AWW Paderne Circuit October 12th 2022

 AWW Paderne Circuit October 12th 2022

On a beautiful autumnal morning we met at the main car park in Paderne and found at least two coffee shops open to encourage our start. Impressively all 9 attendees and two dogs arrived in plenty of time to allow an earlier than planned start of 9:25am!

Ready to go were (from left): Miriam, Jill, John, Martin, Jim, Ros, Susan, Ken and Alan. Showing off his bum was Rafa and hiding behind was Bica.

We set of directly up the hill beside the cemetery on a loop towards Paderne castle.

This loop continued winding its way south west until we crossed under the A22 bridge and stopped for a water break.

We then turned right along the Quarteira River riverbed and crossed the dry bed passing an old quinta which many of the hashers will remember used to be a holiday centre. 

We then started a long narrow trail down the riverbed to an old bridge and a good stop for a group photo.

Retracing our trail but now on the other side of the riverbed we slowly started the climb up to Paderne Castle.

After another deserved water break we started a slow dusty climb back towards the east side of Paderne crossing over the A22 this time.

Skirting the east side of Paderne we finally turned north off the tarmac to find some nice views over the surrounding hills and valleys.

Time now to find a shaded spot for some lunch:

Ros used the opportunity for a bit of social media catch-up:

Following lunch we climbed to the highest point of the overall walk along some dusty trails.

With a temperature of 27C our two smart dogs used all available shade opportunities:

Now turning south and downhill we walked through some lovely farmland.

Along the way we came across an interesting local known scientifically as Sphodromantis viridis or more generally as the European Mantis.

Now turning back towards Paderne we passed a Goji Berry farm well fenced and protected by cameras. For the record (courtesy of Wikipedia): 

Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry (Chinese: 枸杞; pinyin: gǒuqǐ) is the fruit of either Lycium barbarum or Lycium chinense, two closely related species of boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae.[1] L. barbarum and L. chinense fruits are similar but can be distinguished by differences in taste and sugar content.

Both of these species are native to Asia and have been long used in traditional Asian cuisine.

The fruit has also been an ingredient in traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese medicine since at least the 3rd century AD. In pharmacopeias, the fruit of the plant is called by the Latin name lycii fructus and the leaves are called herba lycii.

Since about 2000, goji berry and derived products have become common in developed countries as health foods or alternative medicine remedies, extending from exaggerated and unproven claims about their health benefits.

We finally reached Paderne and a very welcome cold beer:

Walk summary:

Total distance 15.9KM

Net ascent: 219m (Ros are you seeing this!)

Youtube link to 3D Visualisation of walk: Paderne aww 16km Oct2022 • Hiking Route » outdooractive.com

Thanks to Alan for the photos, Ros for the sweets and everyone else for the company and chat.

Martin

The Wild West 5th October 2022

It was a glorious day. The sun was shining and the leader was nearly recovered from a bout of Sciatica. So the planned walk was revised and shortened.

We met at Praia do Castelejo near Vila do Bispo. Ken was wearing his new boots. They were very "fetching"

We set off north along the sand towards Praia da Cordoama. 

The beach has changed significantly since March 2014. It demonstrates the immense power of the tides and storms. The beach is now covered by sand. Back then the sand had been washed away making the beach walk much more difficult.

A previous AWW walk along the same beach

When we reached Cordoama, we turned inland and scaled the headland to give great views along the coast.

The view was great, but everyone preferred the bananas

We went down to Praia da Barriga and made a loop over the next headland. However the photos taken by the leader were his trademark out of focus, so have been deleted.

Back at Barriga we stopped in the shade for a leisurely lunch. It was quiet on the beach despite it being a local holiday. The access to Barriga is a non metalled road. Then it was the start of our return south.

At Cordoama we left the beach aand climbed the headland to the viewpoint.

The cafe on Cordoama is closed on a Wednesday

Cafe at Castelejo was open so more people

It was now very warm and the leader was starting to struggle, so we stopped the walk at Praia do Castelejo.

The cafe was open, but they did not allow dogs, so we left and went home

Walk Details.

Distance:               13.2km

Elevation change:   354m

Time (walking):     4 hours

Speed:                    3.3km/hr

THE HILLS OF ODELOUCA – WEDNESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2022

 

THE HILLS OF ODELOUCA – WEDNESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2022

I offered to step in and lead a shorter walk as the temperatures were still quite high.  As advertised, there were lots of hills to make it feel like a much longer walk. 

7 Walkers and 2 dogs joined the expedition into the hills.

L to R : Alan, Miriam, Russ, Linda, Ken, Sue, Karen and the 2 dogs Bica and Toby.

