Gibraltar Rocks…!!

Klaus and I pose outside his workshop in Gibraltar, where the Big Fella was serviced...

The Lighthouse at Europa Point stands on a rocky promontory jutting out into the Med...

I originally intended to spend just two nights in Gibraltar, and then move on to Tarifa and then Portugal, before beginning the long North-Easterly ride to Norway. I had mentioned to John that the Big Fella was due for a service, as I had covered over 10 000 kms since leaving Nairobi, where it had last received some TLC…

John suggested that I have the bike serviced right here in Gibraltar, and this we were able to arrange with No. 1 Bykes and its owner Klaus.

His busy workshop is filled with bikes of all shapes and sizes, many of them having made trips into Morocco and further south. There are a huge amount of scooters here in Gibraltar, and naturally these make up the bulk of the motorcycles that Klaus has to deal with on a daily basis…

With promises to have the bike ready by Friday afternoon, I left the Big Fella in Klaus’s care and rode back to John’s apartment on the back of his Triumph Tiger, snapping photos of Gibraltar while he concentrated on getting us home through the narrow twisting streets of the town.

Camp Bay, on the south-western tip of Gibraltar, is known as "The Quarry" by locals...

The runway bisects the entry and exit road to the town. The Border Post lies behind the aircraft terminal building in the centre of the photo...

Gibraltar has a permanent population of only 30 000 people, yet managed to produce this current year’s Miss World…! Babes abound here…!! During the height of the tourist season, when cruise ships are docking almost daily, it receives an influx of up to 60 000 visitors per day…! Thousands of Spanish citizens work on the Rock, and commute daily from the nearby town of La Linea. Traffic on the rock all but comes to a standstill at times, and with only about 52 kilometres of road network on Gibraltar, it is not difficult to see why! The runway of the airport runs directly across the access road into town, and when a plane lands or takes off, all traffic into and out of Gibraltar is temporarily halted…

What is even more interesting is that there are actually more roads inside the Rock than there are outside of it…!! There are almost 60 kilometres of road network hollowed out of the rock itself, where the British forces over hundreds of years have dug tunnels to supply the many naval guns that stuck out of gun ports scattered on every face of the sheer mountain… During the Second World War, Gibraltar controlled the Mediterranean Straits with their massive artillery pieces, placed strategically on the very top of the mountain… There are enough tunnels and roads to house the entire population of Gibraltar… Can you imagine squeezing 30 000 people into a mountain…!!

The flags of the European Union, Britain and Gibraltar from atop one of the military emplacements up on the Rock...

From many vantage points throughout the territory, the continent of Africa can be seen...

The Rock has been a British military base for centuries, and serves as a strategic defence point for entry to and exit from the Mediterranean. The straits are just 23 kms wide at their narrowest point, and North Africa is clearly visible from almost any vantage point. NATO also has a base here, and Warships from many nations call here on a regular basis.

The deep water harbour here can accommodate ships as large as aircraft carriers…!! Nuclear submarines patrolling the Atlantic and the Mediterranean cause consternation among activists when they visit Gibraltar… A very active and visible Police force, ensure that the levels of excitement do not rise too high…

Although Gibraltar is a British Territory, it has its own currency, linked directly to the British Pound. On the Gibraltarian banknotes, the Queen is actually smiling, while on the Sterling notes, she is not. This is probably due to the atrocious weather she has to put up with on the British Isles, while Gibraltar enjoys the sun-filled days of the Costa del Sol…!!

Loredana, Jenny and John, my fabulous hosts in Gibraltar...

Ferries to and from Morocco cross the bay at all hours of the day and night, and ships arrive here to refuel from all over the world. Gibraltar is a “free port” with most goods being tax free, hence its popularity with the naval world… It serves as the “jumping off point” for yachts cruising the Mediterranean, as well as those about to make the Atlantic crossing to the Americas and the Caribbean.

John, who has called Gibraltar his home for the last 15 years, is a hive of information about all matters Gibraltarian, and regaled me with stories of its ancient and modern day history… On a walk through town, he showed me the registry office where John Lennon and Yoko Ono were married, the bastions where cannon guarded the town in days gone by, the old pubs (at one time there were over 360 of them in this small town!) and many other points of interest. I am continually amazed at the rich and long history of this tiny parcel of land jutting out into the Med…

Gibraltar is one of the Pillars of Hercules, the two landmarks recognized in Ancient times as the place that guards the Straits into the Med...

