Gibraltar

Because of the hilly nature of Gibraltar I had booked a tour here too, this one on the Internet. The e-mail I got said to make sure we were one of the first off the boat at 9am where he would be waiting with a sign with my name on. Sure enough there he was with his sign and mini bus right outside the door, so we all piled in. His name was Paul and he was, he told us, Gibraltar born and bred. He drove us through land that had been recently reclaimed and into the old city, giving us lots of info on stats and language along the way. He even showed us the house where he and all his predecessors lived. Because we were first off the boat we were first to all the sights, this proved to be a brilliant strategy on Pauls part with two cruise ships in town. We entered the nature reserve before it was even open, with Paul hauling the guy out of his hut and into the kiosk to open the barrier, and set off up the one way 'black road'. This road, Paul explained, was restricted to official taxis, minibuses, etc. We arrived at St Marks cave first and parked right outside, Paul explaining that as the day went on the queue of minibuses would snake down the steep hill leaving the occupants with a long drag up. The cave is used for concerts and such, and has hundreds of stalagmites and stalagmites, all lit in a beautiful light display.  

A little further on up the road we came to Gibraltars most famous residents, the apes. Paul explained all about them, including how the population is kept static by birth control. He then got out his plastic snakes and threw them on his car bonnet. All the older monkeys had been bitten at some point by a snake making them wary, he explained. The younger ones that hadn't been bitten wouldn't do as much damage so he didn't mind them on his car. He knew all the apes, and how old they were. A little one climbed on his roof so he enticed it on Vickys head with peanuts, then onto the heads of all those who weren't afraid. 

Paul explained everything we could see below, we were almost at the highest point and there were some great views. 

All the time we were up there we were the only people. 

Paul then drove us further along the treacherous looking road, stopping to show us a clip from a James Bond film where Timothy dalton was hurtling down the same but of road on the back of a truck. We were first to arrive at the world

War II caves where you can see some of the miles of caves that riddle the rock. I asked Paul if he explored them as a child. He said that of course they used to break in, only to be chased out by the military. 

He dropped us off right outside and we had a wander round. 

Paul then explained all we could see from that side of the rock 

He then parked right outside a tower built by Moors to defend the straits so we explored that. There was another great view from the roof

The 1000 ton gun was next, Paul told us it was accurate over 5 miles, but took three hours to load. Here Vicky got lost coming back from the toilet. 

Finally Paul took us to Europa point, where the lighthouse is situated. 

Paul dropped us off on Main Street, and pointed us in the right direction to get back to the ship. Another brilliant tour, and the amount of people on the street showed his decision to leave early was spot on. Well done Paul. 

We wandered down the heaving thoroughfare, and Vicky and I managed to get some perfume. I got some Chanel No 5 at a really good price, then got a 10% Thompson discount. Well done Kathy for not letting me stop to buy it in Luton airport. Vicky got some Jimmy Choo that she has been saving up for with the same discount. A stop was made for very milky coffee in a small cafe, then we walked the kilometre or so back to the ship. We all lunched, Ian overfaced himself, then some people went off for a nap, Alex went to try and run all the way round Gibraltar, and us some of us watched a man making a giant ice sculpture. Guess what it is. 

Yes, it's a swan.

We then entered a quiz, with clues leading to sweets, where we won a Thompson cap. The big money bingo game was next, unfortunately neither mum and Vicky or Rotherham United came through for us, they all lost. 

We changed and ate our final meal, before watching the final show (musical songs) and then to bed. 

Tomorrow - home!

P.s. Our departure and flight home were uneventful, except for Kathy and me having the extra legroom seats, so I am finishing my blog here. 

The End