Everyone arrived early so we started the walk 15 minutes early.  Heading up towards the hills and down into the desert.

 

We found a shady path along a flat section. 

Then as Miriam had expected, we headed back up another hill with a rarity - green grass.

We enjoyed some nice views from the top.

We managed to fit in the occasional downhill section

A bit of a rest from looking at our feet all the time.

 

Everyone was looking into the Abyss to see where the hills had all gone.

Round the bed before another hill.

 

Bica is much too mature to lie in muddy puddles so she took a turn to guard the mud for Toby.

Eyes back down to the ground.

Follow the pack leaders.

Back up out of the desert.

 

Oh no another café closed.

 

We completed the distance of 13kms in 3 hours 40 minutes.  Having only taken short breaks for snacks along the way.  We had hoped to enjoy our sandwiches with a drink at the café but the café was closed for holidays.  The next café was so busy serving lunches they couldn’t provide us with drinks and a third café was also closed for holidays.  So, unfortunately, we had to put a euro in the Kitty say our goodbyes at the roadside and drive our separate ways home.

Thank you to Alan for taking the photos for us today and the rest of the gang for braving all the hills.

Linda.

 

Inagural Walk September 2022, mishaps and all

 Inagural Walk September 2022, mishaps and all

In days of yore, when Men were Men and Women were Women ( and not Birthing People ) the AWW used to walk in the rain (see below)  and blogs were a lot more erudite than they are today , meandering-on about such esoteric topics as Angels dancing on pinheads and the suchlike : the walk barely got a mention at all. With this week's walk leader declaring UDI on writing blogs, your co-ordinator has stepped into the breach, and this blog is thus likely to follow that pattern, as I am a thousand miles away in the UK.However   Alan  kindly sent photos and some  walk details.  And so to begin.....

There was a great reluctance to lead on the inaugural walk of 14 September, so Ros kindly volunteered at the last moment, albeit with a caveat on the weather. The day before the walk, most forecasts  foretold rain : as there were only 2 others coming , the walk was cancelled.  This prompted young John H, now a WAGS, to comment that rain never caused AWW walk cancellations back in his days of yore, supplying photographic evidence ( from  2010 ):

When the AWW walked in the rain....

Mark you, ***'s law decreed that the weather turned out to be better than expected , though a couple of heavy showers would have made the trio wet.

Sue M  was  thus the leader  for the revised Inaugural Walk on 21 September, though the gremlins  had got to work and changed that to 21 October, Trafalgar Day in the email that went out. Upon realising this error, a correction was issued, but John H must have a lot of time on his hands as he kindly pointed out that 21 September was the anniversary of the Battle of Preston Pans, the highpoint of the 1745 Jacobite  Rebellion, saying : "  In it the Jacobites beat a Hanoverian Army whose commander was General Sir John Cope. The battle lasted less than half an hour and is still remembered in Scotland via the song “Hey, Johnnie Cope, are ye wauking (waking) yet” because the story is that Cope was still in bed when the battle began. "

Perhaps best not to mention Culloden....but wasn't it an English army, albeit with  an Hanovarian contingent?

Anyway, mishap 3 was the return by the " Email Administrator "  of many of the correction emails I had sent out : problem  was, they were only returned on Wednesday afternoon, too late to tell anybody. I just had to hope that enough of the correcting emails got through, or that walkers were savvy enough to realise that 21 Septembe was meant, not 21 October.

It was with some relief then to see the starter photo, showing 10 walkers and 2 dogs:

L to R : Alan, Ros, Miriam, Lee, Ken, SueM, Karen, Roger, Jan, Martin....and Bica and Rafa

It was good to see Roger back walking ( memo : must  now ask him to lead sometime!).

Having met at Fonte Filipe they walked up to Quarenca , about 6kms, which looked mainly uphill:

Quarenca church

A well desreved coffee break

 Unfortunately, there were a number of quad bikes parked and consequently there was a queue for drinks:

Before off again:

On the walk back to the Fonte, they  had to wait by the roadside as a large group of bikers (30+) drove by with a few trikes amongst them.

 As  they  headed back, Bica found a large bone by the path and guarded it carefully : they  rather hoped it wasn't a human femur but, in any case, she devoured it in short order:

Lunch

When they  got back to Fonte Filipe the humidity was intense after a night of heavy rainfall and storms so the Wimps of Ken, Miriam, Alan, Roger and Lee decided to end there . The Rambos of  Sue , Karen, Jan, Ros and Martin ( note, no Oxford comma, for grammar pedantics!) continued for another 8km loop.

Geoff