WAGS 26.09.2018 New Season: To the Beach.

Here we are again at the end of September and we have had a prolonged hot and humid spell.
As some - (most) of us had been inured to early Wednesday starts, on the seamless transition back to being WAGS again, it was decided to start early and hopefully enjoy the cool of the morning. The tide was right, and Antje was willing to propose an early coffee at Casa d'Oliveira, followed by a 'suck it and see' walk of yet-to-be-determined length along Meia Praia.

   Tony W. made yet another comeback, as Shadow and Jess bullied him into it; Yves demanded detailed directions and everyone made it in good time with the air redolent of coffee, and the wind promising a respite from the soggy heat of the previous days.

John reprised his role as doyen of Starter Photographers..........

John, Yves, Paul Tony, Rod, Antje, Chris, Hazel, Myriam, Maria with Sasha and Jess showing of the dogs.

........but alas his lens was not quite wide enough to take in the full dimensions of Tony's Land Yacht, whose prow can be seen on the left of the picture.

We departed more or less on time, with Chris driving down to Bar Quim to walk back to meet us, and the rest taking a diagonal cross country route to the beach towards the Lagos end.

The photographers were slow to warm up, so this is not a shot of the walk to the beach, but an excellent panorama by John looking across the lagoon towards the Golf Club.  Who would have known?

   Once at the beach, phone cameras were drawn and the result was a multitude of candid shots of the walkers .

A stiff breeze from the SE into our faces, but we enjoyed the cooling effect.

Antje attempted a posed portrait of John with her second hand iPhone - with great results!

Looking towards the East (and the sun). My OnePlus 5 took this at 1/8000 sec, which is why it turned out atmospherically dark..................

.....so I edited it for texture......

and again for a post-apocalyptic  (Brexit!) future!

The beach walk was fairly uneventful, the receding low tide and firm going was perfect for walking and no sand blowing towards us from the prevailing wind direction.

Not good for everyone (except Chinese Chefs) as this beached jellyfish blown ashore found out.

It was about 60 cm across, and would have made several great plates of dim sum, had we not helped it back into the sea on the 7th wave.

Route consultation: Chris had rejoined us for the sandy bit.

and we are off towards the lagoon.

A short pause to desand the sandals........

and through the vegetation back towards Bar Quim.

At Bar Quim, the stats were counted and route track saved.

Somehow we had managed to ascend 74 metres also, although I suspect falling barometric pressure.

John's recorded track.

Chris drove the drivers back to Casa d'Oliveira, while the lucky passengers had a quick coffee, and then all except Tony and Yves headed for  the shady Cafe de Bairro in town for tostas and bifanas.....

.........some of which can be seen in this photo.

Myriam had unearthed some old printed photos of the walkers in the late 1990s and  we had a game of 'I remember.....!'

A good turnout for an early start so far West. and holding promise for a good season to come.
Another omen:-  An apparition of Michel Barnier turned up shortly after Our Tess had been shamed by the evil EU negotiators for Brexit.

This is by way of retaliation for my overhearing that a certain Frenchman had referred to  this week's WAGS walk as  "Etre a l'Ouest", but I suspected he was referring to the convener!!

Right, instead of a weekly quote, I am going to have a go at a weekly Limerick, after the overwhelming success of my debut verse (revised) in the comments to Blog APAPS 18.11.5.-, Poets Corner.  
       You are invited to respond by way of comment in the same format without fear of censorship!

***Health Warning***. On some occasions it may be best to ask someone less sensitive who has already read it, to ascertain whether it is likely to traumatise and mentally scar for life through vulgarity and lack of wit, before reading further!!

A lady WAGS Leader named Whittle,
Was a Walker exceedingly fittle.
           Up in front she was fast-
           Never liked to come last -
So she said "I vill valk in der mittel."

