This has been one of the wettest Christmas / New Years for many a year which is no consolation for those that have been in the Algarve both walking and biking. But you know even though this must be so disappointing all of our clients have taken things in their soggy stride and keep reassuring us that we are not to blame for the weather - that is so true but we do feel somewhat responsible (illogical though that is). It hasn't been only mainland Portugal that has suffered, there has been widespread damage in the Azores and in Madeira a flight from the UK carrying some clients tried to land 3 times in gale force winds before having to give up!! They arrived the next day.
Is all this a result of climate change? Who knows? But what ever the weather you are guaranteed a warm welcome if you do come to Portugal - May 2010 be good for you all!

Seasons Greetings to you all where ever you maybe!

The phone rang at 7.00am which always makes me a bit anxious (usually only emergencies and family) however relief, relief it was neither but only Kate from U tracks in Australia wanting to talk business! Fortunately I was compis mentis having had my much needed 2 mugs of coffee! (If anyone is reading this from down under then U Tracks are our agents and are to be recommended for all your travel needs).

We had a great walk yesterday and everyone kept saying how much they were enjoying it - why? It wasnt really the scenery which was good but more about the fact that we walked through tiny hamlets where local people were still carrying on their daily lives - it was so good to see that just beyond the tourist spots you can still see folk like the man in the photo carrying on his livelihood - here he is mending a wheelbarrow!

While taking my dog on a short walk this afternoon I was treated to a wonderful display by a pair of booted eagles riding the thermals overhead. This is a walk I do very often, usually I must admit from pure laziness but my dog enjoys it running, sniffing back and forth as if it is her first time and this got me to thinking........ Often people will as a way of an excuse tell me that they will be missing a Wednesday or Saturday walk because they 'have done that one'. I never see walks like that, to me there is always something new to discover and see (we very rarely repeat walks in a season so it may be a good 9 - 12 months since these folk walked a particular walk) - nature is never still and walks cannot be 'ticked' off like a shopping list.
It has been a very busy week, a company in the UK wanted a proposal for a sponsored cycle ride across south Portugal and a Dutch company wants to bring 18 people for a short break in March, both have involved visits to new hotels etc which has been very interesting. Why oh why when business is difficult do some hotels want to put prices up - their logic just beat me!

I have just spent 8 days in a wet, grey England where it seems to get dark by 3.30pm and the lights have to be switched on. It was good to get back to the brightness of the Algarve even though this morning we are having heavy showers interspersed with sunshine. The area desperately needs rain but most of us would prefer it at night when we are asleep. While I was away Neil and Peter led different walks with a very good response - however even though away I never miss a trick because as soon as I am back I get feedback from some of our regular walkers!!
We are now planning our Christmas / New Year walk programme - we traditionally offer a walk on Boxing Day and this year I think we will offer two, one in the Central Algarve and one in the West. Last year the walk started on the top of Foia where the temperature was below freezing - I will not make that mistake this time!

Blue skies & sunshine were the back drop for a terrific walk on Wednesday morning up on top of the hills north of Silves. As we climbed up out of the valley we saw a local farmer clinging to the hillside collecting the fruit from the Arbutus bush (Japanese strawberry tree) - this is a good year and there is a profusion of fruit - later the fruit will be converted to the local fire water (medronho). Once we had reached the top of our climb we watched the vultures circling overhead - a great excuse to catch our breath - their acrobatic display was a sight to behold and we felt very priviledged to be so close to these magnificent birds.
Later we passed a local hunter who was putting down wheat to attract wild boar which they hunt on weekends. He too pointed out the vultures and then showed us where we could see the nests of the Bonelli eagles - he was more than happy to share his local knowledge and we were all more than happy to listen and learn.

