AWW : 2 November 2022....Moinha de Rocha

 Moinha de Rocha

Firstly, thanks to all those who refrained from pointing out that a senior moment had caused me to state that the walk was on 2 October, not 2 November....or perhaps everyone had senior moments and never noticed? Anyway,14 turned up....Peter would have been the 15th had he not been struck down with covid : we wish him a speedy recovery and a return to the AWW fold.

Most met promptly at the Honey Cafe for a 10.00 start.....other than Martin and Sue M who eventually made it  for a belated starter photo:

L to R :  Sue M, Jan, Julie, Martin, Geoff, Sue H, Gill, Jim, Linda, John, Terry M, Ros, Frank, Tony...with Rafa & Toby

Unfortunately, we didn't have machetes to cut though our usual route, so we endured a  bit more tarmac:

Before getting up in the hills and admiring (?) the rather deserted-looking hippy commune...

For a moment or two we thought we had run into a hive of angry hornets, before realising  the noise was from the distant race track...

A familiar site...a dried up pond..

....and an unfamiar one : a mound of earth on a hill...ideas?

Down in the valley, 2 little puppies climbed through the fence to join us, but  and Jan struggled to put one  back...

And John wondered what Susan would think of a new family addition....

There were a series of cairns acting as road borders....

It was beginning to get hot, so Toby went to find some water...

And then the long hill.....

.......rewarded with lunch and great views from the top....

Though Linda tried to grab a few winks...

Back down through the valley and across the small stream....though Ros went through it ..

And then back to the Honey Cafe for a well earned drink.....for which Jim changed...

Stats:

Elapsed time was about 5 hours....lunch wasn't that long, must have spent time admiring views/getting breath back.

Thanks to all who came...and for Gill for some of photos.

Geoff