Late after the Blog deadline, I received a plaintive missive from Yves, reporting that he had forgotten where he was, who with and the time of year and had sent his photos off to John, who had quite rightly denied all responsibility for importing anything from the Eurozone in case it had increased tariffs.
     Having paused sufficiently to realise that Brexit means Brexit, he sent them direct to me via Diplomatic Channels, and I publish them below with the photographers titling.

Gentle morning

Happy Morning

Looking manly

Myriam lived there (and so did Paul!)

One happy leader

One hell of a party!

Venus rising

Wet bunker at the 16th

Bonus limerick for the Phrench Fotographer

There was an old snapper called Yve(s)

Who quite often tried to deceive(s)

His photos were charming.

His jokes more alarming.

A right Tangled Web to weave(s)

WAGS join Almargem for 30th Anniversary: 24.06.2018

Having missed the last potential WAGS walks of the season because of travels, absences and lack of volunteers to lead, Myriam and I received a circular from Almargem advertising a walk and lunch to commemorate their 30 years of existence.  Some of the earlier AWWs and several WAGS have had a long loose association with Almargem, which came about largely during our attempts to develop and legitimise the Algarve Way or Via Algarviana back in 1996- 1999. Then the AWW was a fledgling organisation and completed the first two crossings of the Algarve by our own versions of the path in 1998 (W to E) and 1999 (E to W).

      Coincidentally we have invited Almargem representatives to attend our 20th Anniversary of the first crossing of the Algarve Way in October, so we felt it was appropriate that we should be represented at their celebration. Unfortunately Rod was out of the country and so, on 24th June 2018, Myriam and I arrived at the appointed time (10 am) in the out of the way village of Sarnardas.

Restaurante Rosmaninho. Appointed meeting place, 10 am

     As we well knew, times with Almargem are flexible, a principle we have adopted with the WAGS latterly, so we went a few meters down the road where we found an open coffee shop.

Another 15 minutes and Myriam was looking for ways to pass the time!

It was getting warm, and we clearly needed water, but the festive decorations looked in danger.

Eventually in dribs and drabs, Almargem began arriving, and Philippe, the proprietor of Restaurante Rosmaninho, who was in fact leading the walk AND providing the lunch, emerged.

We set off at about 1030 am.  There were several that we had met before, including Francisco, who used to walk regularly with us in the AWW around the turn of the century!

Myriam with new BFF Elena and Francisco.

  The walk was at a reasonably gentle WAGS like pace, but a long uphill ridge walk soon reached a welcome breeze.

On the way up - Soidos in the background.

Top of climb - a well restored windmill......

....and another in need of some improvement.

Back down to the valley.

When we returned to the road leading to Sarnardas, a referendum was held as we had only done about 5 km. so we did a loop to make it a bit more respectable, and give the cooks more time to prepare lunch.

Back in the village

As it was the walk was only just over 2 hours, but had been more of a pleasant pre-prandial stroll for chatting and getting to know Almargem.

The tale of the Garmin.

The track of the walk

Soon the serious business of the day was underway.

As is common with walking lunches, a few non-walkers came just for the food, including Anabela who does the Admin, and Joao Ministro who was the leading light behind the official creation of the VA, but who now works with a private company promoting walking tours.

    I must say that the lunch was an epic. Philippe and his staff produced one of the finest group lunches we have had in the Algarve, serving quality white Bacalhau chunks, Arroz con Pato and Ensopada de Javali, with fresh bread. olives, wine, beers etc, and a great choice of desserts. To follow was a 30th Anniversary cake.

One sad note, Joao Santos, who was one of the founders of Almargem and a leading light in the organisation since, was unable to attend owing to ill health, We wish him well in his recovery.

A short valedictory was made by Sr Raposo, who is the VP of Almargem currently.

 and we went on our way tired and sated. Walk 2 hours - lunch over 3 hours - which is as it should be for a celebration such as this.

    So now we look forward to our own 20th Anniversary of the First Algarve Way crossing in October, and along with old friends from AWW, we hope to welcome some Almargem representatives.

