Gibraltar – turnrightoutofportsmouth

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Continuing our journey south from Banos de Fortuna we took the A92 motorway across the mountains towards Granada as we didn’t want to go along the Almeria (plastic) coast. My first mistake was thinking, and telling Calv, that we weren’t going very far – I thought it was about 60 miles, rather than the 160 miles that it actually was…Yes, I was in trouble! (The next step from La Peza to Loja was actually 60 miles).

However it was all worth it as La Peza was delightful. From the dedicated motorhome park-up we could see the castle on the other side of the town, and an Ermita on the other hill. Behind us we could see a mirador up a road that was definitely cyclable.

Walking to the castle in the morning entailed a steep downhill into town followed by, you’ve guessed it, a steep uphill to the castle. Along the way we saw old men sitting together on benches chewing the cud and being greeted by everyone who passed by 🙂 After visiting the castle we headed over to the other hill to visit the Ermita before going back to the van via a quick drink in Fernando’s bar, discovering a fully intact outdoor lavaderia along the way 🙂

After a spot of lunch we jumped on our bikes to cycle up the mountain to the mirador and a little further along a cycle route heading into the mountains. Coming back down the hill was quite hairy (for me anyway – I really don’t like the downhills!!)

We didn’t stay a 2nd night, but only because on our way in we had passed an area to stop beside a reservoir. This was only a few miles away on the road back up to the motorway; so we spent our 2nd night here.

Next up was a stop that I’d found in Loja. Well, the motorhome area itself was fine, being in a newer & slightly nicer part of town, but on walking towards the towers that we could see in the old town and wandering around a little we realised that it wasn’t the nicest and we were very happy to move on in the morning.

Our next destination was La Cala de Mijas. However, along the way we toyed with the idea of stopping in the car park at El Torcal (near Antequera) and doing a walk. Calv looked at the map and decided that he was going to go up THAT road. I was a little dubious, but just agreed and of course when we got to THAT road it was only suitable for a tractor and we would never even consider using it. So instead we went up the next mountain road, which wasn’t much better and joined the ‘main’ road via a very steep junction (luckily when we got there there was nothing coming!!) Unfortunately though we didn’t like the look of the El Torcal car park for staying in and as the weather wasn’t wonderful we moved on. We went via Antequera to get on the motorway on the last bit into La Cala.

We stayed 4 nights here, meeting new people, having nights out and also 1 get together in our van, which resulted in us not being able to move on the next day as originally planned…

Our next stop was just a few miles along the coast at Cabopino where we have stayed several times. This was definitely our last time though and we only stayed 6 nights rather than the 11 that we had originally intended. We did get some washing done though and met up with some friends who were staying nearby. We walked back to La Cala along the boardwalk one day – it’s a really pleasant walk now that the boardwalk fully connects both areas.

This area really isn’t cycle friendly but we did go out on our bikes a couple of times to do bits of shopping. On our first outing I had forgotten about the really steep culvert on our route; bad enough on the way but coming back the very steep upwards after the long drawn out downwards almost defeated me. I had to go back and have another go (with Calv’s encouragement of course….) He reckons that it’s a 1in3.

Next stop was Gibraltar where we stumbled upon a perfect park-up in a marina, with the imposing rock as our backdrop. We managed a run along the promenade in the morning and then a 10 minute walk takes you to the border crossing, where we showed not just our passports, but our parking ticket and proof that we were going home at some point! We had a pleasant wander around seeing many things that we hadn’t seen on our first visit – the Trafalgar cemetery where we found the grave of 1 of the sailors killed at the battle, the courthouse, the cathedral and the gates to the town.

Sitting down for a lunch of fish and chips, with several eateries to choose from I was stunned to realise that I recognised someone who was sat a few tables away from us – it was Justin who I went to school with and his wife Debs who had just arrived for a long weekend. What are the chances of not only being there at the same time but actually choosing the same place to eat at the same time 🙂

We then spent a couple of hours in the Lord Nelson pub tucked into the corner of the Casemates Square where we met another couple who were over for the weekend. We did our best to persuade them to get a motorhome!

