0424 A Day in (on ?) Gibraltar

16^th Feb 2016

The Rock – What an amazing place !!!!

We were only camped about 25 kms from Gibraltar last night, so the plan was to go and have a quick look before heading west towards Portugal.  Janet was there 40 something years ago, and I had never been there, so we wanted to see it.  My mental impression was that it was supposed to be just a rock with Apes on it sticking out into the Straits, and although we hadn’t seen much of it in the haze 3 weeks ago when we caught the ferry to Morocco, and last night coming back from Morocco it had been dark, but I already realized it wasn’t just a conical rock like I imagined,  but quite long and bigger than I had always pictured in my mind. We had been late arriving last night, and hadn’t slept well (not enough beer last night ?) so it was 11 am before we were up and headed towards Gib.  We passed a big Carrefour Supermarket on the  way so planned a visit on the way back.  And then we arrived in Gib, and it is NOTHING like I imagined or Janet remembered – It is really a great little place, and worthy of a holiday all on its own !!

First of all, the causeway onto the island is taken up entirely by an airport runway, running crossways across the road.  There is a traffic light and I guess when a plane takes off or lands they just close the road for a while !  There was a big RAF cargo plane there when we landed, and we did see it take off later in the day, but we didn’t actually see it on the runway with the road closed.  Reminded me of Warri in Nigeria where the road crosses the runway !!

Then it is into town, and the traffic isn’t much fun – I was worried we were going to spend a bad day in traffic jams on this little island.  First reaction ?  Everything is ONLY in English – No Spanish subtitles here !!  And the Customs post on the border has Bobbies in “proper” policemen’s hats !!  Even the buses (red of course, but not double decker), say on the back “Ministry of Transport – HM Government of Gibraltar”.  But we persevered, and eventually all the traffic disappeared, and we were on a VERY narrow (and low) road up to the tip of the island. (Yes, I know its not really an island now, but was once !). We went in these tiny tunnels 2.9 m wide and 2.9 m high and made it through without hitting anything, and on the other side found this big deserted car park with a big waterfall pouring out of the cliff face – What a perfect place for a picnic !  It was a beautiful clear sunny day and we were looking across the Straits to Morocco, and they were so clear you almost felt you could reach out and touch Africa.  Just a stunning view while we munched on our sandwiches !

Then it was on through more little tunnels through the rock until we came out in a big area right at the very tip of the island with the still active lighthouse, a mosque, the Victorian 100 ton gun (the only other one is in Malta), views across to Africa – And a cricket pitch !  Probably hard to find enough space for cricket pitches here, so a sand lot covered with astro turf seems to suffice. 

Then on further round the barrow one way system of streets that works its way round much of Gib, past some very fancy (and probably expensive) apartments and holiday flats, and then we saw a tunnel signed as “Devil’s Bellows” which sounded interesting enough to explore, so in we went, and found a big renovation of lots of military looking buildings underway.  So not too interesting, but we did see our first macaques, the apes that occupy Gibraltar, although they weren’t too threatening, and after a couple of pics we went on our way.

Then it was up a STEEP (first gear) one way narrow road up the side of the Rock with amazing views out over Algeciras and the port, across to Africa.  Suddenly we came to a gate and someone wanting money – In Pounds Sterling, no less !  The upper part of the Rock has a lot of things to see (of which, at this point, we were unaware), and we were told that it would cost us £10 sterling each to see them, plus a couple more quid for the car.  Luckily I had a few £ stashed away, but by the time we got them out, the guy waved us through without us paying – Sweet !  So off we went up this VERY narrow road up the side of the Rock. 

We eventually came to lots of cars either parked or trying to park in a very restricted space, and I’ll tell you what, 90% of them couldn’t drive to save themselves – They should not be on the roads !  They wouldn’t go through a space that was wide enough for a 10 ton truck (well, Troopie, anyway !), and couldn’t back up a steep hill or do a hand brake start.  The poor parking attendant was getting so frustrated with them, so was quite pleased when we found a spot, put Troopie in with a couple of inches to spare either end, and then gave him a couple of coffee sweets and an Aussie stick pin to cheer him up !!  Then we set off into St Michael’s Cave and really didn’t know what to expect.  I mean, they were just caves on a rock, weren’t they ? 

Far from it !  They are the most amazing stalactite and stalagmite caves I have seen for a long time, all 300 metres above sea level !  The access through the caves is done really well, and in fact the whole place has been turned into an auditorium for concerts.  In WWII it was actually used as a hospital !  They used coloured lights everywhere that change colours all the time so it was really hard to get the rocks looking normal and white !  But a big surprise, and most enjoyable – So far so good for our £10 !!

Once out of the caves and back in the sunshine, it was off up more narrow and steep hills until we came across the World War II tunnels.  We had to park down the hill a bit, again with great views over GB, Spain, and Morocco (where else (except Basel) can you see 3 countries (and two continents) at a glance ?  At the top of the walk were a bunch more macaques sitting in the sunshine and picking each other’s fleas, (certainly not the aggressive animals I had been led to believe), and we went into the tunnels. 

These tunnels were dug out by the British Army during the “Great Seige” of 1779 – 1883 when the French and Spanish tried to get the English out of Gibraltar.  The people who dug the tunnels went on to become the Army’s Engineering Corps who still exist today, and the stories about the tunnels and the siege are impressive.

After the tunnels, we headed on down the hill to the Moorish Castle, built originally in 1160.  While driving around these fortified hills we had noticed a number of big iron rings set into the road, as though ships were tied up here – But surely not up here high on the Rock ?  We eventually found the answer – In the old days, they used ropes and these rings to move heavy cannon around the mountain, pulling them by hand from ring to ring !

This Moorish Tower has withstood a number of sieges,  and still bears many of the scars.  Combined with the walls that run down to the sea on two sides (for access), forming an old enclosed and fortified area, this old part of Gibraltar’s history is in remarkable condition, including a bath area, water troughs, and the arches which once formed the ceilings and supported the stairs.  I thought it interesting that the modern steel staircase that today enables us to climb up inside the tower was made in Dewsbury, up in Yorkshire near where I used to live when I was a lot younger. Couldn’t they have found some stairs a bit closer than Dewsbury ???

After visiting the Moorish Castle, we drove around the Old city for a while – It really is amazing just how small it all is, and the streets twist and turn everywhere.  It is funny to see the English names everywhere – Even the interesting and bougainvillea covered “Ashtead Cottage”, the town where I was born in England !  Leaving Gibraltar, we crossed the runway again, this time seeing a BA plane on the tarmac, and then we came to what must be the nightmare for all transport on and off Gibraltar – The queues of traffic trying to get through the Spanish border – Probably about 20 minutes of lining up, and them just letting a few cars through at a time.  I can see why most locals ride scooters around here – Nice weather, very narrow streets with virtually no car parking, and at the border the scooters shoot down a little side lane and go straight across without waiting. 

Once we got off Gibraltar, we paid a quick visit to Carrefour to stock up on groceries and wine for the next couple of days, and then headed back to the same campsite as last night, in Tarifa.  The clear views of the N Africa coast continued as we drove along the coast to the camp site. Where we soon turned in after a long but very interesting day wandering through Gibraltar. 
Pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0424ADayInGibraltar?authkey=Gv1sRgCNTa-6C4yrDS8wE