By way of a post script, and at this point, Portugal being still optimistic about the 2018 FIFA World Cup, on the way back we spotted this symbol of national Pride above Alte.

Forca Portugal

WAGS 23.05.2018: Lagos at Leisure

A weakness had been exposed! Both Rod and myself had simultaneously been absent for two whole weeks, no one had stepped into the breach, and the WAGs activities had lapsed for two Wednesdays in a row. Hence the dearth of riveting rhetoric in this blog for the 9th and 16th May.
    I had been in Cornwall on Architectural and Project Management duties, and Rod had trips to UK and the Aracena/Soto Grande area to enjoy. He did manage to forward a Viewranger record of his walk from Aracena to Fuente Heridos on 16th for which I am grateful if not only to pad out this otherwise meagre and hurried blog!

As you can see from the stats this was a model walk, if slightly in excess of WAGS criteria. Almost evenly divided into uphill, flat and downhill and with the correct average speeds.

I can only add a striking picture of a WAG in an NBC Hazmat Suit smearing toxic chemicals on a garage wall, which seemed to occupy rather a lot of our 'holiday'!

Outdoor Sport in Cornwall!

   Anyway to return to the present and a compelling argument for conspiracy theorists. Rod fired up his ViewRanger App to record the walk, only to find that the USB C port had not been fully engaged and his phone battery was completely flat.  Further the Russians had manged to hack both my own ViewRanger app, which turned itself off after only 789 metres had been walked, but also to kill one of the EverReadies in my reliable Garmin GPS, net result being no meaningful stats nor tracks with which to beguile you. The best we could do was present Antje's iPhone Step counter, which came up with 15000 odd steps and my Withings Fitness watch App which weighed in with a similar number of steps and converted them to about 11 km in just over 3 hours. Honour was deemed to have been satisfied.

      We started at Cafe Bairro at 0945, 6 in number, as the Trans-WAGS had deserted en bloc back to the AWW probably as a result of the inertia of the past two weeks - or more likely a secret promise from Ingrid if they attended her walk!  Chris had volunteered to annexe a table at Restaurante Atalaia before the builders got there, and did a walk of his own from Porto de Mos to the Luz Obelisk and back.

Sasha, Rod, Antje, Myriam, Paul Chris and Frank. ( + Shelley under the table)

After a short climb behind Lidl we paused to admire the latest creation by the Mosaic Maker, and carried on to the scenic view to the north of Lagos.

Our intended shortcut through the tunnel was still rather flooded, and only Sasha found that route attractive.  We carried on to the road underpass and turned in at the Portuguese Water Dog breeding centre, where we were greeted and had a short chat with Goncalo, who introduced us to some of his breeding stock and a very cute brown puppy destined for Sweden.

We carried on, past a house where the owner has a penchant for swans (get it? Pen Chant!), geese, fancy ducks and normally noisy peacocks, which were perhaps resting in the shade.

Further we crossed the N125 near BoaVista and walked up through the manicured houses and gardens, wondering aloud what one might have to pay for maintenance in such an opulent development. There is always so much staff activity in the area from gardeners , waterers and maintenance men, to the cleaners who drive round in little petrol driven Noddy cars.

       Having attained the scrubland round Porto de Mos, we took a corporate decision to neglect the Obelisk and cut through to the coast, as lunch was pending and time had passed in an idyllic and leisurely fashion.

      We met Chris, patiently waiting at Porto de Mos, and while Antje, Frank and the dogs took a lift to secure a table, Rod Myriam and myself had the satisfaction of an extra km or so to Atalaia.

      Frank took his leave and we settled down for lunch . Chris and Antje enjoyed a nice fresh Dourada and Robalo, while Myriam appropriately had stewed tongue. Rod and myself contented ourselves with a rather ruddy fish soup, which seemed to be more tomato than fish, and 3 of us hit the non-alcoholic Sagres while Myriam had tea, and Antje treated herself to a massive glass of white wine. Sadly none of us had the presence of mind to record the event.