Apart from a violent bout of food poisoning that night our visit to Gibraltar couldn’t have been much better!

Next up we discovered another perfect little camper stop nestled between Tarifa and Cadiz, on the Trafalgar coast, a haven for surf enthusiasts from around the world. Los Canos de Meca exuded surfer vibes, the beach was absolutely beautiful, the water warm and the food on offer simple yet satisfying. We reluctantly bid farewell after 3 nights to move on to our last stop in Spain before heading into Portugal.

Our final Spanish stop was in fact Seville, our overnight stop greeting us with views of the city itself. A short bus ride took us to the bus station at the Plaza de Armes from where we walked for about 10 mins to get to the centre. Despite encountering tourist crowds, meaning that we weren’t able to visit the cathedral or the alcazabar, and dining dilemmas (nothing suitable seemed to be open), the majesty of the Plaza de Espana and an impromptu flamenco performance made the visit worthwhile. I loved the Plaza de Espana having missed visiting when I first visited Seville as it was flooded and closed.

This section of our travels, each stop offered a different experience, from scenic vistas to unexpected reunions.

New adventures awaited in Portugal as we prepared to travel up the N2 route through the centre.

Stay tuned for this next chapter of our travels 🙂

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I started this post last night while it was still fresh in my mind – unfortunately it had disappeared by the time I came to finish it. Now I’ve got to remember everything all over again!

First to get us up-to-date. We arrived here at Cabopino (Calahonda nearer to Marbella than Malaga) on Thursday. The site is okay and we settled in quite quickly as we’re staying here for 3 weeks – it’s just a shame that it’s directly on the main Costa del Sol road. Mind you it looks like it’s pretty impossible to avoid that if you want to be located near the beach.

It’s not particularly cycle friendly (mainly because of the location and reliance on the A7) although Calv has been out and about (and managed to snap his chain…) He’s fixed it, of a fashion, but does need a new one. He’s also identified some work arounds for cycling, so I will be going out at some point!

We’ve also been out for a couple of long walks. There’s a boardwalk along the beach here, and also a bit past the port. The one nearest to us is to protect the dunes mainly, but during the week we will be able to cycle along it.

However, we quickly realised that in order to really appreciate a bit more of the area we would need a car, so on Monday we picked one up for 10 days. What a painless process that was! We were then able to go shopping without having to worry about how much we bought. But we’re now very much into the habit of not buying what we don’t need, so didn’t spend that much anyway 🙂

In the afternoon we dropped down on the A7 to Marbella. We tried a couple of times to find a road down to the beach with no luck, so decided to continue onto Puerto Banus. This wasn’t at all what we were expecting. As we wandered through the port we were accosted by scores of hawkers wandering around. Calv’s comment was ‘It’s not Monaco is it?’ We were definitely in the right place as it was lined with designed stores! I expect it’s different when the sun’s out.

With the car we were able to go along the coast to visit Gibraltar, which is about 60 miles from where we’re staying. Calv has never been and I’ve visited once about 10/11 years ago.

We returned to old habits and managed to get lost in the border town, La Linea de la Concepcion, having decided that we wouldn’t take the SatNav as “it couldn’t be that difficult to find”.. Not somewhere you want to get lost… Anyway we pulled up Google maps and found our way to the big car park by the border. It costs 1.80 per hour to a maximum of 14.40 per day (Euros that is).

We had no problems going through – this is a busy crossing! Don’t forget your passports!

We were inappropriately dress in shorts and t-shirt as the weather we looked at turned out to be lying to us. Also we didn’t check the wind speed. We should have checked the wind speed! It was VERY windy. Also the clouds, I think they call them the Levant, hung around for most of the day. Luckily we walked a lot which kept us warm 🙂

So we took the bus over the runway and into the city centre. After breakfast in ‘Little Rock’ in Casemate Square we wandered the main street of shops (which included M&S, Next, Dorothy Perkins & Monsoon) and saw the government buildings and also the courthouse, where barristers were milling outside and there was a camera crew outside – presumably waiting for a newsworthy verdict to come in.

