Gibraltar
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Landfall Gibraltar
As we passed Tarifa and turned into the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean our GPS clocked 2000 miles since leaving the UK. Quite a milestone for us and an appropriate place to be returning to a part of England, but we still don't want to come home, yet!!!
GPS data
Approaching Gibraltar, the 'Rock' is an imposing sight; the trip across the bay reveals the skyscape is one long peak with a dip in the middle, much of it was lost in low cloud by the time we arrived. We bobbed around between some large LPG and oil tankers littered at anchor in the bay of Gibraltar. We intended to landfall first in Algeciras in Spain to avoid customs formalities late in the evening, but following a radio conversation with Masala who we are still travelling in company with, we decided to head for Marina Bay marina.
The following morning there it was larger than life, The Rock.
Marina Bay marina
There is one myth we we have to spoil straight away, 'As solid as the Rock of Gibraltar' its not. The rock is actually hugely porous, and collects water which is stored in large reservoirs inside ‘the rock’, it is also riddled with 34 miles of man made tunnels some of which are large enough to drive a lorry through from one end of the rock 2 miles to the other end.
Tunnels
We took the cable car up the rock and climbed south to the highest point 425 metres above sea level. The view is spectacular west across the bay of Gibraltar to Algiceras in Spain.
Looking West
or east towards Malaga, Estapona and the Costa Del Sol
best of all is the view south to Morocco and the Atlas mountains 30 miles distant.
Looking South
The infamous Barbary apes were cute, but caution is needed as they are wild and are liable to bite if approached. The apes are most observant, one jumped onto my backpack from where I couldn’t defend myself and instantly attempted to open the zip, however he was no match for Mrs Cooke who persuaded him otherwise.
Barbary Ape
Barbary Apes
Barbary Apes
That was not the end of my day’s excitement as we had been persuaded by the hiking Coles to take the cable car up and climb to the very top, but then to walk all the way down, a personal mistake. I'm much fitter since leaving the UK but the incline of the pathways gave my calf muscles the work out of their life. The picture of 'Thelma & Louise' is looking out over Gibraltar Bay with nothing below them for hundreds of metres!
Thelma & Louise (AKA Christine and Sara)
Fortunately we had a break halfway down at St Michaels Cave. The cave is a natural void created in the rock by water erosion as it passes through the rock. Over thousands of years this huge tall cavern has been created and is simultaneously being filled with huge stalactites and stalagmites. The large area in the middle has now been levelled and turned into the most amazing theatre venue, the acoustics are stunning. It would have been nice to have enjoyed a concert there.
St Michael's Cave
Nearly 4 weeks in Gibraltar has given an interesting insight into what its like to live on a British colony. Some locals feel that UK PLC is simply not interested in them, whilst the alternative of a Spanish government is not welcome either. One Gibraltarian told us "what would you prefer lose your little finger or your whole hand, some choice?" Gibraltar is certainly a curios place, taken from the Spanish for the last time in 1704, has been a strategic stronghold for thousands of years. Fifty years since WW2 leaves Gibraltar's main function as an offshore financial centre and cruise ship town. The people are fun to watch, with a mix of English, Spaniards and Moroccans the most obvious occupants. The population is largely bi lingual; a combination of English and Spanish which are spoken consecutively. This melding of the language means that English is spoken with an English accent but with a Spanish flatness, which produces a strange aural sensation.
The shopping area is one long road about one mile long is known as Main St. The quantity and quality of expensive jewellers and electronic and camera shops would do justice to London's west end. Despite there being no VAT in Gib, most goods are even more expensive than the UK particularly food, two regular meals at Burger King was £9.50. Ouch! Time was when you take a girl out for the evening, buy a meal for two, a packet of woodbines and still get change from 3/6d , but then I have never smoked Woodbines!!! (Sorry to the younger audience, ask you parents or maybe grandparents!!) The solution for many is to walk across the border into Spain and shop there, although the Spanish come to Gib to fill up with petrol. We did discover maybe why, most goods sold on the rock are imported from the UK and not mainland Spain. The Spanish still want the rock back and treat Gibraltar as an ‘autonomous region’ It can be cheaper to source goods in the UK and have them shipped out VAT free than buy locally.
