Twelve miles up and down the rock today – it’s our third time and it’s not getting any easier! 😂
Passport control was a right pain as there was a big queue and one of the joys of Brexit is that we now have to queue even longer to get our passports stamped.
Next, there was a plane about to take off, so the runway you have to cross on foot was closed so that pedestrians don’t get squashed.
We hurried through the scruffy town that seems to be stuck in 1970’s England and tried a different route up through the Devil’s Gap. It seemed much easier – fewer steps but a longer walk.
We came across the macaques before we’d had chance to eat our sandwiches, which is very dangerous as they know exactly how to unzip a bag! I was extremely vigilant as I can’t do big walks without being fed! 🤣
Every time we come up here we seem to find something we haven’t seen before. This time, it was the Windsor Suspension Bridge. Spanning 70 metres over a deep ravine, it was brilliant!
We then saw a sign for the Jews Gate and Pillars of Hercules so we followed the road down to see what they were. Suddenly realising we’d walked downhill all the way, we found ourselves back level with the road on the south side of the rock!🙄
The Pillars were a bit disappointing but even more disappointing, was knowing we’d have to walk all the way back up if we wanted to see anything else.
Retracing our steps, we consoled ourselves with coffee and cake at the caves. We sat down in what felt like a 1970’s British pub with the aroma of nuggets & chips.
O’Hara’s Battery was next, but the best bit was sealed off.
Guy then tells me that we can get across to the Skywalk without going down and up again. What he didn’t say was that it was part of the ridge and I’d refused to do it when we approached from the other direction in ‘22! Duped!
Thankfully, it wasn’t too bad!
As we started to make our way down late afternoon, we passed the entrance to the World War 2 tunnels and decided this time, we should go in! They were utterly amazing…like an underground city with British names to mark the tunnels and different areas e.g. Clapham Junction. Jocks Balcony (excavated by the Black Watch) was the best bit; we actually came out on the eastern side of the rock!
Such a maze. The entire 16000 strong garrison could be housed here!
Hobbled down the last lot of steps, through the town, and back into Spain. 😴💤
