The Rock of Gibraltar

When we open the hatch and look out side this morning the rock of Gibraltar is there looking right back at us. It looks just like it does in all the pictures it is surreal to have it as the backdrop to our breakfast in the cockpit.
We only have one day to see Gibraltar as we are leaving tomorrow morning. There is Easterly wind due to blow from Tuesday onwards so we want to get around the rock and further east before that kicks in.
We are still in Spain so we put our walking shoes on and head for Britain. We skip past a tailback of of cars waiting to cross the boarder and quickly realise this boarder is no joke and we have to go through two passport controls and pass by customs with our backpack full of water and sun cream.
The road into Gibraltar passes through the airport and over the runway. When a plane is due barriers close the road to cars and pedestrians just as like a railway level crossing. So we walk across the runway to get into the city. Gibraltar reminds Ronan of Australian cities - there is very much a British feel in the architecture of the old town but also the influence of the sun in the overall design.
We don’t stay too long in the town as we have our sights on the Rock. We book at shared taxi tour which is expensive at 40 per person. It turns out to be well worth it.
When we are about to hop into the taxi I have my usual panic about the possibility of getting hungry - it being nearly lunchtime. The driver says we can bring some snacks so we stock up with about 3 days worth of provisions. He warns us that we leave the bus to see attractions, we must leave the food along with all bags in the vehicle which he will lock. The apes on the mountain love to open bags and steal food and have been know to open car doors.
We were already a little nervous about meeting the Macaques and now we find out they are thieves.
At every stop we diligently leave our bags in the van. There are no apes at our first stop; a viewing point which looks out over the Straits. Morocco’s mountains are vividly clear as the sun shines down on us.
The next stop is St Michael’s Cave and there are Barbary Macaques outside going about their business as we all rush to get our phones out. Our tour guide is under time pressure and tells us that this is ‘cave stop’ and not the ‘Ape stop’; We must ignore the Macaque lying across our path and go into see the Cave.
Inside the Cave is incredible. There are enormous stalagmites and stalactites, several storeys high. There are huge caverns within the caves so there is room enough to stand back and enjoy the sound and light show that is projected on the Rocks all around. One of the caverns has been converted into an auditorium and hosts concerts.
We continue on the bus uphill until we get to the Skywalk. This is a spectacular viewing platform with a glass floor suspended out over the mountain and takes all our nerves to walk and enjoy the view all around and under us. The Macaques are here too sitting pretty for photos, probably just waiting to rob some unsuspecting tourist.
We go further up the hill again (so glad we didn’t walk) and come to the Ape stop. This is where the Apes are fed so that they don’t travel down the mountain in town in search of an easy meal. There are Macaques here and also lots wasps because of the food so we are happy not to stay too long.
The taxi tour is now on the downhill and the next stop is to see Great Siege tunnels. They were dug out during in the 1780s when the Spanish and French tried to recapture Gibraltar from the British. The British dug out tunnels so that they could transport cannons to the other side of the Rock. These tunnels are miles and miles long and as we walk along, every so often we come to cannon which is placed at an opening in the rock. You can look through the opening down to the city, airport and sea.
This is the last stop on the tour bus which is heading back to the city. We take the driver up on his suggestion to disembark here to walk down the rest of the way in order to visit the remaining attractions. He happily waves us off leaving us holding our massive bag of food. The Macaques are eyeing us up - so we dash into the cave and hurriedly eat everything in the bag.
On the way down the hill we visit the World War 2 tunnels, the Moorish castle and a few more bits - we are bleary-eyed from sight- seeing. We hail a taxi but of course he can only drop us to the boarder so we walk the rest of the way home.
When we look up at the rock now we see it differently - we can now see all the holes in it.Read more