Friday 13 April – Monday 15 April – La Linea and Gibraltar
We left Casares in driving rain with limited visibility and took a careful drive down to La Linea which is the Spanish township linked to Gibraltar. A pretty tense journey from the rain and gusting winds which do knock Bessie about was exacerbated when the sat nav packed up and we got a bit lost in the narrow backstreets in the centre of La Linea de la Concepcion. Finally emerged onto the coast and found the site which is on a large car park with a dedicated Motorhome area and which forms part of the marina here – lots of rather pretty yachts, but mostly the kind which people really use for sailing rather than the floating gin palaces previously encountered. Carried on tipping down all day so we cooked some dinner, played scrabble and went to bed!
Nice Sunset though 👌
On Saturday we got up to find the sun trying to shine (hooray) even though still quite chilly and we set off to find the customs point where we met my friend Sue who I used to work with in Leighton Buzzard and who just happens to be living in La Linea and working on the Rock with her husband who works in the zoo there (as you do). We had a lovely catch up over coffee and Sue gave us the low down on the best things to see and do whilst we’re here. Spent the rest of the day exploring the town on Gib and visiting M and S and Morrison’s to restock teabags and other essentials! Went back to the van where we have a view of the yachts in front, the Mediterranean on one side, Spanish mountains on the other and The Rock behind us – could be worse.
Intimate Detail Alert – so – showers have become gold dust because Bessie’s bathroom (although now mended with serious quantities of sealant) is still not shower ready. Turns out that there are showers here (hooray) but only available to rich yacht-owners who get a special swipe card (boo)…. However ……. The wonderful Sam decided that “if there are showers, I’m bloody having one!” … and so …. We put our shower gear into our rucksack and trundled off in the hope of sneaking in with someone else but nobody was around. We had a little look about and I found a little unit with three push buttons (a bit like you get at the entrance to apartment blocks) so I pushed one to see what would happen and, after a brief ringing tone, a Spanish voice said something (in Spanish of course). I was a little non-plussed but not the redoubtable Sam, hence:
Sam: “excuse me, but can I use the toilet please?”
Spanish female: “ (something unpronounceable)”
Buzzer: “ bzzzzz” (door opens)
Sam: “ Thank youuuuu” (we both proceed to have wonderful hot showers)
(I love this woman!)
On Sunday the sun reappeared and the weather really warmed up. We spent the whole day on The Rock, bought Hopper bus tickets to save our little legs and cable car tickets to save them some more (it’s all a bit steep). The top of Gibraltar is fabulous, with stunning views across the straits to Morocco, the Spanish mountains behind us and the tiny streets and buildings far below. The Barbary Apes are really charming and amusing and the flowers and little trees are captivating – a whole vibrant pallet of colours, shapes and textures to delight the eye.
The place is steeped in history too – from many centuries ago, through Nelsons times and WWII – we visited O-Hara’s battery, created in the Napoleonic wars (the huge ring bolts used to haul the cannons to the battery by hand are still visible on the trail up the Rock) and now armed with the 9.5 inch guns which last saw action in WWII and which have been refurbished to great condition by various British soldiers in recent years. Given that this technology is now something like 80 years old it was amazing to learn that the Straits of Gibraltar are about 26000 yards wide and these guns could fire 29000 yards – enough said.
We also discovered the path created 100 years previously which allowed soldiers for Nelsons time to move between lookout points and we followed that for some way across the backbone of the Rock. The views were truly stunning but we nearly lost our footing at one point when we disturbed a pair of Barbary Partridges (beautiful plumage) under our feet which took to the air with squawks of alarm – but trust me, we were more alarmed than they were!
Gibraltar is a place of contrasts – where the mad high pressure world of banking and gaming business and associated wealth which seems to dominate the economy of the Rock itself meets the relative poverty which is visible in parts of La Linea. We found Gibraltar to be enchanting, confusing and full of life.
Namaste
Paul and Sam x
Finding the Elephant 