There are three marinas in Gib and security on the water is impresive. Our marina was patrolled every few hours day and night by Police and Navy RIBs and patrol boats. We noticed The all black navy RIB pass at 2.30 one morning without any lights, quite a spooky feeling.
Navy RIB
It wasn't all fun, there were a number of maintenance items to be sorted. We had deliberately run the fuel low to take advantage of the cheap fuel in Gib. We had enough fuel to reach Gib with a small reserve and 20 litres in a jerry can for emergencies. A routine 'on passage' engine check revealed the small diesel leak we have had since England was now being pumped into the bilge five times faster than we were burning it. Punching hard into a 30 knot headwind, gave a little worry but we had Masala behind us if things went wrong. The pump seems alright now having dismantled it and understood what the problem was. Thanks need still to be given to Peter Gage our guardian angel for providing a back up plan should the pump be US.
We had swapped a bottle of scotch in Portugal for an aluminium ladder that had been converted in to a passarelle (posh gangplank). Whilst here we had some stainless steel bits fabricated to connect it to each end of the boat, which now works perfectly and gives us safe passage ashore when mooring up bow or stern to which will be the norm from now on.
If you fancied a long weekend break, Gib is a good place to visit. It is very compact, has everything you could want. For instance, the runway lies alongside the marina about 25 metres away and dissects Gibraltar from Spain. When the plane has landed then the border is opened up again and the cars and people cross the runway to get to the other side!
Inbound flight
Arriving and leaving was an impressive sight, but our most special memory of Gib was Swedish. Our friends Bjorn, Anniker, Pia & Tord arrived unexpectedly to collect a water maker, and we enjoyed a couple of days laughing and drinking with them. During their visit Dave and Janet also from Lagos arrived by bus to renew their visas which made for a fun afternoon. Kevin doesn’t believe his first migraine in some time had anything to do with his consumption of red wine, port and sherry!
We left Gib and crossed to Smir in North Africa, a new continent and the beginning of a new adventure, but that’s for the next instalment.
Home page
Kevin & Sara
Landfall Gibraltar
As we passed Tarifa and turned into the Straits of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean our GPS clocked 2000 miles since leaving the UK. Quite a milestone for us and an appropriate place to be returning to a part of England, but we still don't want to come home, yet!!!
GPS data
Approaching Gibraltar, the 'Rock' is an imposing sight; the trip across the bay reveals the skyscape is one long peak with a dip in the middle, much of it was lost in low cloud by the time we arrived. We bobbed around between some large LPG and oil tankers littered at anchor in the bay of Gibraltar. We intended to landfall first in Algeciras in Spain to avoid customs formalities late in the evening, but following a radio conversation with Masala who we are still travelling in company with, we decided to head for Marina Bay marina.
The following morning there it was larger than life, The Rock.
Marina Bay marina
There is one myth we we have to spoil straight away, 'As solid as the Rock of Gibraltar' its not. The rock is actually hugely porous, and collects water which is stored in large reservoirs inside ‘the rock’, it is also riddled with 34 miles of man made tunnels some of which are large enough to drive a lorry through from one end of the rock 2 miles to the other end.
Tunnels
We took the cable car up the rock and climbed south to the highest point 425 metres above sea level. The view is spectacular west across the bay of Gibraltar to Algiceras in Spain.
Looking West
or east towards Malaga, Estapona and the Costa Del Sol
best of all is the view south to Morocco and the Atlas mountains 30 miles distant.
Looking South
The infamous Barbary apes were cute, but caution is needed as they are wild and are liable to bite if approached. The apes are most observant, one jumped onto my backpack from where I couldn’t defend myself and instantly attempted to open the zip, however he was no match for Mrs Cooke who persuaded him otherwise.
Barbary Ape
Barbary Apes
Barbary Apes
That was not the end of my day’s excitement as we had been persuaded by the hiking Coles to take the cable car up and climb to the very top, but then to walk all the way down, a personal mistake. I'm much fitter since leaving the UK but the incline of the pathways gave my calf muscles the work out of their life. The picture of 'Thelma & Louise' is looking out over Gibraltar Bay with nothing below them for hundreds of metres!
