The walk was not organised by Fun and Thrills but it had an element of the mtr anyway. For instead of us getting ready for a 5am-6am departure, it was a 3am departure. But this is not unusual for Professor Lawson Douglas and his team who have been walking around Jamaica for decades and have done the entire island three times so far, to raise funds for the Kidney Foundation.
This was the third time Charles, Betty and I were doing a walk with the Douglas team. The first had been Buff Bay to PORT Antonio, the second Oracabessa to Ocho Rios and this was supposed to be from Christiana, Manchester to Allsides, Trelawny. I say supposed as I did not complete the trip, (Charles and I think Tricia did) instead, I got into a support vehicle at Litchifield to return to where we had left the cars as the others had to be shuttled back to Christiana. Anyway I had by then completed about ten and half kilometers of the journey which was about thirteen kilometers.
The other Fun and Thrills member who came with us was Nicole Brown. My cousin
Sheila who lives in Canada and just bought an apartment here, also came along.
Also with our group was Yves, a French friend of Nicole's who lives in St. Lucia; Kirk who is Spy's brother and Cynthia who walks the hills with us and Nicola who comes to the movies with us at times.
We were supposed to leave Kingston at 3am but the other group did not gather completely at the meeting place, Constant Spring golf club, until well after 3 am and we left Kingston close to 4am.
By 5.30 we were at the departure point in Christiana however and it was dark and cold but a wonderful and most welcome full moon had followed us all the way .
As usual Manchester was super cold and I had worn two shirts, figuring that I would get rid of one when we warmed up, but even when the sun finally got through after about 9 am, I had not warmed up enough to remove any clothes.
We crossed the border to Trelawny quite quickly and the crossing point is called Line of Parish and as the dawn broke gradually, the fabulous scenery with the mist covered mountains, green productive agricultural fields, beautiful flowers, salubrious hills and lush hills and valleys started to peek out gradually.
The air was so clean, invigorating and fresh, that alone made the trip more than worthwhile.
Lowe River is one of the more progressive districts along the way and there we saw a huge poster of Paul Padmore, the only independent parish Councillor in Jamaica, who operates a funeral home in the area.
Other districts we passed through High Gate Hall, Battersea, Lime Tree and if I had completed to the journey to Allsides, the other district on the way would have been Wait-A-Bit.
Although the topography between Trelawny and Manchester are very similar, the difference in development is stark with the Manchester side having much better roads including a bypass for Christiana while the Trelawny side was potholed, we saw people carrying water on their heads and of course there were far more yam plantations there.
However the Trelawny people are apparently more hospitable because at the border there is a Welcome to Trelawny sign but when you return there is no evidence of a similar sign before you enter Manchester.
It was a great walk with lots of camaraderie although Lawson's team walked much faster than we did and once we left Christiana, I never saw any of them again.
The only rider was Carl Oxford who kept riding to and fro to keep a check on the participants. He solved a mystery for me too for at the 150th anniversary of Munro college in St. Elizabeth last year, I hear a mysterious rider had appeared riding all the way from Kingston and quite a few people, knowing I ride, had told me about it and asked me if I knew who it was. It turns out that it was Carl,
who although attending Kingston college, had ridden down to honour his late relative Douglas Forrest who had been the head master of Kingston college but a Munro Old Boy. Mystery solved.
When we returned to Christiana, there was a pleasant surprise awaiting us as David, to ensure that Grace had a wonderful birthday, had driven her down to Christiana to have breakfast with us at Lemar Plaza, then they headed off to visit Chris Dalrymple in Priory.
We sang happy birthday to Grace in front of the small plaza.
Nicole also did not come back with us as she took Yves to Little Ochi to lyme.
Betty did a fantastic job of driving from 2.30am, then all the way to Christiana, hiking almost all the way then driving back almost all the way to Kingston, then Charles relived her on the last leg of the highway back home.
Another great day of invigorating exercise, camaraderie and wonderful food.
This was the third time Charles, Betty and I were doing a walk with the Douglas team. The first had been Buff Bay to PORT Antonio, the second Oracabessa to Ocho Rios and this was supposed to be from Christiana, Manchester to Allsides, Trelawny. I say supposed as I did not complete the trip, (Charles and I think Tricia did) instead, I got into a support vehicle at Litchifield to return to where we had left the cars as the others had to be shuttled back to Christiana. Anyway I had by then completed about ten and half kilometers of the journey which was about thirteen kilometers.
The other Fun and Thrills member who came with us was Nicole Brown. My cousin
Also with our group was Yves, a French friend of Nicole's who lives in St. Lucia; Kirk who is Spy's brother and Cynthia who walks the hills with us and Nicola who comes to the movies with us at times.
We were supposed to leave Kingston at 3am but the other group did not gather completely at the meeting place, Constant Spring golf club, until well after 3 am and we left Kingston close to 4am.
By 5.30 we were at the departure point in Christiana however and it was dark and cold but a wonderful and most welcome full moon had followed us all the way .
As usual Manchester was super cold and I had worn two shirts, figuring that I would get rid of one when we warmed up, but even when the sun finally got through after about 9 am, I had not warmed up enough to remove any clothes.We crossed the border to Trelawny quite quickly and the crossing point is called Line of Parish and as the dawn broke gradually, the fabulous scenery with the mist covered mountains, green productive agricultural fields, beautiful flowers, salubrious hills and lush hills and valleys started to peek out gradually.
Lowe River is one of the more progressive districts along the way and there we saw a huge poster of Paul Padmore, the only independent parish Councillor in Jamaica, who operates a funeral home in the area.Other districts we passed through High Gate Hall, Battersea, Lime Tree and if I had completed to the journey to Allsides, the other district on the way would have been Wait-A-Bit.
Although the topography between Trelawny and Manchester are very similar, the difference in development is stark with the Manchester side having much better roads including a bypass for Christiana while the Trelawny side was potholed, we saw people carrying water on their heads and of course there were far more yam plantations there.However the Trelawny people are apparently more hospitable because at the border there is a Welcome to Trelawny sign but when you return there is no evidence of a similar sign before you enter Manchester.
It was a great walk with lots of camaraderie although Lawson's team walked much faster than we did and once we left Christiana, I never saw any of them again.
The only rider was Carl Oxford who kept riding to and fro to keep a check on the participants. He solved a mystery for me too for at the 150th anniversary of Munro college in St. Elizabeth last year, I hear a mysterious rider had appeared riding all the way from Kingston and quite a few people, knowing I ride, had told me about it and asked me if I knew who it was. It turns out that it was Carl,
When we returned to Christiana, there was a pleasant surprise awaiting us as David, to ensure that Grace had a wonderful birthday, had driven her down to Christiana to have breakfast with us at Lemar Plaza, then they headed off to visit Chris Dalrymple in Priory.
Nicole also did not come back with us as she took Yves to Little Ochi to lyme.
Betty did a fantastic job of driving from 2.30am, then all the way to Christiana, hiking almost all the way then driving back almost all the way to Kingston, then Charles relived her on the last leg of the highway back home.
Another great day of invigorating exercise, camaraderie and wonderful food.
No comments:
Post a Comment