When we came to the end of the street we turned round with the intention of going off up one of the little side streets, I fancied visiting the Victorian Police Station, but we didn’t actually make it there.

Instead we went up Bombhouse Lane and found the Gibraltar Museum. We took a while to decide to go on in, because it sort of undersells itself. There are archaeological remains in there together with some pretty well preserved Turkish Bath remains that existed in the house itself. It cost just £2 each to visit and was well worth it. Thoroughly recommend it. (No photography allowed though).

Look out for the red plaques on buildings as they give you historical information. We then made our way along Lovers Lane and the bastions to find the cable car. We could see it in the distance so just headed that way! It costs just over £10 for a one way trip, just over £12 for a return or just over £20 (each) for a one way trip and a ticket to visit the attractions in the nature reserve, which entails walking back down. We went for the last option. Once at the top we went out onto the terrace of the café and were very nearly blown away, the wind was vicious up there! But we saw our 1st macaques of the day 🙂

Grooming

Brooding

Calv thought you might have drunk in here Kathy?

We then headed off to explore. We lost our map early on; no idea how but Calv thinks the wind snatched it out of my hand and I was so busy trying to stay on my feet that I didn’t notice! Anyway this, eventually, meant that we missed St Michael’s Cave as we thought we’d gone the wrong way – as it turned out we were just too impatient! So we turned back too early and headed on down towards the other side of the rock to see the attractions that I didn’t see the 1st time I visited, namely, The Siege Tunnels, WWII Tunnels and the Moorish Castle. It’s rather a long walk, even though we shortened it a little by walking down a closed road (our rationale being that it was only closed to cars as it was easy to walk around the barrier). It did mean we didn’t have to play chicken with the taxis for a while. Which was nice.. 🙂

We visited both the Siege Tunnels and the Moorish Castle and I was impressed with both. I didn’t realise how ignorant I was of the history of Gibraltar before coming here today. I now know, for instance, that Spain itself has only held the Rock for 33 years in the last 800 or so, and the Siege tunnel was built to wait out the 3 year siege laid by the Spanish with French reinforcements.

The tunnels are a mine of information which really brings the history to life. It’s worth carrying on to the end, even though it’s like walking down a wind tunnel. Calv thought it would be funny to tell people that there was a nice café at the end…

The inside of the castle was unexpected. For instance the ceilings inside are domed and I found out that the King had a suite of rooms which included a heated shower! Whilst interesting there’s little to see in there and so the visit is short, although the top of the tower does provide an excellent viewpoint of the runway to watch take-offs and landings.

On leaving the castle you’re on the last stretch back down to the main drag. I spotted some ‘Castle Steps’ on the right of the road and persuaded Calv that this was probably a quicker way to go. He wasn’t too convinced that I wasn’t going to get us lost again but, although there were a lot of steps, it brought us out opposite Peacocks in the Main Street. We were thinking of stopping somewhere for a cup of tea and a slice of cake but were so tired that we headed straight back to the car.

On leaving the car park we stayed on the coast road and spotted the Aire, that we’d been told about, on the Eastern side of the peninsula. The wind was still really high and I took this video of the waves – it doesn’t really show just how rough the water was though. (The video is at the beginning of the post as it keeps putting it there and I’m getting cross now…!)

We decided to pay the toll on the way back (a total of 5.10Euros) back to Marbella, but much quicker. As it was quite late and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast (and had walked about 8 miles since) we ended up in McDonalds. And we had McFlurrys… I doubt we’ll be doing that again for a while!

Today (Wednesday) we are both aching all over, so we walked over to the beach and the port to make sure we didn’t seize up completely. Calv managed to get in a bit of beachcombing as well 🙂 (We also found where we’ll be watching the rugby on Saturday).

Cheers 🙂 See you again soon x

Tag: Gibraltar

Heading south in Spain, from the mountains to the coast

Gibraltar – Tuesday 21st February 2017