Thelma & Louise (AKA Christine and Sara)
Fortunately we had a break halfway down at St Michaels Cave. The cave is a natural void created in the rock by water erosion as it passes through the rock. Over thousands of years this huge tall cavern has been created and is simultaneously being filled with huge stalactites and stalagmites. The large area in the middle has now been levelled and turned into the most amazing theatre venue, the acoustics are stunning. It would have been nice to have enjoyed a concert there.
St Michael's Cave
Nearly 4 weeks in Gibraltar has given an interesting insight into what its like to live on a British colony. Some locals feel that UK PLC is simply not interested in them, whilst the alternative of a Spanish government is not welcome either. One Gibraltarian told us "what would you prefer lose your little finger or your whole hand, some choice?" Gibraltar is certainly a curios place, taken from the Spanish for the last time in 1704, has been a strategic stronghold for thousands of years. Fifty years since WW2 leaves Gibraltar's main function as an offshore financial centre and cruise ship town. The people are fun to watch, with a mix of English, Spaniards and Moroccans the most obvious occupants. The population is largely bi lingual; a combination of English and Spanish which are spoken consecutively. This melding of the language means that English is spoken with an English accent but with a Spanish flatness, which produces a strange aural sensation.
The shopping area is one long road about one mile long is known as Main St. The quantity and quality of expensive jewellers and electronic and camera shops would do justice to London's west end. Despite there being no VAT in Gib, most goods are even more expensive than the UK particularly food, two regular meals at Burger King was £9.50. Ouch! Time was when you take a girl out for the evening, buy a meal for two, a packet of woodbines and still get change from 3/6d , but then I have never smoked Woodbines!!! (Sorry to the younger audience, ask you parents or maybe grandparents!!) The solution for many is to walk across the border into Spain and shop there, although the Spanish come to Gib to fill up with petrol. We did discover maybe why, most goods sold on the rock are imported from the UK and not mainland Spain. The Spanish still want the rock back and treat Gibraltar as an ‘autonomous region’ It can be cheaper to source goods in the UK and have them shipped out VAT free than buy locally.
There are three marinas in Gib and security on the water is impresive. Our marina was patrolled every few hours day and night by Police and Navy RIBs and patrol boats. We noticed The all black navy RIB pass at 2.30 one morning without any lights, quite a spooky feeling.
Navy RIB
It wasn't all fun, there were a number of maintenance items to be sorted. We had deliberately run the fuel low to take advantage of the cheap fuel in Gib. We had enough fuel to reach Gib with a small reserve and 20 litres in a jerry can for emergencies. A routine 'on passage' engine check revealed the small diesel leak we have had since England was now being pumped into the bilge five times faster than we were burning it. Punching hard into a 30 knot headwind, gave a little worry but we had Masala behind us if things went wrong. The pump seems alright now having dismantled it and understood what the problem was. Thanks need still to be given to Peter Gage our guardian angel for providing a back up plan should the pump be US.
We had swapped a bottle of scotch in Portugal for an aluminium ladder that had been converted in to a passarelle (posh gangplank). Whilst here we had some stainless steel bits fabricated to connect it to each end of the boat, which now works perfectly and gives us safe passage ashore when mooring up bow or stern to which will be the norm from now on.
If you fancied a long weekend break, Gib is a good place to visit. It is very compact, has everything you could want. For instance, the runway lies alongside the marina about 25 metres away and dissects Gibraltar from Spain. When the plane has landed then the border is opened up again and the cars and people cross the runway to get to the other side!
Inbound flight
Arriving and leaving was an impressive sight, but our most special memory of Gib was Swedish. Our friends Bjorn, Anniker, Pia & Tord arrived unexpectedly to collect a water maker, and we enjoyed a couple of days laughing and drinking with them. During their visit Dave and Janet also from Lagos arrived by bus to renew their visas which made for a fun afternoon. Kevin doesn’t believe his first migraine in some time had anything to do with his consumption of red wine, port and sherry!
We left Gib and crossed to Smir in North Africa, a new continent and the beginning of a new adventure, but that’s for the next instalment.
Home page
Kevin & Sara
posted by Kevin and Sara at 12:57 PM
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