   That may be it for the WAGS season for Myriam and myself as we are away until mid June, but Rod will 'think of something' if there is a quorum for next week.

......as long as the cafe at the end has a good signal!!

WAGS 02.05.2018: Pincho from Peter's Place

Some floral grandeur to start. Some of the beautiful roses in Sonia and Peter's garden.

Before we even reached Quinta de Refugio, the Happy Clappies had wished Hazel a Happy Birthday in the Pincho Cafe carpark, complete with original Portuguese lyrics

A rare visit to the Pincho area for the WAGS, Peter's local area, but Rod took the lead.  He even managed to come up with some additional colour commentary, composed and despatched while catching his EasyJet flight to UK on Friday.  Here is his account, colourfully embellished by some photos of the countryside and the WAGS.

John 'power-posing'* at the front with behind, from L-R Thyl, Peter, Rod, Myriam, Hazel, Paul Ingrid, Janette

* He is in good company! See HERE

            Paul & Myriam, John & Hazel, Ingrid, Janette, Peter,  Thyl, Rod were the ingredients for this week's WAGS walk. We met up at the restaurant in the mighty metropolis of Pincho where we might have had coffee had it been open.

That it wasn't  had been fortuitously observed by local native Peter who managed to persuade Sonia to most generously offer to provide what was undoubtedly much superior coffee. 

Coffee at the Quinta

This and some time spent admiring  Sonia's wonderfully colourful garden meant a slightly late start but by 10.20 we were on our way climbing up to the ridge north of the Schroeder estate.....noting the exemplary husbandry of Peter's pine trees.

A rose by any other name.......

The weather threatened rain for much of the time as we descended to the valley on the far side but it never actually did. 

Along this our trail, last used some 5 or 6 years ago, headed up what was an open track  but was now a private gated property bearing the name of Quinta Goncalves. Our local native  once again to the rescue announced he was well acquainted with the absent owner so in we went.

The rear of the property turned out to have a licensed medronho still, which made it even more lamentable that the owner was absent

Entrance to the licensed distillery

It's official!

 

. Through lack of use the track from thereon had become somewhat overgrown but still ended up where intended....which happened to be on the route of the original Algarve Way.

WAGS don't like wet feet................!

............unlike Anke

Another descent was followed by a long plod up to the ridge now decorated by a string of wind turbines.

Sky still threatening!

Worm's eye view of a wind turbine.

 After following this for a while we headed south again opting for what was a fairly steep and rough route down. This hit the road west of Pincho where we had the option of a loop further south.

Steeper than it looks

 Having achieved about 9k at this point we decided honour was done and we returned along the road  to the restaurant. At this point it may be observed from attached stats that we were almost exactly on WAGS guidelines. The restaurant turned out to still be closed so after collecting a couple of cars used to ferry us to Peter's house at the beginning we diverted to Bensafrim  to our now  customary Barbaro's with their most agreeable level of fare.

" I used to be this tall!!"

Lebensraum!!

Little to add apart from the track and stats, except that we kept out a vigilant eye for genetically modified cistus plants. They are large and bright this year, but the best we could spot was a couple of 7-spotters.

The stats from Garmin first, showed that the distance and total climb were less than last week, although to me they certainly felt further.  This was probably due to the long-researched phenomenon 'Leader's Delusion Syndrome', whereby if you are leading a walk you underestimate its length, elevation and difficulty, compared to if you are following and have no idea where you are going.

Next we have the ViewRanger track and stats supplied by Rod, while yet enjoying his TM at Barbaro.

Scroll sideways to reveal all. 

And for completeness a Google Earth Track pic.

Finally, as a treat, the whole outing summed up in a short film, set to very annoying music, but nonetheless quicker than reading the foregoing blog!

THE FILM OF THE WALK

"I like long walks - especially when they are taken by people that annoy me."

                                                                         Noel Coward