To celebrate New Year's Day this year, a small group of us decided on an early morning - well, relatively early! - walk around Quiexoperra. The weather was kind to us, clear, fresh and sunny, as we set off to do a loop of the forest paths, including the highlights of the watermill (azenha), the channels (levadas) that carry water to the mill, and the Poço das Talhas, a stunning succession of ponds and waterfalls naturally carved out of the rock by the stream, each one shaped like a witch's cauldron.
During lockdown, when time spent outside was at a premium, many of the locals found themselves drawn to this area, to swim, picnic, and get away from it all. At this time, the idea of recovering the watermill and getting it back into working order became a reality, and this is one of the very few working watermills that we have come across, and - with its situation on the side of a steep ledge - when it is working it really is spectacular.
The marked walking route is one of the Rotas de Maçao, the PR5 - the start point is 20 minutes drive from Moinho da Fadagosa. The full walk is around 10km, but we opted for the shorter, southern part of the loop, which was a little over half that. The route, though marked as easy, includes some ascents and descents that are quite steep, so good walking shoes are recommended. If you'd just like to visit the watermill and waterfalls, this can also be reached by an easy 20 minute walk from the village of Queixoperra, without needing to do the forest parts of the walk.
Visit on a weekend and you may be lucky enough to see the watermill in action and even take away some of the flour milled from corn; a recipe for the traditional 'broa' corn bread is posted on the wall of the museum, if you'd like to have a go - perhaps in our wood oven?
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