Gibraltar

Today we left our haven at La Barossa beach and set off in search of pastures new. Having stayed at the beach three nights, and despite constantly brushing Marge out, she still had sand in every crevice. But hey, that's the downside of staying at the beach, but also, a small price to pay.

We were not sure where we would be spending tonight when we set off, so just followed the coast road, stopping on route at a pretty bay, where we sat on the sea wall awhile watching the fisherman, the sea, and just general absorbing the calmness, along with the heat coming up from North Africa.

This is the joy of travelling with no agenda, taking your time, stopping when you want, staying a while. Before we left, we picked up a large oyster shell and interesting piece of rock to add to our collection. No wonder Marge is struggling up the hills, let's hope she will be able to take the strain of a few litres of wine before we return from France.

Talking of Marge, she was happy parked on the sand, keeping watch over some fellow Volkswagens.

The area we were travelling through is renowned for strong winds, and we could see why there were wind turbines as far as the eye could see. But for Marge it was a pain, and it was difficult holding her straight in the unforgiving cross wind. At lunchtime, we stopped at the town of Tarifa. Tarifa, is the first town on the Costa del Sol, or the Costa del Crime, as it was known in the seventies and eighties, when British criminals came here to retire. Ferries also leaves here for Morocco, and we did think about a day trip, but decided it best to research and plan a trip with Marge, possibly next year. Before we resumed our journey, we took time to decide where we would spend tonight. The internet told us that, at a lot of the overnight stops, people were being pestered by men knocking on their vans, asking for beer and money.

We couldn't be having any of that worry, so decided to head to a secure paid parking area at La Linea de la Concepcion.

The coast road to take us there was climbing and curving, with some great views. We stopped at a viewpoint car park to take photographs. Just before we left, a friend from home messaged us. This evening, she said she was off to a macrame class. Sorry, but Marge won't be at macrame tonight, she's off to Gibraltar!

And tonight, the rock of Gibraltar is the view out through Marge's windscreen. Before our evening meal, we couldn't resist popping over the border, After all it is British. So with passports in hand we breezed in. The supermarket just inside, boasted selling Waitrose products. It was all a little bizarre. Especially, watching the Spanish ladies in the bus shelter stash cigarettes inside bags and strapping them around their waistlines with heavy duty cling film. That's duty free for you!

The sunset this evening was totally different from the three previous nights. At first the sky was lit in a pink pearly light, gradually darkening to a burnt orange, the mountains and shipping, silhouetted in grey in the foreground. Stunning!

Tomorrow, we will cycle back across the border in to Gibraltar, which we are really looking forward to. Meanwhile the rock is virtually in darkness, lit by only a few white lights on the upper reaches. Marge we're at Gibraltar, who'd have believed it?