Project: Red Scarf

Ok so lets wind this one back to the start of the day. 6.30 am Spanish time, and more importantly also two countries and 3 border crossing ago. This is the last blog from our recent Wedding anniversary trip away. We left Spain in the wee hours of  the morning and traveled to tangiers via ferry, the begging of the trip was a bit hectic as the guide didn’t know we were staying over night in Gib, after a few frantic hours and conversations we were agreed to be let of “somewhere safe” that we would be able to reach Gibraltar by our selfs.

Definition of somewhere safe: being dropped off in the middle of a motor way with nothing around for miles! we were officially #lostaf

We frantically figure out that nearest town is about 7 miles away but that there is a small centre of shops near by. We make our way off the motorway and eventually find a under passage, we climb the biggest hill ever and turn the corner and come across an amazing Spanish park, Its vibrant and there are people playing guitar and picnicking. There are fountains and people drinking, such a very chilled out vibe, We were finally off the beaten track and loving it! we’ve found a a lovely rural part of Spain. We spot a taxi driver having a siesta his window is down and he is sleeping. Theres a few empty beer bottles on the passenger seat …but he looks like our only option, Ains give the good old Edinburgh police knock on the window, he wakes with a startle and she asks in her best Spanish if he can take us to the border,  dazily responds and we haggle prices, sorted!.  After a bit of lost in translation we end up paying 14 Euros and not 40 as we had heard, so all in all a good result.

Ains did well i was so proud of her, her Spanish is really good she just lacks confidence sometimes. The cab ride is perfect, its slow and low and sets the tempo to the chilled out night, we catch our first view of the iconic rock and I smile, I’ve been up the rock a lot of times I had family who lived here from time to time and I have great childhood memories, I look at Ains and her face is like a kid who’s just been given a balloon. All wide eyed and jaw struck. We get out tip the guy as he drops us right at the border, there wans’t even a que for a change. We swagger up to the border patrol and are quickly ushered through on both sides and then we see our first bobby! in full London police outfit, his big bobby hat shining in the sunlight he must have been sweltered. Ains is still in total aw of what shes seeing, I then mention the run way that we would have to walk over.

Ains: A what? really? we have to walk over a run way ? J: Yeah its ok though dont worry about it theres traffic lights we will be fine.

I get my go pro out as I’ve never walked this before only ever by bus or car, it seems a lot wider than I remember, and stretches further, probably because were lower to the ground than on a bus. It takes us about 5 or so mins to cross the runway in to the start of the town, we see a petrol station and decide to go for water and then look for a taxi.

I pay for my water in Euros and keep my Scottish Five Pound note for the taxi…. wonder how that will go down? its probably more acceptable hire here than it is in London!

We struggle to find a taxi as the local football team is playing, we head to the bus station to get a taxi and stumble into the main square on the way, We get some proper food at the little rock bar; Buffalo burger and a Spanish Stew.

#hifive #food

A post shared by J ? ??????? (@gallus_jay) on Mar 29, 2016 at 11:12am PDT

We quickly walk around the town looking for a shop to grab a few beers for the room but everything is closed as its late. We catch a cab and pass what used to be the bank of Scotland, it’s now a Nat West…. sadness creeps in but we still have some IRN-BRU, well have some of that when we reach the Caleta. The Caleta is a lovely hotel , its quite art deco form the outside and is nested next to the Caleta bay. My Aunt had an apparently their when I was a younger man, its an amazing location, one of its claims to fame is that it can be seen in the back ground of a big stunt shot in the James Bond film the living daylights! a fun fact thats not really impressive for anyone else but a good child hood memory and Fascination.  The hotel is sat out on the edge of the rock great sea views. We managed to arrive just in time to see the famous skyline vistas at sunset. a picture paints a thousand words, a once in a life time thing, amazing colours.

Unbelievable sky in Gibraltar tonight!

A post shared by Ainsley??????? (@gallus_ains) on Mar 29, 2016 at 12:31pm PDT

The room is rustic but has a lot of charm, and and a balcony with a unique view and is a tad over populated with pesky seagulls! MINE? MINE? MINE?…… name that movie.

By the way it’s our anniversary! we made it a year! go team. on our mini moon in Arizona we visited a vineyard  in a small haunted mining town called Jerome. whilst there we purchased a lot of really nice and rare wines. We didn’t want to waste them so we made a promise only to ever drink them at big occasions in our lifes. We carried them all the way from Arizona to Scotland and then brought one of them to celebrate traveling through Spain, Morocco and now Gibraltar, thats a pretty far traveled bottle of Caduceus but well worth it, It was a lovely smoth wine and perfect for the occasion.

We finished our wine taking a little steam boat trip to Z town, we were shattered and it had been a long long day.

HOLA! Up and out early; 9am .We only have back packs with us and they are full to the brim minus one bottle of wine, We are light weight and ready to trek! theres a lot to see today and not a lot of time. We jump a cab and take the internal tunnels through the centre of the rock to the historical area. We have the jump on the regular tour companies as its a good hour earlier than normal opening times however the view from the bottom of the hill seems a ginormous mountain type creature in front of us that needs to be times, do we have the minerals to do it? I think so.  Its a living and breathing thing, wild life everywhere and strange noises, We don’t know of anyone who has done this before, all research says that most people take private or organised bus tours. Screw it! Jog on!

