....visible, however, only to the very few who ascended the final hill which overlooked it all. (By this, the Leader is referring to Ian W and yours truly who were the only suckers he persuaded to march up to the top of the hill and march down again.)

One might say that they are both admiring the view……

…and, if so, this is what they saw from the top of The Grand Old Duke´s Hill.

“We carried on across the rolling plateau, pausing briefly at a ruined farmhouse with a bit of shade for a brief snack.

Some take elevenses…..

…..and Sue makes hay

Time for this week´s floricultural study by Ingrid

“The track carried on down towards the lake before heading back up over a final ridge. On the way up a few trees gave us enough shade to encourage us to stop for lunch. Thus nourished we headed on up before descending once and for all back down to water level and the lakeside track and a group photo opportunity.

Blue skies above blue waters at last

“Following the the winding inlets of the lake this track is always longer than one thinks but at least the dogs enjoyed the proximity of the water.

Sascha, Misty and Ember race neck and neck

But Divana is more restrained

“And so back to the shady terrace of the Hansel and Gretel Restaurant where Hansel himself, indeed, was immediately on hand to take our orders for very welcome drinks, not to mention some superb Marks & Spencer biscuits generously distributed by Tina.”

 

Alex and Ingrid celebrate

(What they were celebrating was the lucky survival of Alex´s famous stetson. When Alex had been crossing the dam a few minutes earlier, the strong wind had whipped the hat off her head and spun it round in the air for a couple of seconds before letting it fall, luckily back onto the dam and not over the edge.)

The Leader ponders on just how to tell the story of the walk 

 

This week´s Gourmet Corner

Tina´s M & S biscuits – apparently surplus to her particular dietary requirements, but damned good all the same

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Geoff and Ingrid for photographic contributions

And a Reminder

That John O´s progress along the Caminho de Santiago de Compostela can be followed at

http://www.facebook.com/rioarade .

Keep it up, John.

And to conclude, back for one last time to

The Burmese Spitfire

Not quite such a mystery as The Maltese Falcon, but still intriguing enough. I had rather thought that the trail had gone cold and the story had no more legs. And some folk had been frankly sceptical about the whole thing. But then I realised that there had been neither sight nor sound of our esteemed M.Le Blogeur for some weeks. “What was happening? Where has he got to?” I wondered to myself.

And then, out of the bleu, a cryptic message filters through from our Rangoon correspondent who, of course, will only say this wance:

“Hullo Silves, hullo Silves, are you receiving me?

“Signal very weak from bottom of pit, must be relayed along bucket ropes (remember the string and tin-can ‘telephones’?): the local version of broadband…

“The team here are digging for victory with gusto in spades: we have Bobby Lapointe on pick-axe alto, Jacques le Digueur from Trou-sous-Bois, a group of charming Irish fellows, the Pick and Micks, a ‘Elf ´n’Sefty inspector from London Underground, a Polish stow-away trying to find a niche, a lawyer examining the ex-caveats, a few Greeks digging themselves in their own hole, another Archimedes screwing endlessly with the odd cry of ‘Eureka’, a Mole from MI6, but no Algarvean Walkers, yet… although there would be no language problem: ‘diga?’

“More to report over a cool beer when radio contact is re-established; please eat this e-message before it falls in enemy hands: some suspicious-looking blonde types are lurking and toking wiz Tectonic aksents; ach!

Over and almost out!”

Identities of those involved clearly heavily disguised for security reasons, but well done, M.Le Blogeur, for getting that past the Burmese censors. Keep us posted.