WAGS 27.03.2019: Hazel Calls The Shots At Casinhas

I am not party to the WAGS exclusive WhatsApp correspondence circle so I don´t know what it was that Hazel said when she announced this walk so as to generate such enthusiasm but, even before Familia Hope had girded its communal loins to load the car with walking gear,  punters were knocking on the door of Casa Esperanca asking for coffees and/or directions. And even before said Familia Hope had driven into Casinhas carpark, the phones were buzzing.
“We will be 5 minutes late. Please don´t go without us.” “I am lost and don´t know how to get to Casinhas.”
Such excitement ! “Strewth, it´s only a WAGS walk”, I thought to myself – lucky, of course, to be allowed back into the fold after the previous week´s desertion to the AWWs. I suppose Hazel put in a special plea for me; as local guide, map reader, tracker, photographer, and reluctant blogger, it´s possible she thought that I might be useful.
And then the messages from Paul and Myriam somewhere out of the country, and I quote……..

“Who would have thought that all those years ago, when you paid the 7/6p to licence your legal relationship with Hazel  that with it would come the onerous burden of having to compile a blog when she volunteered to lead a WAGS walk in Torre e Cercas?  One small episode may assist in filling some space, should you be struggling with the Muse. (yes, I am.)
     Today we were driving through Spain, and just about to leave our Hotel in Dueñas, when my phone rang. It was Peter explaining he was lost in the countryside and couldn't find where the walk was starting. I explained my current position and that, as we hadn't been going to walk this week, I hadn't memorised the start location. He claimed it was Torre é Cercas (which I thought was a bit imprecise) , but undertook to text him Hazel's number, and Myriam did so.      I then checked the mail and realised that even though it would be closed, Casinhas  (or however Hazel had chosen to spell it) was the venue. A few minutes later Peter called Myriam, and explained that he couldn't get through to Hazel. She also tried to call Hazel without success.  I then called Peter and explained that it was in fact Casinhas  but he was a little late by now, so Myriam called Dina and asked her to tell Hazel to wait. I hope he got there, but aaaaah the miracles of modern International communications! What would we have done in days of yore?        Paul.”

It seems that Hazel, in a moment of inspiration, had put her phone on mute but eventually Peter did manage to get through, via WhatsApp. How WhatsApp works when the phone is muted is beyond me. Anyway, in the event, nobody was late and nobody got lost, and the Starter photo as prescribed by tradition was taken in appropriate tranquility. 

   Starters: Chris, JohnH, Antje with Sascha, Dina, Yves, Leader Hazel, Peter probably with Inky, Geraldine, and Ingrid.

  The Track

    The Statistics

Total distance: 9.01 km.   Total Time: 3 hours 28 minutes. Moving Time: 2 hours 15 minutes.
Av. Moving Speed: 4.0 kph.  Ascent:236 metres.

After the walk was over, your blogger was looking forward to an evening of similar tranquility when, WHAM BANG, at 1724 hours the Leader´s report lands on his desk marked URGENT. Again - such enthusiasm !
So here it is, unexpurgated, apart from a few editorial asides, hot of the press !

The Leader´s Report

 " Nine WAGS met outside Cashinas at 9.35 am.  After a little waiting around for WAGS to put their walking shoes on and to gather their bags and sticks, we sat down for the starter photo.  Then at 9.45 we were off.  With too much chatting with friends, your Leader missed the turning to her first hill until JohnH drew her attention to it.  " (That´s the advantage of hiring a local guide.)  Slowly and steadily we tackled the hill, which was quite a steep one.  Well done, Chris, for succeeding.

                                                                       The First Hill

We then walked through the old abandoned Torre e Cercas village.  There were signs of new life, a few of the old houses were being renovated and hopefully it will become a live-in village again.From there we made our way onto Mr. Frew's property.

                                                     Breaking and Entering

and rested for a few minutes at the chairs provided, a pity there was no cafė service!

                                                  Where´s the Wine Waiter?

After that we slowly made our way to the trig point where, in Maria's absence, Hazel climbed the trig and found it extremely windy up there. Somebody had painted the trig a tasteful tartan. (MacFrew, possibly?)

                                                                             MacTriG ?                                     
Some blue dots were observed.

When we paused at the crossroads by Mr. Frew's local bar, Ember came down to the fence to greet us, (looked very much as if she wanted to join us). Here  Chris decided he had done enough and parted from us, making his way downhill on the road to Cashinas.  The eight of us then continued on the next leg.  It was a long, uninteresting part of the walk until we passed the alternative Casa Esperança and saw the owners for the first time, for some of us, and we stopped to admire his tower and chat, and found out they are from Holland and we introduced the Scottish Esperança to them.

                                                       The Alternative Casa Esperança

Next section of the walk was into uncharted territory; the Leader having only done the recce on Google Earth. Then she lost her map; the local guide provided her with a spare, but it really didn´t make any difference. It was just a matter of scrambling and hoping for the best. However, going up the orange groves was exciting, some of us found some enormous oranges on the ground.  Such a shame to see all those beautiful fruit fallen on the ground.

So up the hill we plodded on, along hunters' and wild boar tracks, through prickly shrubs, gorse bushes, pink lavenders, over stone walls and rocks, all the while struggling going down hill and westwards. (The soi-disant local guide wasn´t much help on this stretch.)

Eventually we landed by the front door of the “private property” of a somewhat disgruntled Frenchman. He said we were trespassing and emphasised that we were being filmed on CCTV.

(Luckily our sizeable Francophone contingent were at hand and were able to pacify him. He explained that he had been having a lot of trouble “avec les gitans” stealing his alfarrobas and dumping refuse.)

 and he then graciously allowed us to pass on his ground through to the road.  At this point, Antje, Geraldine and Peter had had enough; besides, Chris had been waiting for at least 2 hours at Casinhas! So of they went along the tarmac to Casinhas while the remaining five of us plus Sascha headed for the water crossing with Yves taking care of Sascha.  At the water crossing, Sascha paused and lapped up lots of cold, clear water.  She was thirsty and so well behaved.  All 5 of us crossed the water without mishap and our feet stayed dry!

                                                             The Local Guide risks the Water Crossing

 After that, it was a brisk walk to Casinhas for drinks, bifanas and sandwiches.

? Did everyone pay for their bifanas and drinks!  John had to pay up for someone's!  Please make sure you pay before leaving.  Thank you everyone for taking part."







For once, no photos of the food which was fairly typical fare in appearance , but it is worth recording that the bifanas in pão caseiro were double layers of delicately sliced and marinated pork - excellent.

                                                                

                


In retrospect, when the going was getting a bit tough, I had wondered a bit at the sang-froid of Yves, Peter, Dina and Ingrid and why there were few complaints. And then I read the blog of the previous week´s Bensafrim outing and saw what they had been through then, and I realised that Hazel´s walk had been a stroll in the park in comparison.