Home from home

Excitement built as we caught glimpses of The Rock, appearing and disappearing behind hills. A great white craggy blur, off in the distance. We have been to Gibraltar many times and we love it. On cruises, long weekends and to do our RYA sailing exams.

We have arrived by air and by sea, but never by road, and although all are dramatic, the drive showed us a very different perspective, when all at once  we saw the ‘other side’, the lush green slopes rising up to  the rocky point. This time we were discovering how Gibraltar sits in the Spanish landscape and then before you know it our journey was complete, and there it was in all its majestic glory  before us.

As we crossed the border from Spain into Gib in the van, the border control guards took away our passports and Agy’s V5, vanishing into an office as we nervously waited, back he came, checking who knows what, and then we moved forward on to the next officer who  took our passports once more. She was not happy with us. These dodgy British people had not been stamped into Spain, yet here they were now leaving Spain and entering Gibraltar. Fortunately her fellow officer pointed out we probably drove from France (where we were stamped in) and grudgingly she let us were through, Next the British border police asked if we were intending to stay the night, quickly telling us it was forbidden, but that was Ok, we were driving in to fill up with diesel (£1.24 L) and pop to Morrisons (as you do!).

As you leave the border posts you immediately hit the runway for the airport, in fact you drive straight across the middle of it. A very strange experience the first time you cross it, but we knew what to expect, and where to go, so off we went, past the old walls, round the marina where we have spent many a happy hour, and did a bit of shopping.

On our way back to Spain an hour or so later the Spanish guard wasn’t interested in seeing any documents - waving us through with a nod. So now we're back in Spain without a stamp in our passports!!

We planned to stay in the Alcaidesa Marina in La Linea as we knew from our sailing stay this was possible, and it is a fab place to watch the sky darken and The Rock light up.

We did walk back into Gib for a meal that evening, and once again a bemused officer stamped us out having noted we hadn’t been stamped in! And another stamped us back in later when we returned with full tummies. All most bizarre! In Spain chaos is frequently standard operating procedure.

From here we started wending our way north leaving the coastal resorts, heading to more historic parts of Spain that are new to us.