I cannot believe it is almost 2 weeks since my last post! Where does the time go? In the Algarve we are experiencing sunshine although the temperatures have dropped some what with a cold northerly wind- the Portuguese refer to this run of dry weather as a St Martins summer (St. Martins Day being early November) and traditionally this is a great time for both walking and biking. We are experiencing our busiest November ever with walkers and cyclists and that is where the time has gone because this past 10 days it has been all hands to the pump plus we have had some terrific turn outs for the Wednesday and Saturday walks with old and new faces. I led both the walks last week and all I could hear behind me was chatter, chatter, chatter..... well that is better than no sound because if that ever happens I know the route is too steep and once people have regained their breath they will give me an ear bashing - ha it does not happen too often thank goodness!

On Tuesday I spent a really interesting day with Rudi Dillo a journalist from Die Zeit - a popular and very reputable newspaper in Germany. Rudi had come to the Algarve to wite about and walk parts of the Via Algarviana (Algarve Way) and unlike most journalists that I have had dealings with Rudi was a real walker (despite a hip replcement 3 years ago). Together we walked the last section from Vila do Bispo to Cape St Vincent; it was perfect walking weather and this section of 17.7km was completed by us in just under 5 hours. The photo is of Rudi gazing out to sea at the Cape.

The past two weeks in the Algarve have seen the most beautiful weather and overhead there have been raptors circling in abundance waiting for the best winds to take them south for the autumn migration. The most common have been Egyptian Vultures and both cyclists and walkers alike have been treated to clear sightings of these magnificent birds.

My web guru Rob has reworked our Pedal in Portugal site, making it more user friendly (have a look for yourselves http://www.pedalinportugal.com/) the problem I now have is that I now have some great bike rides and new walking tours in both Spain and France - do I launch a new site or add them in some way to the existing sites.................... I still cannot make my mind up!

Fully recovered from a great weeks walking, it is back to the computer and local walks. This week the Algarve experienced the first real rains of autumn, the worst day being Wednesday - our walking day. Thunder and lightening as dawn broke I fully expected not to walk - how wrong I was! More than twenty diehards (or fools) were at the meeting point. I suggested perhaps a coffee and nothing more, this was firmly rejected in favour of walking and off we went. At the half way point it was not too bad but then the heavens opened for 15 minutes!! Yes we arrived back wet but we were all laughing and all agreed we had had a good time.

I've just walked the Camino with Julie

And we had one hell of a hoolie

There was Patrick and Steve,

Arn and Diane

Galena and Olga who talked of her man.

From Tui to Porrino

A good day had by all

But fiesta time was brewing

So we hardly slept at all.

Then on to Arcade

A mere 22 clicks

Where they served great paella

Which was good for those Russian chicks.

Pontevedra was our next stop

A very up-market town

Where we had a great dish of pasta

And red wine to swill it all down.

We skipped through Caldas de Reis

And on to Padron

To the hotel Rosalie

Next to the station.

Now on the home straight with much up and down

Santiago is in our sight

We've had a ball and then some

What a shame it all ends tonight.

SD (Camino Portugues September 2009)

The pilgrimage officially ends when you place your foot on the shell in front of the Catherdral.

All made it and all received their Compostela,

Caldas to Padron

A misty foggy, morning through the Bermana river valley and after coffee the sun shone through. We walked down through woodland to the Volga river before passing through hamlets and over the river at Pontesecures for a welcome beer / and or water. 20 minutes later and we made it to Padron and the group got their stamps at the church just before a funeral arrived!!!! Tonight gin and tonics were the order of the day for some as they prepared for the final push to Santiago - we all agreed it was another fun day!

Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

This is long stretch - 14.8 miles but we all managed it with good humour and the beers at the end tasted great!

Arcade to Pontevedra

The three photos sum up a great mornings walk, we arrived at Pontevedra at 14.00 giving everyone the afternoon 'off' to rest, relax and enjoy the town.