Let the adventure begin, we start to ascend the monolith, it becomes immediately apparent that this wasn’t going to be an easy ramble. After about 40 minutes of numerous scary bird and Barbary ape sightings we finally reach St Michael Cabin, we grab a quick coffee and breakfast in the cafe and witness the bar tender fighting of a cheeky ape with a brush as he tries to steal some food, money your soul everything, be warned from experience thats what they do! Hold on tightly to your phones!

A cheeky #af #monkey trying to steal anything it can from the #stmichaels bar lol

A post shared by J ? ??????? (@gallus_jay) on Mar 30, 2016 at 10:22am PDT

Fed and watered we met a fellow Scot working behind the ticket counter, he gives us the lowdown on all we get, for our shiny Brittish £10, and its a lot! we get access to  st Michael’s Caves & Opera House, Siege Tunnels, WW2 Tunnels, Ape Enclosure, 100 Tone Gun, Observation Platform and and finally the Moorish Castle.  We looked at the list an and weighed up our timeframe, we could only really effectively avisit three of them.

We headed into the alien landscape its like a H.R. Giger looking aliens set, the caves are a natural stalactites and mites  cave system, they span form floor to sealing and twist and turn like marshmallow flumps.

#stmichelscave #Gibraltar is the #weirdest most #alien #giger esk place ive ever been #geology

A post shared by J ? ??????? (@gallus_jay) on Mar 30, 2016 at 6:33am PDT

The Sound system is up full and for some reason its blasting out some of the worst euro pop we’ve ever heard. The lighting is haunting, shadowy images dance around the cave like your being followed by a mysterious entities of the the local mysterons chapter (if your under 25 then you might not get that Captain Scarlet reference, we are jealous if you don’t. Google it) or spooky ghosts. We get to the exit just as a huge tours comes in, that was lucky we thought until we get out side and count another 8 busses steaming in! we had just missed the morning rush! Again we can’t stress this enough, if you are short on time and want to do this then do the walk your self and get hear early, top tip.

We had originally looked at getting a private tour but it was extremely expensive, a few hundred pounds as there were only the two of us, its cheaper for a party of 6 or 8 as you are hiring the bus and the driver, the group pays for the trip.It will also take a lot more time t do the full official trip, time that we didn’t really have. We passed tour bus after tour bus and we were really happy with the decisions we had made, although the trek was a killer, you must be sufficiently fit, or silly to do this. (sums us up a bit, determined)

#elnino #barbaryape #monkeys #baba #chimp

A post shared by J ? ??????? (@gallus_jay) on Mar 30, 2016 at 10:36am PDT

We headed to the ape enclosure which was surprising quiet, we only saw a few tourists and then decided to take a short cut (not a short cut really) to the siege tunnels we again ascended the massive mountain via the stair case which was  built into the side of the rock, it was very hard work but the views were stunning, we were so happy with the footage and photos. After another 20 mins or so we reach the tunnels.

So today we #climbed to the #top of the #rock of#Gibraltar on foot! The taxi guides said it couldnt be done, they were #wrong! #travelbug #travel #wander #wanderer #seetheworld #gopro #GNARCISSISTIC

A post shared by J ? ??????? (@gallus_jay) on Mar 30, 2016 at 7:00am PDT

The tunnels are very old and date back hundreds of years, the whole inside of the rock of gibraltar is mainly hollow. there are lots of cave systems and mazes of tunnel built in for defence and military use;  They date back to when Morocco owned the area. We have a quick zip around the tunnels get the bejesus scared out of us by some of the displays that have loud noises which are set off by motion sensors, the vlog video is priceless! please check it out!  finally we once again disembarking before the large tour groups arrive.

SH**T We now have under an hour to get to and find the new bus station and its farrrrrr far away. Lets do it.

We quickly make our way down the rocks ,curving and twisting roads, we past the ww2 tunnels and moorish castle making promises to come back and see them soon, we come across a small creeping set of stairs that lead us to the main street. Its time to grab a quick bite to eat, chicken and chips! And then head to any local shop to pick up trip magnets and also some duty free products for friends and family. Gib is a sort of tax haven and there isn’t any vat on alcohol and cigarettes here, its a tax haven. Quickly we scoop up what we need and start to run towards the bus station, we realise that its completely mooved since J’s last visit and it no where near where it once was. Panic sets in but we figure it out and get there with a few minutes to spare. All in all a successful trip.

We settle back in with the other tourists who are all quite perplexed and  confused looking as they buy their memorial plates with there pictures on it whcih they have no clue of  being taken ( don’t ask its a strange thing, have a wee watch of out  youtube video for more info! it’s a strange tradition for Gibraltan tourists to experience, but very normal ) we find our bus guide and settle in,  win tin minutes we are Snoozing on the bus and nearly miss our hotel stop in spain. Slightly burst but plan to hit the pool and hot tub to chill out on our last full day.

Tired!

Jaimsley Signing off