Terceira, Açores.

Sunday 13th June.
After doing the shopping we all did a circular walk around a peak in a volcanic area. In parts it was quite challenging scrambling over sharp volcanic rocks which had trees and moss to make the climb more difficult (and slippery). The landscape and views were magnificent and well worth the effort - I’m beginning to ‘like’ this walking hobby!
Back to the car and we see that the interpretive centre is open which also has a volcanic cave below -which we have a look at. It also has larva tunnels much bigger than we visited in the Galapagos.Photos for this in Folder ‘Pico Gordo Walk’
(Google maps not so good for this one)


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Terceira, Açores.

Well, I’m not going to spoil the beauty of this island by telling you of the trip here, suffice it to say that Malcolm enjoyed it.
We arrived very early on the morning of Friday, 11th June (02.30am) and ended up mooring alongside, Roakeldais. After catching up on sleep we became more social and caught up with Esther and Otto who were very pleased to see us again.
On the Saturday, said friends needed some help—they wanted to do a walk which was not circular and asked if we would do it from the other end, meet them in the middle, take the car keys and drive back to pick them up. Great plan and it worked perfectly. The walk was blissful, down a dried out stream valley to the sea and then along the coast. Pictures on Picasa (Aqualuva Hike). The fun happened afterwards… we made a detour to a winery and while tasting the produce had our pictures taken for a news article in Mondays paper! After this we encountered a large herd of cows wandering along the lane to be milked –which delayed us a bit, next a herd of goats which moved a little faster but which couldn’t be overtaken! This on the way to “tourada a corda”. The main street is defended with boards to protect the buildings from damage and a young happy bull is allowed to wander around. ‘Brave men’ wave capes in front of him and he wants to play but when he approaches the men run and so it goes on. At no point does the bull get hurt (which is the good thing) but he does get pretty tired running about chasing his playmates and after 30 minutes he is re-boxed and another is used. It is a great social occasion with the whole town out to watch. Peanut and ice cream sellers refresh the crowds and a fair bit of drinking goes on in the bars along the street . It is from here that we stand (protected ) to watch.

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Pico Alto to Anjos Walk

Pico Alto to Anjos walk.
This is another medium skill walk of 14 km and has a suggested walking time of 4 hours (we took nearer 6).
We began by getting a lift from Otto & Ester who are in the marina with us and who had hired a car for the day. They accompanied us to the Peak and then went to do the Santa Barbara walk which we had recommended to them.
So as you will see from the pictures it was MOSTLY downhill and so for me very enjoyable. The first half down the mountainside was also pleasantly cool. Once again there was evidence that the paths dept had been at work laying pine clippings as an anti slip aid—which I thought was very thoughtful of them! Where the plant growth allowed we had excellent views of the island and far out to sea even San Miguel. Once at the foot the vegetation changed radically, from Japanese Red Cedar stretching to the sky– to Fire trees and Azorean Cacti. We tracked around the edge of the Barreiro da Faneca (Red Desert) and then had our picnic. Suitably replete we continued to Baia de Crė and then down to Ribeira do Lemos, a small stream which needed crossing. The last couple of kms were across pastureland and lead very neatly down to a statue of C. Columbus and then to the town Lido. Here we had a couple of beers with Ester & Otto who very kindly gave us a lift back to the marina. They too had had a brilliant day.
After publishing this I see that the link opens in the blog so you need to look for Almagreira which is the nearest place to Pico Alto from there we went up the page along the ridge and then broadly across to Anjos.


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Baia da Formosa Santa Maria Acores

One thing I miss since leaving Darby Green is the lack of Garden so I have been cultivating pictures and scenes from our walks to watch in my old age. Santa Maria has a huge variety of indigenous flora. All my favourites Canna,Ginger,a white Tiger Lily which looks like an Amaryllis—no sign of Lily beetles here though. Nasturtiums and morning Glory are rampant on most mountainsides. If I have wrongly identified any then please use the comment facility on the blog to correct me. Flora are to be found in a separate folder on Picasa (hopefully it is public)


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which can also be found on Picasa with the images.
This was supposed to be a short walk to a nearby bay (HA!) It turned out to take 3 hours and was quite hilly, the up side was that as we passed a house with the dogs loose they decided to accompany us. They were overjoyed to be taken on a walk and made the most of it . They knew all the local fields, covering far more kilometers than I did. Fortunately we were able to persuade them to rest up in their own back garden when we got there! We took the main road back to Vila de Porto which was less hilly and a little longer. Altogether a very satisfying walk.

Santa Maria. Aςores.

Santa Maria.
Well I have fully recovered from Mal de Mer but it took 2 days to get my land legs again!
We have been here about 10 days and have had a brilliant time. The Marina has an excellent ‘Club Naval’ with bar and restaurant. For most of the week we have been one of three yachts—very peaceful indeed! It has only rained twice and both times it was lovely warm rain. So here are a few details.
Both the engine and the generator cured themselves miraculously ( I think the resident baby spiders have had a leg or two involved in our boat gremlins) The washing machine door took a week to mend - it was the catch which had become misplaced and would not close the door. This meant no washing . To cut a long story short we managed to get a full diagram from the manufacturer and had a go ourselves and we fixed it!!!
Now as for the Island of Santa Maria nearest village is also the center of administration ‘Vila de Porto’ it is good exercise being 20 minute hike uphill (of course everywhere is from the marina!) Fortunately there is a bus up so I cheated most of the times. There is a very old Fort on the hill just above the Marina. An old cannonball and ships nail have been recovered from the Marina while it was being built which now have pride of place on display in the Marina Office. The town has three streets with the central on having most shops (supermarket, Chinese, Fancy goods, and everything else you could want). The Municipal Market is on another street and while not as prosperous as Portimao it did have a greengrocer and a selection of butchers & fishmongers.
We did two of the three walks recommended by the Marina/tourist Office. (the Third was closed due to the repairs needed after the winter storms which had removed some of the pathway. The start of the first trek was a bus ride away at Santa Barbara. It began and ended at the Church and was a circular walk which took us a slow 4 hours. The island has some outstanding vistas and in all cases the views are best from high up. There was strong evidence of the path managements’ team doing routine maintenance. All pictures are on Picasa ready for viewing. Separate entries for other walks so I can put more images on!!