Andalucia 2008
Day Three: 10th October
Weather: Overcast, with a strong southerly gale blowing
Route: Windy Gibraltar
There was a gale blowing up from Africa today and later on it dumped a large amount of Sahara sand on the newly whitewashed walls of the hotel we were staying at tomorrow. The drive down was uneventful, and I found that if I stayed on the toll roads the traffic was much lighter -the Spanish maybe related to Yorkshire men? The toll wasn’t that expensive though and well worth it in my eyes.
The first indication of the rough weather was on the approach to the rock, as the waves were crashing up against the seafront in spectacular fashion. As we got to the border the traffic queues began, and I wondered how bad they would be at the height of the summer season. It took the best part of an hour to get to the border and pass through the passport control. I also wondered where would everyone park? I solved this later in the day when looking down from the top of the rock, with the car parks spread out below. We drove across the airstrip and into the town looking for a car park. Thankfully everywhere was full, as I had no hankering to walk around any shops – my idea of hell on earth. So I continued to drive along through the industrial area past the 100t Gun and around to Europa point.
The mosque taking the full force of the gale – flying
carpets anyone?
‘I’ll just nip out for some milk….oops’
The sea was really churning here – see the fridges on the
top
I stayed in the car for this shot of the waste disposal unit
There is a mosque here on the most exposed side of the island, built in 1977, and was a gift from King Fahad Al-saud. Beyond the mosque lies the lighthouse standing prominently on the cliff top. It was here that I thought it was raining, but it turned out it was sea-spray. I drove a little further around and parked up to go and take some pictures, braced in the shelter of an old wall. The sea was spectacularly pounding and churning against the cliffs, and occasionally a massive spume of seawater would break up over the cliff top. It was hard work just getting out of the car never mind standing still in the gale force winds and a fair few of my pictures turned out a bit shaky. There was also a bulk freighter that sat decidedly uneasy in the water and was being attended by a tug boat. The Liberian-registered Fedra was dragging her anchor in a force 8 gale Friday afternoon. Despite the efforts of two tug boats to hold the ship clear of land, its anchor broke and the stern of the 35,000 tonne vessel smashed against rocks at Europa Point -- Europe's most southerly spot.
Have a look at what happened to the ship <click here>. It must have smashed into the cliffs later in the day after we had gone. After getting a good soaking from the sea spray I drove up to park before walking up to the upper rock. It was the most expensive parking spot I have had for a while - £17! - but that included entrance to the upper rock and St Michael’s cave. St Michael’s Cave was full of the usual stalactites and stalagmites seen in any limestone caves around the world – certainly no better than our own caves in the UK. There was also a small café at the cave, where there were some cheeky monkeys hanging around. The rock apes were very quick to exploit anyone eating fruit or chocolate in their presence, and they tried to pinch anything they could. I suppose they can sense when they can intimidate someone into throwing them some food. I bought some chocolate bars and as I went to pay for them the cashier snatched them up off the counter before a sharp eyed cheeky chappie could steal them away.
She seemed resigned to her fate
Looking down from the path up to O’Hara’s battery
The battery, with the cable car stop beyond
The old Moorish lookout point
The view along to the end of the rock
The other side of O’Hara’s battery
For the remainder of the time they just picked each others fur for fleas and ticks – yum. From the café it was a steady walk up to the highest point on the rock at O’Hara’s battery, a mind boggling 426m high. Actually it was so windy it did feel very exposed up there. There were some old war buildings associated with the gun points and also a lovely round shelter with a conical roof. This was an ancient Moorish lookout, that has commanding views of all it’s surroundings – the very steep scarp face to the south and the sea, and the less steep(but steep enough) slope to the north. When you get up here you realise that it would be a big ask to invade the rock and survive to tell the tale. The houses below looked tiny when I peered over the edge, and the town (or is it city) of Gibraltar and the airstrip appeared through the mist further along. There weren’t many people walking up here, as most chose to go on a guided tour that took them along the cliff top. They missed a treat, a very bracing walk, with a few monkeys for company along the way.
A monkey hanging around for some tourists
Look what I can do…
We dropped down and walked along the road to the cable car, which was shut down due to the high winds today. There is a set of steps that lead steeply up from the town, with several stopping points along the way for a breather. The monkeys were hanging around here, presumably because their victims were so puffed out after climbing the steps that there were easy pickings. After returning to the car we drove around to the siege tunnels to have a quick look around. They were quite impressive with the wind howling and banging around the lower tunnels, scaring the life out of several small children!
Looking out over the graveyard and the airport from the
siege tunnels
One of the many tunnels
The palm trees going with the flow!
Then it was back to the traffic queues to depart the rock and pass through the Spanish passport control. It took about an hour to get out and I was glad the weather was not so good. I would not come here in the summer rush, but today was spectacular in its own way and a good leg stretcher for the days to come.