Never let it be said that APAPS walks are lacking in their own peculiar brand of drama.
This Wednesday, it was like one of those nail-biting damsel-in-distress-in-aircraft films. You know the scene: all is quiet, then the control tower radio crackles into life:-
“MayDay ! MayDay!. The pilot´s had a heart attack and I don´t know how to land the plane. MayDay ! MayDay !” Cool as cucumber, the Air Traffic Controller talks her through the drill. Will she be able to land or will it end in disaster? Of course, thanks to the ATC, she lands OK.
On this occasion, the control tower in question is located at Pescadores: 20 07 29 at 07.00 hrs and the cool-as-cucumber ATC is our Leader.. All is quiet: the coffee machine is already warmed up. The Leader sits peacefully, waiting for his crew of walkers to turn up. Suddenly, a radio call (aka his mobile) shatters the silence. It is Myriam.
“MayDay. MayDay. I am somewhere over Messines, instrument failure. have lost bearings. Sun in my eyes. Can´t see which way to go. MayDay. MayDay !”
The ATC reassuringly calms her down, guides her into turning away from the sun and, using visuals - here a petrol station, there a low bridge – steers her westwards along the N124 in the direction of Pinheiro e Garrado to reach the Café rendezvous, only 15 minutes behind schedule. No worries, this is the APAPS. A late start provides the perfect excuse for a shortened walk – what must not be missed at any cost is the bell for breakfast.
As you can see from the Starter photo, for this, the inaugural APAPS 2020 session, only 4 people turned out. Where were all the others? Well, Ingrid, Jill and Terry are very sensibly taking virus precautions seriously and are practising isolation , although we can be sure that Ingrid will be watching us closely to see that we do not commit any unnecessary faux-pas, and that Terry is enjoying following the Test matches. Janet, to use the colloquial English phrase, is currently “under the physiotherapist” and hopes to join us soon. She says she misses the WAGS whom she graciously describes as “the Wicked Auld Gits Society.”
Rod, Chris and Antje? Well, they are nursing various minor infirmities which prevent them from serious walking at the moment, but not from turning up for the post-walk refreshments.
Yves, for once, was absent, off on a liaison with a young lady of a legal persuasion. We trust that she proves as good lawyer as Portia, so that the taxman gets no more than his pound of flesh.
Nothing has been heard from Dina, so far.
And as for Paul, one can´t do any better than present his excuses in his own words, if only for no other reason than that doing so helps to fill up the blog:-
“Sorry for not replying earlier, John, but I had to carry out some extensive experiments, not only for whether I can cover all or part of the distance, but also the rate of progress on the flat, and Heaven forfend, uphill, and whether my metabolism can tolerate springing into action at dawn, far from porcelain, after the relaxed regime I adopted during lock-down. Also I tested my tolerance for eggs, tomatoes and bacon at 0930 am, washed down with non-alcoholic beer or coffee.
Sadly the average test results for the physical aspects were not encouraging, and a circuit of Lagos of 5 km on Saturday, mostly flat, could only be accomplished at 3.2 km/hr, and resulted in pain in my left leg that required me to sit down and watch the Test Match for 2 days.
I also failed to prepare my constitution sufficiently well to leave the flat at 0615 hrs fully discharged and medicines kicking in, even though I am no longer slowed by having to remove overnight stubble.
However, the good news is that I was easily able to consume a F(ull)E(nglish)B(reakfast) at 0930 with only superficial side effects.
The upshot is that on this occasion on 29th, I will reserve my endeavours for the breakfast only, and go through my own early morning routines and cleansing to clear the appropriate space and develop the appetite to eat some of M’s bacon if called upon to sacrifice myself.
I may be able, with sufficient training and conditioning, to join you in future, for the walk itself, but sadly not this week.
See you Wednesday at 0930 am.
Paul “
The walk itself was nothing out of the ordinary, all along fairly familiar paths, no prickly bits, affording the three ladies ample opportunity for chit-chat.
The track was captured by the Leader using ViewRanger for the first time; this app for some reason recorded it in two bits.
Combining those two bits, we arrive at the following Statistics:-
Distance: 5.67 kms; Total time: 1 hr 45 mins; Total ascent: 183 metres.
Not too demanding. We finished in very good time for breakfast; so early, in fact, that Hazel and Myriam were able to amuse themselves by pretending that one of Hazel´s world-record long beans was an effective measuring tape.
As to what they were trying to measure, I couldn´t possibly comment.
The breakfast was the usual perfect Pescadores offering from Dona Fernanda, efficiently assisted by Hazel and Maria - eggs, tomatoes, lashings of bacon, buttered toast, with the added extras of on-the-house cherry toms and plums.
The food inspired the photographer Paul´s creative juices so much that they brought out his inner Matisse, or should that be his inner Braque? Take your pick.
I prefer a good rosé myself.
Scientific thought for the day:-
Since light travels faster than sound, some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
And some closing music
