Wow we have been back in Gib for 3 weeks now and time is flying by. We have settled back into a routine, I have joined the gym again and try to go a couple of times a week which then also gives me time to go to yoga a couple of times a week. Been so lucky to find a gym which is really cheap and the yoga is not only cheap but also a lovely place where everyone has been really friendly.
Mark has been running around all over the place to get extra bits for the boat for doing all the jobs that need to get completed before we leave again. I am glad to be out in the mornings as when I return the boat has been turned upside with tools and bits of boat all over the place.
This week has been really successful with the fitting of our wonderful new solar panels, we actually bought there in October in Mallorca but this has been out first chance to get them fitted after Mark had some bespoke stainless brackets manufactured whilst we were in the UK
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| 2 Super Solar panels |
Just after we arrived back on the 5th January we went along to the 3 Kings Cavalcade which involves a large carnival down the main street in Gibraltar . The Cavalcade celebrates the story of the 3 wise men that brought gifts to Jesus, in many countries children actually receive their Christmas gifts the following morning. We heard about the parade on the radio but had no idea it was such a big event, 9000-10000 people attended (seemed like the whole of Gibraltar !!) the floats were quite elaborate and the kids obviously loved every minute. We spent most of our time trying to avoid being hit on the head by the sweets being thrown from the floats. It was actually a really nice event to experience and demonstrated what a community spirit there seems to be in Gib. Unfortunately we did not take the camera so no photos L
The weather has been great for making the most of our time here, we have only really had one day of heavy rain which made the boat freezing so we curled up under the duvet and watched a DVD but otherwise we have had some stunning days. The sun remains strong at this time of year but any breeze is pretty chilly. The weather is normally reasonably consistent with 3-4 days Levante (wind from East) followed by 2-3 wind from West. Levante is usually a little stronger and often leads to cloud on the Rock. Temperature has been around 16 degrees most days although sure it has been warmer than that on a few afternoons. We are already watching the weather thinking about when we leave!
A walk to the top of the Rock is back to being a regular, at least once at the weekend and we have had some stunning days, even walking in our shorts today. It is lovely to see the surroundings on the walk changing with the wild flowers starting to bloom (they think it is Spring) and the Sea Gulls are also sitting on eggs so there as lots of activity and noise with them!
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| Looking North East from the top of Rock into Spain |
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| Looking West from the top of the Rock into Spain & Algerciras |
We also had few trips out to Europa Point it is always very bracing as you can never get any shelter from the wind but normally fantastic views of the Straits and Morocco
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| Europa Point lighthouse and our great fold up bikes |
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| Mountains for Morocco in distance |
It has been great having our fold up bikes on the boat, makes it so much easier to get around and makes the shopping doable – never take for granted going to your local supermarket in your car and being able to get what you want. Again we love the fact that we have a Morrisons here so we can get lots of home comforts but it is not always that easy when half the shelves are not stocked and they are waiting for a delivery from the UK
This week we decided to treat ourselves to a hire car to get out and about. We headed to Tarifa to the beautiful beach, as soon as we saw the sea, pine trees and surf shops it felt as special as every other time we have visited. We had a walk around the headland at the far western end of Valdevaqueros beach even though we have been to Tarifa a number of times we still managed to explore areas of the beach where we had never been. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the wind was about a force 3 so we did get to see some kite surfers flying across the waves and being a week day in winter there was hardly anyone else on the beach.
We didn’t time our visit to the town very well as it was siesta time but we still went on a drive around just to bring back memories.
At the other end of the spectrum from the sleepy, old, chilled out surf town of Tarifa is Sotogrande, a purpose built urbanisation just north of Gib. We decided to have a drive up as we have never been there but also as they have a marina with a travel lift (which we may have wanted to use). Sotogrande is almost like a gated estate in the US, there were some nice looking houses but not many people around, the marina was very upmarket although not very many boats were in or out of the water and most of the boats not very surprisingly were power boats. The marina had a few bars and cafes but not much else, would not be the best place to get the boat out of the water as you would need a car to get provisions, etc. The real positive of the marina is the well stocked chandlery, the best we have come across in the Med and seemed reasonably price – we never appreciated the chandleries in the UK until we left and realised how limited they were elsewhere and how over priced!
We also crammed into our day with the car a whole load of food shopping! Already thinking about when we leave Gib and what a challenge shopping, in terms of location, price and availability we learnt this from our limited experience last year. Now we just need to find space on Magnum for as much food as possible!
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