March 10th 2008
Written by Geoff Forster
Monday March 10th 2008
We're up early. Off to Gibraltar again.
This time it's to check another route to the rock which our friend Michael told us about yesterday.
We set off down to Manilva onto the A-7 Peage, this time we take the first turn for La Linea onto the new A383 road.
We stopped at a mirador as the view of Gibraltar from here is excellent.
First one with the A383 road in shot.
The second with a little zoom.
A third with even more zoom. 
The new route took us through a 'Poligono' which is an industrial/warehouse/shopping area. Then through La Linea. We got safely to Gibraltar and it certainly seemed quicker. Although driving through La Linea isn't a lot of fun. We drove along to cross the border. There was no queue, I took this before we crossed.
It's Commonwealth Day, a Bank Holiday in a lot of the 'Commonwealth' countries including Gibraltar. We weren't sure how many, if any, shops would be open. Morrisons was, so we filled up with petrol, parked and walked to Main Street. Around 95% of the shops were closed. A few tourist 'tat' shops and a video/music store were open.
The sun was just rising above the rock. We sat in a patch of sunlight outside a café and enjoyed a glass of coffee, good that you can get coffee Spanish style here, it's far better than coffee in the UK.
We walked back to Morrisons. Did some shopping and bought lunch. Ate lunch in the car. Crossed the border back into La Linea. Everywhere was quiet.
We decided to explore down the coast at Santa Margarita. We found an alternate route along the coast which meant not driving through La Linea. Lots of speed bumps made it slow going, but it was a less stressful drive than going through the busy town centre.
We drove to a beach front café between Guadiaro and Duquesa. Had another coffee.
Drove to Lidl's did more shopping.
We came back up the Río Manilva road keeping an eye out for the 'cat in the bag'. We didn't notice it.
We got home, unloaded the shopping, drove to the donkeys, fed them.
Back home again we cooked a huge 'English Breakfast' with special range sausages, steak, field mushrooms, smoky bacon, fried tomatoes, beans and eggs. We'd resisted eating in the café and cooked a much bigger and much better quality 'fry up' for less money (tight Northerner).
Later we watched more of 'The Mist' ... different 'monsters' have appeared and the special effects aren't quite as bad. The actors are really hamming it up, I'm beginning to enjoy it.
An early start tomorrow. Jane's first day at work ...
I though everyone knew the speed bump coast road to avoid La Linea Geoff, used it for years.
How long have you lived over there?……… and me just a tourist……. (with a Gibraltarian father) :o)
Lol. We’ve always used the Ronda – Algeciras road to go to Gibraltar. Driving at a leisurely pace, stopping at ventas and watching the storks etc.
It’s only now Jane is working in Gibraltar that we’ve been exploring ‘faster’ routes.