Walk 14 August 2016 Rio Dilar

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I would like to start by offering a public apology to Richard and Jackie for arranging to meet them at 9.15 in Otura. The time should have been 8.45, so of course they were not there. I had put this down to Richard getting lost again, never thinking my instructions would be at fault. With an amazing feat of navigation Jacky coerced Richard into following us.
This week we went on another river walk, this time to Dilar. The walk starts from the carpark opposite the Merendero and follows the river, on a good track, to the hydro station. We were walking slowly, waiting for Dave and Julie to catch us up, as they had had a late start.
 After the Hydro the track turns into a path and you start the crossings of the river.
 In the past we have never been able to agree exactly how many times you did have to cross the river. So, determined to get an accurate figure, we assigned the task to Sid, at 7 years old he still has the mental agility to remember from one crossing to the next. Meeting up with Dave and Julie we continued splashing in and out of the river. By the time we stopped for lunch Sid’s calculation for river crossings was 12, we needed a confirmation of this number so he was charged with double checking his results on the way back.
 We had just finished our lunch when Richard and Jacky appeared. With true grit, and the steely determination of a Bloodhound, Jacky had tracked us along paths and through rivers. I propose double Brownie points should be awarded for this amazing fete.
 On the way back we stopped for the group photo. I have spent a long time teaching Fernando  photo composition, and the correct use of a modern digital camera and now, after a lot of practice, he can be trusted to take a reasonably good second photo of me, so that I can photoshop it later. Unfortunately for us Fernando was some 200 kms away sunning himself on the beach in Murcia, so the task fell to Cees. Now he looked to be doing OK, the camera appeared to be pointing in the right direction, he was pressing buttons and he confidently passed me the camera back, it was only when I got home that I discovered he hadn’t managed to take a photo.
 We resumed our walk back to the cars with Cees leading the way, somehow he managed to miss a crossing out and this was confirmed when Sid announced we had only been in the water 11 times. Does anyone know of any courses suitable for Cees that cover photography and walk leading.
We did eventually arrive back at the car park, after passing all the picnic places down by the river that were packed. We went to the bar for a well deserved beer.   
  

 We walked 10.5 km and climbed 250 metres.

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