In the caves near Europa Point, the skull and bones of Neanderthals have been found, and carbon dated to about 24 000 years ago, proving that the Neanderthals still existed here long after they were thought to be extinct…

With Loredana pushing Jenny in the pram, we wandered down the Main Street, a pedestrian walkway lined with shops servicing the massive influx of tourists. We visited the Cathedral, where we all lit candles for friends and family… This was something I had last done in the Dom Cathedral in Cologne many years ago…

The afternoon before, we had driven up to the Upper Rock and the nature reserve up on the slopes of The Rock, where we stopped to admire the stupendous views from high up above the town. We came across a small troop of Barbary Apes that clambered about quite unafraid of the tourists that stood only a few feet away from them. There are apparently about 300 Apes on the Rock, and they have been known to come right down off the slopes and into town when food on the mountain becomes scarce. The British Army stationed here feed the Apes on a regular basis, presumably to keep them healthy and out of the town below…

The narrow roads on the mountain are draped perilously close to the edge of sheer cliffs and one mistake up here will send you off the edge… The road zig-zags up a series of switchbacks, some so acute, that cars have to make a two or three point turn to negotiate them… Out on the most southern tip are three massive artillery pieces, no longer in working order, but in their day, able to lob shells across the strait and into Africa…

Details of the O'Hara's Battery, with it's gun that can "chuck a can" across to Africa if need be...

The Gypsy Biker is formally introduced to one of the Rock's permanent residents...

In a small public garden close to where John lives, is a memorial garden dedicated to Lord Nelson, who triumphed over the combined French and Spanish Fleet at the battle of Trafalgar, which lies to the west of Gibraltar. Nelson perished in this battle and his body was placed in a cask of rum to preserve it, and brought to Gibraltar… From here it was returned to England and entombed in St. Paul’s Cathedral, one of only a handful of famous people who were honoured in this way. Others being Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Montgomery and Florence Nightingale…

The weather here has been amazing… The sun goes down at around 9.30pm, making for a rather long day… There are so many things to do and see here, that the few days I planned to stay, have now stretched to four or five…!! The annual La Linea fair is being assembled as I write this, and we intend to spend a few hours, wandering around the many food and other entertainment stalls, later tonight… Our late afternoons have been spent in the pool below the balcony, or feeding the fish in the Marina out front… We also spent time at the little restaurant downstairs where it’s owner Pepe, a bull fighting aficionado, regaled me with stories about bullfights he had attended as well as many facts about this pastime that Spaniards are so fond of… I would like to attend a bullfight, but not one where the bull is killed, so I will probably have to wait for Portugal or South America…

Sneaky lot, the Spaniards...

The province of Andalucia is where all the fighting bulls are bred. They are extremely aggressive, and do not allow people to come too close to them, a fact John discovered once, when he stopped on the side of the road to heed an urgent call of nature… He had sidled up to a nondescript fence out in the Andalucian countryside, and was in the process of relieving himself, when a snort from the other side of the fence made him look up and into the face of an angry bull… Needless to say, John cut short what he was doing…

I learnt more about bullfighting in a few hours with John and Pepe, than I had ever known… I wanted to see the fights for the drama and pageantry that surrounds the whole scene… The aura that the Matador carries with him… And I’d like to see a Matador tossed into the air and trampled a few times as well, to be honest…!! The bulls in Spain are not always killed, and if one puts up a terrific fight, he can be “pardoned” by the promoter or judge in charge… He is then properly cared for and goes on to a stud farm, where he will hopefully breed more of the type of bull that he himself once represented in the bullrings of Spain…

The Gypsy Biker takes aim at Egypt...

Catalan Bay, on the Eastern, or Levante side of the Rock, is where the original Genoavese merchants and traders settled... The light coloured steep slope behind the village is sand blown over from the Sahara, that has accumulated there over the centuries...

The opportunity to stay with John and Loredana, has given me a chance to acclimatize to Europe and properly prepare for the next few weeks ride through Spain, Portugal, Andorra and France… Their generosity and hospitality has been wonderful, and certainly contributed to smoothing my entry into Europe…

I am fortunate indeed to have friends such as these…

©GBWT 2010