Sparrowfart 2014; or The Summer Madness Persists

 

 

Crack of dawn 16th July, and a strange portent appears at the gate of Casa da Oliveira: what can it signify? Midsummer madness, of course.

 

The early stick gets the coffee

And indeed, the owner of the hatted stick did get her morning fix, exactly at 6.45 am as scheduled. 

Shortly thereafter, 12 hardy souls plus 2 dogs gathered for a Starters photo.

This was just a practice shot…………………

because moments later, Peter and Sonja arrived in time to complete the group and JohnO could then raise a hand in his traditional manner for……..

 

The Official Starters Photo.

Participants.

Part-walkers and Chefs : Antje, Sonja and Chris.

Hard Core 8 : Janet, Maria, Hazel, Ingrid, Ros, JohnO, Jim and JohnH.

Splinter Group : Peter, Paul, and M……(.ike)

Support Group : Jyll, Myriam and Mike S.

Absens : A certain gentleman still abed ( D.L.)

The Track

Remarkably enough, we set off as near as makes no difference to the advertised kick-off time of 7 am., the Part-timers plus Sacha guiding us as far as the Dog-leg turn which is where they left us and made their way back to start preparing our breakfast. JohnH then took over the lead and, avoiding the beach because the full tide, headed past some fishermen´s houses in the direction of the golf course, only to find that we had run out of road which forced us to negotiate a fence and to skip smartly across the railway track.

Maria tells them to look lively crossing the track

Then, round the mirror-smooth lagoon and over the causeway we went; the tide being fully in, the sea had completely submerged the oyster beds, and its waters were simply teeming with small fish – Hazel thought they were sardines – “não” diz a Maria “são as liças”.

 

Not a ripple

Making pretty good time, we made our way along to the railway level crossing where we came to the Parting of the Ways. Here, the Splinter Group of Peter, Paul and M…(ike)  made their excuses and a beeline* for home. As they went over the hill, some of us would have sworn that snatches of “Leaving On A Jet Plane ” and “Puff The Magic Dragon” could be heard, blowing in the wind.

The remaining Hard Core 8 swung to the east keeping to the low ground and then round to find the short canal.Then, after tramping across various hillsides, we managed to make it back to Casa da Oliveira on the stroke of 10 am, much to Ingrid´s relief – she sure didn´t want to be a minute late for the meal.

The Chefs team had by this stage been augmented by Jyll and Myriam, and (in a purely observational capacity he claimed) by Mike Summerfield.

Some had a dip in the pool. The usual superb breakfast then followed – fresh orange juice, melons, lashings of scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, sausages etc., etc., not to forget the baked beans - much enjoyed by all. Just look at the plates.

That´s not just a table cloth, folks  – that whole length is a single Indian sari.

 

 

As coffees were downed, Mike Pease jumped to his feet and to the conclusion* that, as the eldest member present, it was incumbent on him to propose the vote of thanks to our gracious hosts and the cooks, which he did in great style and to great acclaim.

( * Janet will surely appreciate these light touches of syllepsis.)

To close, the Statistics :

Distance: 11.3 km

Total Time: 2 hrs 54 min

Moving Average : 5.1 kmph

Comestibles: details of quantities not available.

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No, not to close quite yet because your blogger has been reminded by PaulAdeV that it is obligatory that the blog should close with an apt quotation or two.

He suggests:-

“ Hope is a good breakfast but a bad supper.” ( Francis Bacon 1561 – 1626 )

Umm, maybe. Perhaps:-

“ If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen.” ( Trad. anon )

or of more appeal to walkers of a certain age:

“ The walk down to breakfast is exercise enough for any gentleman.” ( Chauncey Mitchell Depew 1834 – 1928 )