Porrino to Arcade

The music ended at 03.00am so breakfast was a subdued affair as most people were a little tired!!! Today is probably the hardest day of the week as there are two climbs, nothing really terrible but as the day warmed up so did we. A stop at a local bakery showed me those with a really sweet tooth, I will mention no names except to say that Olga bought 4 cakes and ate all of them with coffee at a nearby cafe (see photo), the rest of the group were far more restrained. We reached Redondela at 15.00 where we cooled off with the local beer and water and ate homemade empanadas (savoury pies) before the final push to Arcade. I was proud of everyone today because with the heat it wasnt easy but no one complained (well not to my face!).

Tui to Porrino

The first day of the Camino and it is hot! After a magical morning through woodland we stop for lunch in the Centro Social de Ribeiradelouro - this was not our planned stop but it caught my eye as we were walking. Our luck was in! The centro is only open at weekends and only during Fiesta and our hosts Manuel and Marco (photo) were charmed personified: they insisted we try the local 'stew' with pigs ears and tripe and when they saw that we were not enamoured they bought us plates of a local sweet bread which was absolutley delicious and set us up with the local beer for the road ahead. The end of our walk today saw us arrive in Porrino and it is their local fiesta, the streets were decorated and even now as I write this at 22.45 the music is in full flow - it could be a long night....................................

Operating in a niche market as I do, travel companies from other countries often approach me about working together which in this business is common place. Now we have cycle and walking notes translated into both German and French and soon to be Spanish - this is where family co-operation comes into play. I have bilingual daughters who are helping me with this and I am very grateful to their help as they lead busy lives themselves working and looking after my grandchildren.
Tomorrow I am off to lead a group on our Camino Portugues to Santiago - as long as I can get internet access I will keep you up to date on progress!

Today saw the start of our Autumn walking programme in the Algarve with a good turn out of new and old faces. The weather was warm but comfortable and the only real problem was the amount of dust on the tracks which saw our lower legs turn a darker shade of brown, still nothing permanent and easily washed off. 3 years ago much of this walk was under water from torrential rain so we must count our blessings and there were plenty of smiles through out as the photo shows. It was really great to get going again.

Two weeks since my last post; the reason being I have been in the UK meeting travel companies that I work with plus other business dealings for 2010. For security I cannot blog about this until I am back in my house and back I am! My time away went very well and for something very different I drove back to the UK with a very dear friend and used the channel tunnel which was a first (very, very impressive). Back in Portugal the weather is still warm and next week we start our Autumn walking programme - my feet are itching to get going............

I seem to have spent most of the last 3days in front of the computer. I have completed the details of a new cycling holiday in the Alentejo which then had to be put together and sent off to my 'web man' dear Rob, who I have worked with since I began Portugal Walks almost 10 years ago. Rob has moved from the UK and settled somewhere in Asia but the miracle of cyberspace means I just e-mail, add the attachments and photos and I know that in a few days a new web page will appear on the Pedal in Portugal site.

A busy week, getting prepared for a hectic September. It has again been very hot but managed to find a new walk yesterday and eat a few delicious figs on the way - the trees are now laden. It was a fruitful walk in other ways, I found a 1924 20 cent Portuguese coin in some newly turned soil and then saw this very unusual plant growing with flowers that looked like plastic. However a local lady assured me it was 'mountain jasmine' but it was uncommon to find it growing near sea level. (if you click on the photo you will get a larger view)

Hot, hot, hot! Found a new walk today with my good friend and sometimes walk leader Neil but oh my goodness it was hot. I have to admit I began complaining about 20 minutes from the end (well we had been walking for 2 hours) as we tried to find shady spots and when we reached the car which showed an outside temperature of 35C - I felt my complaints justified..... I was totally wet from sweat and not a happy bunny. Still a cool dip in Neils pool and an ice cold beer soon saw me smiling again!
PS Its another good Wednesday walk for the new season.

A short trip to the UK for family reasons last week but now I'm back and spending a good deal of time at my desk. 2010 dates and prices have to be confirmed this week as several travel companies are finalising their brochures ready for the printers. The policy is to try and keep the prices for most holidays the same as this year but the biggest headache is the price of fuel (in Portugal there has been a continuous price rise over the past weeks which has a knock on effect for transfers and transport costs).

