AWW 28.05.2008 Vascão Variations, or The Updulator Has Left the Country.

A turn-out of double that of the previous week, for a walk equally delightful.
However, most of us, especially me, had expected that the Chief Blogger, aka Paulo a Pe, would be keen to join us after his lengthy sojourn in Blighty, anxious to introduce a breath of fresh air into the blog. But no, he wasn't there, so you're going to have to put up with my stuff one more week. Apparently, CB has found the strain of being a first-time grandfather greater than he had bargained for and he needed to rest. Well, we can sympathise with him; it is really tough choosing a suitable Tilley for a baby when the selection is limited to pink or blue offerings in BabyGro, tastefully appliquéd with little elks, maple leaves and chipmunks. However, take heart, Paul, the manufacturers' promise is that next season's Tilleys for Toddlers catalogue will bring you a much wider choice. Various other surmises as to the reasons for his absence were voiced, but tact prevails as always and they won't be published.


But back to the walk.

Late on Tuesday, David was still not sure if anyone was going to turn up but then he switched into true Recruiting Officer mode, and cajoled or otherwise persuaded 7 other people to join him. Finally, having shown quite remarkable and charitable forbearance when half of his party swanned off on their own midway through the day -a deplorable lapse of discipline some would no doubt say, but which led JohnO to entitle Part 2 of the walk as Indiana Littlewood and the Raiders of the Lost Path - he signed off his season with the following masterful Report.

Statistics:
Start: 10.am
Finish: about 2.55 pm
Distance covered: The longer bit, something like 17.5kms
Walking time: 3hrs 29 mins
Resting time: 1 hr 29 mins

The Starters

The Leader's Report:

Present:- Terry A, Jill A, Andrew, John H, John O’, Tina, Matthew (visitor), David (corporeally). Not forgetting…..RUSTY!!!!

It turned out to be a really pleasant day weather-wise, thank heavens. Had it rained, things could have taken a very ugly turn. Billed as a short walk – which it was - it could have been even shorter, but for some ended up longer than intended – am I making sense? Probably about as much as I made out on the trail Wednesday. We met more or less as arranged, the faithful few arriving complete with vertigo after the Monaco of a drive into the hills. Andrew was a little en retard, Lindsey having phoned just about everyone she knew to get the message to us. But I had cleverly left my mobile on charge at home, and no-one else seemed to have theirs turned on, so it was fortunate that we were still imbibing coffee at the bar when he arrived. John O’ had interpreted my reference to ‘a longer than usual lunch at the Vascão’ as an intention to lunch at a restaurant, and had therefore neglected to bring sandwiches. This was neatly rectified as the combined forced of the Ladies of Ameixial set to work to produce the necessary in a little under ten minutes – not bad going for (almost) the Alentejo. All present and prepared, we drove the short distance towards Revezes to the start-point. I will not describe the first half of the walk in detail, save to say that I missed the way once near the start, necessitating a climb up a steep slope that had been prepared for re-planting.

(Not all reactions to this climb were as polite as Tina's.)

(Shortly after this, we were diverted by a botanical lesson on the subject of lichens conducted by Andrew and Terry, plus a wee bit of worldly wisdom from John O')

The Nature Lesson

(Copyright: John O')

And then I managed to descend to the river too soon, so we arrived at a crossing point, rather than the one I was intending to reach. Lunch was nevertheless taken here, still in rather cloudy conditions, but not cold.

Idyllic lunch spot

We then proceeded to walk eastwards to the water-mill crossing-point, but I’m afraid my memory and sense of direction had entirely forsaken me, and had it not been for Terry’s better recall, I’m not sure we would ever have found it. And then the fun really began. Someone who shall remain nameless – but we know where you live – suggested that we cross the river into the Alentejo and find a way back to the lunchtime crossing point, rather than retrace our steps (not one of my better suggestions, I have to admit. ACB). OK, I should have said no, but you don’t like to discourage enterprise, now do you?

So off we went up a good track that clearly went in the wrong direction after about 200 metres. Andrew and I cut across a meadow to get a better look at a possible route, and Andrew’s wanderlust quickly got the better of him. Finding a track, he went up and over the hill like a hound on the scent, the rest trailing in his wake. Terry decided that he needed support, so set off in pursuit with John H and Matthew for company, whilst I tracked back down to the river with John O’, Tina and Jill. The High Level Gang can perhaps tell their own tale. We lowlanders crossed the Vascão at a convenient place – though we did have to paddle – and made our way back to the lunch-time point without further ado. Now, were the others ahead or behind? Leaving a cryptic message under a stone on the stepping-stones, we decided they were probably ahead, and trekked off back to the cars. In fact they arrived about five minutes after us, having covered almost 4k more than the official upper limit of the walk – not allowed, guys – penalty points will be awarded, and you’ll start at the back of the grid next season.

The High Level Gang's Report:

Andrew having long disappeared high up into the badlands of Alentejo, Terry and two others volunteered to go rescue him. In fact, we soon caught up with him, not in any trouble at all but resting under an oak tree, admiring the view. We decided to remain on higb ground and swung north and westwards, in Terry's terminology protecting David's flank as he made his tactical withdrawal to the south-west down in the river valley. Winding our way eventually back down to the stepping-stones, we managed to decipher the Leader's message deposited some 15 minutes earlier, and then we knocked off the final hour's stretch at a cracking pace, covering it in 40 minutes flat. One doubts, however, if this detour was quite what Matthew had been led to expect.

We returned to the bar in Ameixial (I shall remember the second ‘i’ from now on) and enjoyed the flavour of the ‘real Algarve’ for a short time. People still hang their washing out along the main road here. In the absence of an obvious purse-bearer, the normal payment procedure was ignored. Please address all complaints to Andrew, who started the rot by paying for his own on receipt. I make that three strikes in a day, not good. All this apart, the area once again did not disappoint. It is beautiful and peaceful and full of wildlife. Storks nesting, a hare, multifarious birds, including a golden oriole. The mill crossing of the Vascão is the prettiest place I have found in the whole region. The inaccessibility of the place is it's guarantee to remain unspoiled for a long time, I suppose, but it would be nice if it were nearer to us. A good end to the season (if it is) in spite of the glitches. Oh, and when the Boys come round to get me, I’ll be long gone. Thanks to all for your company again this year, and I’ll see you in September.


(To conclude, a few pictures of the Algarve -Alentejo border and Rio Vascão countryside: not as rugged as CB's Picos de Europa terrain, but most pleasant all the same.)