The Rock...

We knew this was going to be a 'fun' experience from the start when we couldnt find the main road into Gibralter and went via an Oil Refinery and a dirt road.



For those of you dont know Gibralter is a British Colony and therefore not Spanish which means.. oh yes.. passports are required to enter, which of course, I, Vicki, didnt have! Not to be disuaded we came up with a stunning plan. Coraleen would go in a few minutes before me with her NZ passport and I would follow using her British one.. fingers crossed we could make it work.



We didnt want to take Molly in so parked her just outside the 'border' which is more like a large gateway and off we trotted. Sure enough it worked.. we were in. Gibralter being extremely small with only the ROCK to its name we were surprised, to say the least, to have to walk across a runway before the actual town and after passport control and customs. There are 4 planes a day and this is the only runway... it seemed rather weird to walk across a runnway. The first thing we saw was a double decker bus headed for town. Given the heat.. yes it had already hotted up down here so we took the bus to town. Everthing was in English even the currency and they a Safeway... for those NZers this is just like a Foodtown. We were in heaven and managed to buy such rareities as vegemite, tins of salmon, vinegar and best of all for Coraleen books written in English. Gibralter is also a tax haven where cigarettes and alcohol are duty free. Silly me only bought one carton of cigarettes! But we did have baked beans on toast and bacon and eggs for lunch instead of Paella or Taps.. a delight to say the least.



As we only had a few hours we took a tourist taxi to the top of the Rock. In the rock are the WW2 tunnels which were excavated as a defence for the British Milirary during the 2nd WW. It was an amazing place, mainly English speaking, awesome views where the Med and Atlantic oceans meet and some unusual characters too I might add.



There are actually Apes sitting on the fences along the road to the top of the Rock and they will take food out of your hand and pose for a photo even! The tunnels themselves are worth a look and while there are some things which have been done for tourists and a bit tacky in general they are interesting. As we were walking through them we heard a voice 'Halt Who Goes There' animated of course although at first we didnt realise and I thought Coraleen was going to wet her pants.. she got a helluva fright.





View from the top of the Rock looking out to Morocco.





View from the Town Centre looking up to the top of the Rock.



Another view from part way up the Rock where the Med and Atlantic Oceans meet.

Coraleen at one of the lookout points in the Tunnels.

One of the tacky additions.. but I could never resist a man in a uniform!

And getting out was just as easy.. we walked out through passport control and customs and back to Molly who had sat all day waiting for us in the heat.

From here we cruised on up to Marbella where, really, we dont have a lot to report as we enjoyed three days of R and R relaxing on the beach. Although in saying that we did manage to buy 5 copy CD's on the beach and Coraleen was asked to go back to his house as he was sure she was desperate for sex being away from her husband for so long!! And all this was conveyed despite the language barrier!! They are definitely wordly con men in their element.. but no match for us Kiwi gals :-)