Went out very early yesterday researching a new walk for next season. It worked out really well, a circular walk of just under 3 hours and I found a great cafe to start from with plenty of parking. As the regular Wednesday / Saturday walkers know I tend to have a 'jinx' on cafes where the walks start (they often for various reasons are closed on the day of the walk) but the delighful owner assured me she was open every day 'sempre, sempre' - we will see!

Today I led a short holiday walk through the countryside and along the cliff tops between Lagos and Luz. The sea was stunningly blue and the clarity of the light allowed a clear view along the coastline all the way to Sagres (30km). The photo is of the famous 'black rock' of Luz taken from above this morning.

A great walk along the Arade and Odelouca rivers this morning with some good company. This was the first of our summer season walks and with an early start we were able to enjoy some beautiful scenery before it got too hot.

A cold picked up I guess on the flight has hampered progress over the past few days.
On Tuesday I received a copy of the re-printed and revised edition of my walking book 'Walking in the Algarve' from Cicerone Press. When I first began writing walking books I had no idea of the responsibility you have as the writer until one day I met a couple from Canada holding my book and looking lost! Fortunately they were not and in the conversation that followed I learnt that during their time in the Algarve over the winter months they were planning to do every walk in the book and I through the book had become in their words a 'friend'. Another time some walkers following a walk called me during the walk to complain about the bees that were buzzing around.......... I suggested that perhaps it would be better to walk a little more quickly and spend less time talking to me. I could actually write a book on walking anecdotes ......now thats a thought!

I had to go over to Odeceixe (photo above) on Wednesday because clients had left something in the hotel there and no one else was available to go. It really was not a problem, I love Odeceixe and a took the opportunity to look around at some new tracks and roads which can be used for the cyling holiday in the West Algarve. I just love finding new tracks and trails.

A very busy day! It was an early start because the travel company that we work with in Australia wanted to discuss various holiday options for 2010. Those that have walked with me know that I really do not function well unless I have had my morning coffee and with Australia being 11hours ahead I was up at the crack of dawn as we had agreed to chat between 07 - 08am and the coffee was a must. All went well and I never cease to wonder at the marvels of using the computer for phone calls which cost virtually nothing to any part of the globe.

From that I had decided to offer some simple walks in the Algarve for the summer weeks, we had had a number of calls looking for walks and so in some ways I bowed to public pressure although the heat is a question mark but with an early start I think maybe it will work well and I'm hoping they might be popular with families. So that meant we had to send the details to the local papers plus update the web site. That is when the major headache began as I was unable to download the web edit programme..... I will not bore you with all the technical details that then occupied the rest of my day but in the end through sheer determination I solved the problem which as usual was simple, remove Internet Explorer 8 and replace with I.E. 7 but it took the best part of 6 hours to come up with the answer!

Well even when I am not walking I can never say that life is dull - my motto 'Expect the Unexpected'. I had plans to do so much more today but then there is always tomorrow.

I arrived back yesterday after a very long trip and with the added hassle of my luggage not arriving with me. While trying to sort that out in the airport my phone began to ring - it was as if people knew! A couple of minor problems with clients that are in Portugal at the moment which required my personal input but nothing too problematical.

My case was delivered to me this morning (a great relief) and now it is time to get back to business. 2010 dates need to be confirmed this week, some holidays need a slight overhaul just so that we do not get too complacent, new day walks need to be found and new photos for the web site must be added. What fun, I really cannot wait to get started and I will keep you up to date with progress.

I am taking a break and visiting my daughter and grand daughter here in Miami. In fact I have been here for 2 weeks now and the lack of my normal physical activity is beginning to take its toll.
Yes, the waist band of my shorts is just a little bit tighter and the adjective 'blobbly' comes to my mind.
But being away from it all is good for re-charging the batteries.