WAGS 19.04.2017: Luz-Burgau e volta!

       Who would have thought, back in the heady days when the AWW was in its infancy, and we were walking 20+ km, unconcerned about hills and terrain, nor even trails, that a Higher Power would have ordained it that the distance along the coastal path from Luz to Burgau and back would be almost exactly 10km/3 hours, the perfect criteria for an unforeseen conglomerate of maturing walkers to undertake as Wednesday recreation in 2017!. Yet here we were, an elite group known as the WAGS, enjoying this Golden Ratio of Senior Walking. Unusually, this time we had a guest walker, Verena,  who is a Canadian of Swiss origin visiting by way of the Gulf, and who was invited by Frank.
     Chris had cleverly assessed the degree of difficulty and at last felt ready to lead the group on this expedition.

 The starter photo took a little longer than usual as I had to paint it!

Chris, Hilke, Antje, Sascha, Verena, Shelley, Frank and Rod.

 Rod painted the alternate starter pic, in his favourite hue, just for completeness!

Chris provided me with a succinct summary:=

For what was anticipated to be a nostalgic walk seven of us duly assembled at the appointed time at the appropriately designated RTC car park in Praia de Luz. In fact, the majority of the RTC walks ended at Luz where some cars had been left overnight. Heading out from Luz in the grey dawn of an early start was but a distant memory, although the usual cliff walk to Burgau soon brought back a few comparisons with our earlier achievements. 

Now a popular tourist trail the walk lived up to expectations by fitting into the usual WAGS criteria in both time and distance. 

Turning point above Burgau

Taking a short loop above Burgau took us up to the old windmill but new houses and roads soon caused us to return to the cliff path.

The Old Windmill (where's the Leader?)

 Approaching the last stiff up and down the majority vote was to take the high road over the top, something that some of us had done as a final ascent on the RTC after two days hard slog. At least we could still do it, albeit at a slower pace.

The descent from the final hill.

Arriving back at Luz we discovered that the usual cafe was now a night only bar and the Irish Pub next door didn't serve the type of snacks that WAGS now deem essential, but we found a good location at the Bull Pub, where the waiter actually understood Portuguese and was able to satisfy our requirements although Pao Caseiro was a step too far. Bacon and egg were the flavour of the day, and the chips weren't bad either. So, a pleasant walk in perfect conditions, not too hot and with a gentle sea breeze that reminded us of past occasions when we could maintain the pace and complete the distance, but at least we are still able to enjoy a sociable occasion despite our limitations. 

Participants : Chris, Antje, Rod, Paul, Hilke, Frank and guest Verena together with Sascha and Shelley

 Yes it was real! Found on the way back in to Luz

 Yes, a pleasant walk, without the searing sun, nor the high winds which were to start the following day.  The GPS reports the stats, although Alpine Quest and Komoot had minor disagreements with Garmin. Honour was satisfied, and as noted, Luz being a British Colony, we were able to enjoy a passable bacon and egg sarnie made with proper bacon. Antje, not being a true gourmet tested the tosta mista and pronounced that as good too. Verena sampled the fish and chips, which looked like the real thing, and despite not being able to do full justice to the chips herself, found ready volunteers to assist.

 As I am often the sole photographer, it was nice that Antje included me in a photo she later forwarded.  Edited slightly, it completes the record for when we look back at these walks from our offroad mobility chairs.

 The Compleat Walker

"Time moves in one direction. Memories in another."

                                                                  william gibson,

POST SCRIPT

RIP Nandi

Nandi 2004-2017

The day after our walk from Luz, we had the sad news from Mike and Jyll that Nandi had to be put down.   She had been ailing for some time and had not walked with us since before Mike's withdrawal from the field.  
      She had been adopted by them in around 2007 when when was already 3-4 years old.  Her main distinction was that she was very well behaved, never barked, fought or ran away, and always stayed very close behind Mike. A model dog whose only real fault was a penchant for laying traps in the middle of the path. Mike wrote:-

‘Completed many walks without creating an incident, other than frequently selecting sites for her morning visitation bang in line with the Chief Blogger’s chosen route’.

Mike

    Oddly enough, despite the poor indexing of records, I swiftly found photographic evidence of this behaviour.

Nandi in action

For the historians among us, the full account of that walk can be found HERE

It is always sad when one of our canine companions passes on, as we have all enjoyed their company on occasions.