WAGWAGS 11.03 2020: Whingeing And Gurning Wednesday Algarve Geriatrics Tour Torre E Cercas

Preamble

Your Blogger´s day had started with the receipt of an email invitation from our local  ambassador for Tilley Hats to "Add pzazz to our walks......!"   by wearing this garish piece of dual-coloured millinery. Heaven forfend ! What´s wrong with the traditional monochrome khaki stuff?

Mercifully, things calmed down a bit after the shock caused by that unwanted early morning alarm and soon JohnH was able to self-isolate in the comparatively peaceful environs of Casinhas Café. As he waited for the walking crew to gather, he was gloomily contemplating that the beauty of his forthcoming Starters photo would be spoilt by the inclusion of the rubbish strewn in the gutters in front of him.

Then, as if by magic,  a vision appeared and began to pick up offending bits of garbage and weeds. She (for it was a female vision) had bright red hair and a sanitary mask over her dimples. Not much of the hair nor the mask can be seen in this photo because, no doubt out of  modesty, she had turned her .. er...back ... to the camera.

 Not sure who she was, whether a public-spirited resident of the Casinhas hamlet or a public employee. Anyway, the effectiveness of her efforts can be seen in  the Starter Photo once we get to it.

And now here is Hazel the Leader´s very comprehensive report in full, indeed so comprehensive that your Blogger has scarcely needed to add anything.

Leader´s Report

"A scented meander through the orange groves".

Well done, Hilke, Maria, Terry, Jill, Rod, Paul, Myriam and John for showing up on time.

Absent were Ingrid, Dina, Janet, Lindsey, Peter, Chris and Antje. Yves wasn´t there either, (Any suggestion that he might have been sulking because England won and France lost would be entirely unjustified; he had in fact excused himself from the walk before the games in question.).

John´s first attempt at the Starter Photo was blocked by the untimely passing of a black limousine, closely followed by a tractor. 

The second attempt was a success.

After we all performed the new WAGS corona virus avoidance greetings ritual of elbow touching elbow, foot touching foot and Paul´s three finger W sign (not the rude version), 

we left Casinhas Café at 10.10 am towards the Nora, only to be halted almost immediatley because of Paul was struggling to get his Garmin GPS device up and running.. Some waited, others carried on. (maybe he should invest in a modern GPS.)

We proceeded along the path leading gently upwards towards Quinta da Figuerinha.

Scarcely half way up the hill, the complaints about the amount of climbing were already coming loud and clear. 

                                                      Steeper than it looks

Then we cut across the cactus terraces at the end of which we were greeted by three dogs, barking non-stop at our intrusion on their territory.

(Here there was yet another lengthy delay while Paul had to make some important phone calls (to his stockbroker perhaps?)

A not-too impressed owner led her dogs away from us as we continued our way down hill to a field piled with rocks and huge bouldders, and then uphill again towards the outskirts of Tufos village where we caught our breaths resting on seats beside a whitewashed cisterna for a short spell. 

The morning was getting hotter, unusual for March. At this point Paul came up with a new name for the WAGS “Whinging, Wounded Wednesday Geriatric Strollers,.as he was the principal whinger. Myriam suggested WWWAGS.com.

Most walkers just put up with the heat, thorny bushes, scrambles, loss of direction,going up or down rocky paths, etc. We are walkers and we are tough and able and, at our age, that´s to our credit.

On the tarmac now we continued through Tufos, past Casa de Sonhos, and down, and up, and on and up.

                                      The Leader kept racing away ahead

We had another short breather while the Leader shared her dark hazelnut chocolate. At this stage it was still intact but at the end of the walk the rest of the bar had melted inside the tupperware.

After that chocolate stop we carried on to the avocado plantation and along a dirt track where the Leader , talking to Maria, lost her concentration and sense of direction, but realised quickly she had missed the vital left turn, where John was waiting patiently for her to react.

Now down hill towards the big stone-walled orange grove that is now fenced up.

                           Thank goodness that´s fenced off !

Before

and After

Luckily so for Paul, as the Leader had intended to climb straight up that hill. 
However, now she had to take an alternative and gentler climb instead - first through an ornamental gateway, under which all the ladies including a very with-it Becky gathered  for a photoshoot.........

 .......and then just a little bit of a scramble. Passing Casa da Tranquilidade we went down hill towards the main road. Here Paul and Hilke decided that they had done enough for the day opted out and went down the road to Casinhas, while the remaining brave 7 carried on, with more uphills and a bit more scrambling and fighting our way through prickly gorse bushes and wild asparagus. Not nice! 

                                  (Not all those who wander are lost." J R R Tolkein)

But the Leader´s Local Guide got his dead reckoning spot on and he even managed to steer us round a barrier of beehives blocking our progress.Our reward for all that effort was to find ourselves on a gentle pathway leading through another orange grove with lots of big oranges fallen onto the tracks. Such a shame to see these big beautiful fruit just lying there. So we all helped ourselves - some to 1, some to 4, or 6, or even 10. No, not scrumping - just rescue fruit!

                                                     Positively bulging

Our exit from the plantation was hindered by a large steel gate

but, once past that obstacle on we walked, up hill of course, and then down hill and then up hill again. These hills cannot be avoided. The best thing about my walk was the delicious smell of the orange blossoms. Each section has its own particular scent. Different orange, different distinct scent. We are very blessed to be able to walk through orange groves and long may that be. Eventually, Casinhas was in sight, and what a relief to see that it was open for business. Paul was outside waiting for us having already had his lunch of chicken stew.

Paul was outside waiting for us having already had his lunch of chicken stew.

Orders for food were submitted through Katya for 3 chicken stews, I bacalhau com grão, plus various bifanas and coffees, shandies, teas.; even some medronhos. Lunch was good and much appreciated after that walk!

The walk was 9.63kms; and total time was 3 hrs 28 minutes. Walking time was 2 hrs 25 minutes. Which means that stopping time was 1 hr 03 minutes, which is an awful lot of stopping, the result of mobile calls en route, grumbling and whinging because of hills, and the heat. Winter is over; future walks should start earlier now, not at 10 am, but at 9.30 or even 9.00 am.

To close, a Suitable Quotation.

“Then Jesus said to them “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (John 12,v 35 – 36.)"

Hazel."

Tracks and Statistics

Paul and Hilke´s route was as follows:-

The route followed by the majority went like this:-

In addition to the stats in the Leader´s report, we can add that the total ascent was 338 metres; very difficult in this part of the country to keep within the draconian "WAGS criterion" of 200 metres maximum. Be that as it may, and even if some participants did whinge, whine and complain at times, the  walk was a good leg stretcher and enabled us to learn a bit more about varieties of oranges. As Francisco de Verulamio (a.k.a. Francis Bacon Lord St Albans) wrote in his Instauratio Magna:-

 "Multi pertransibunt et augebitur scienta:"

(Many shall go to and fro and knowledge shall increase."

Finally, two versions of the same piece of closing music "Just a Closer Walk with Thee" , one given the full Hollywood treatment by Johnny Cash and the other the more traditional New Orleans outing by George Lewis and His Band, especially notable for the wonderfully named bassist, Alcide "Slow Drag" Pavageau. 

Health Warning: "Closer" means at least 1 metre apart, i.e. not that close.