AWW VA Day 2 : Corte da Seda to Furnazinhas...or, The River that never was!

 

Day 2. Corte da Seda to Furnazinhas

Wednesday 10 November 2021

A foggy morning welcomed us as we got up and headed down for breakfast.

I noticed there was a bit of a crowd around the ham and cheese??  Especially as the scrambled eggs were available,  nice and hot , and no one seemed to be interested .Strange I thought .

After our tums were full we met outside for our morning car share discussion ( a few still confused about who ,what, and where ) finally we all got in our appropriate cars and sped off to our start point ( after dropping of cars at the finish🙄) , at Corte da Seda. 

This was actually the same start point as yesterday , but then we were walking east back to Alcoutim : today, we were walking west to Furnazinhas. Alan thought he would economise by not taking a starter photo, as it would be the same as the day before's, but here we are getting ready....

Which way today?

Jan joined us  and our chief rescue man Otter in the Ottermobile!

He was on call for our whole trip just in case , thanks Otter it was very reassuring 

Then we were off............... 

Though we passed this sign:

(I looked up "idiosos" and saw it meant "idiots", which was perhaps a bit unfair, then I realised it was "idosos" ie "elderly" , which is more appropriate....though on second thoughts....??Ed)


A four pointed cistus was spotted:

And another sign  as we approached a  bit of civilisation.....

                                                                   Very useful it was....

Walking trough the village we came across a bus stop with the poshest seating I had ever seen but no bus was insight so we had to carry on ....

Past the launderette...

 The olive picking harvest was in full swing...

...Miriam wondered if Bica could be trained to pick them...

There was a lot of chat on our way mostly about the river crossing ahead and lunch .What was going to be first? 10km had been done already 8 to go and no river had been seen . Some had water shoes ,some had plastic bags .Others were going to be brave and go bare footed . Talk was to be had about how deep it was going to be  ?....how fast flowing it was going to be ?....how long was the detour?.... Frank who had done this before nearly had to turn back as the river was knee high !!

There it was on the map....

We crossed the dual carriageway and walked down a dusty road under the bridge and water was spotted in the distance , but first we had to admire the sweeping grandeur of the bridge....

In the end, bit of  an anticlimax......

................. so we had lunch. "What are you having for lunch I asked ? "  A reply of ham and cheese butties was heard . "Ahhhh "I thought, that was the reason for the rush at breakfast! 

Here the leader departed from a fundamental AWW Commandment : Thou shalt not ascend a steep hill after luncheon........but somehow we made it, with cheese and ham indigestion belches to be heard!

Eventually back on the road heading for our final destination of Furnazinhas where we find no cafe no bars , disappointed we nevertheless did find our cars and headed off back to Alcoutim.

Well done to all for completing day 2
18 km
518 elevation gain

Rather slow 3 .7 kph....but it was almost all uphill....

4 hours 36 min walking time 

The green line marks the trail

Thanks to  Alan ( & Ed) for some of the photos and to Otter  as chief stand-by rescue man !

We had dinner at O Canana that evening , following the usual session at the village bar beforehand.

Gill