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Published: January 2nd 2011
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Hi and Feliz Ano Neuvo to you all.
First of all thank you for all the Christmas and New Year messages, either by e-card, email, blog comments, text or phone call it was very nice to receive so many.
The plan was to stay over in Gibraltar at Christmas but it didn't quite work out.
We drove around the southern tip of Spain on 23rd Dec along the scenic coastal route out past Tarifa and over the hills towards Gibraltar. The first view of the rock is from the hills up above Algeciras looking across the bay and it really is quite an impressive site. The rock juts out from the bay and is attached to Spain by only a thin strip of flat land giving the impression that the rock rises like an island out of the sea. On the Spanish side at La Linea we joined the long line of vehicles going into Gib and following them easily through passport control we found ourselves heading towards Morrisons along with everyone else it seemed. I braved the hoarding masses in Morrisons for some shopping, it was a little weird seeing all of the usual British products on the shelves
Sunset over Tangiers
The view fom the campsite and even paying in English pounds again was strange, after the food we filled up with diesel and at 83p English pence a litre was a bargain, compared to the £1.25 appx at home. We decided to return on 24th to get fresh stuff for Christmas so we left the rock in search of a campsite in La linea (there are no campsites on Gib).
Finding the site was easy but the problem was it was closing over the holidays, so as I'd intended to use the site as a base for the holiday period for going into Gib we had to come up with another plan. After a few texts to people we'd met in Tarifa we made the decision to return there for the holidays, so we just spent the one night in La linea.
On the 24th Dec we went back into Gib and finished off the shopping and went for a walk around the main shopping street, it was really busy but also very pleasant with nice shops (quite a few British ones) and by 2pm lots of Brits and Spanish sat outside the bars/cafes kicking off the celebrations, I on the other hand had another
appointment. After 7 months it was time for a hair cut. I managed to find a Spanish place which was very very busy, but explaining to the Spanish lady that I wanted it all shaving off she looked a bit shocked but could fit me in, so10 mins later it was gone, my kids say I now look like a raging homo!! how nice of them.
Ready now for Christmas we drove the 45 mins back to the same site in Tarifa and booked in for 3 days.
Christmas day and up to a warm sunny day, we had opened my families presents when they came over in Nov so after a short walk on the beach we opened the presents we had the from the Mcgowans. It was nice to all get surprise presents, with the help of my sister I got the kids an Acer notebook each, they can now keep in touch with home through Facebook and Skype instead of knicking my laptop, they were both very happy with those. We had a full on Christmas dinner prepared by myself (us blokes can cook you know ladies) then settled down to watch Harrys new Doctor Who dvd's
throughout the afternoon, then a bit of evening light entertainment with the film Gladiator (well we will be going to Rome, it's educational).
Boxing day was also a lovely day so after lunch we walk upto the wild camping area about 1 km from the camp site where Glen and Linda were camping, we also met Ian from Wakefield (Kite surfer/body boarder) who was parked with them. The weather was that warm that afternoon that Daniel went to get the body boards and we spent the afternoon on the excellent waves, certainly a day to remember.
We changed our plans around again so for the next 5 days we wild camped by the pine forests just outside Tarifa with Glen, Linda, Ian and the many other kite surfers who flock to this area (see picture for vans). We spent the days in the water and the nights sat outside the van watching sunsets over Tangiers (with a few beers) looking at the stars and watching satellites fly across the clear night sky.
I got a nice call from the lads back at home one night, they had been out all day on their Christmas outing, I'll be there next year
boys!
On the 29th me Dan and Harry were body boarding in the rather large waves when we realised we were caught up in a rip tide, we struggled for what seemed like and age being dragged further out by the tide and being battered but the waves, I eventually managed to launch Harry onto a huge wave and he held on tight to be swept up onto the beach but I was knackered by then, so me and Dan had to hold onto a board and try to get in some how, finally after about 20 mins we caught a wave and were able to get ashore just as Ian and Glen were coming to the rescue. We were all a little shook up by that and decided to keep in the shallows from then on!
We'd had some heavy rain on 30th but New Years eve was a clear night so we set up outside our van with our lights, candles, beers, wine etc and the 6 of us along with a Dutch couple, Ralph and Liz drank until midnight, then in the early hours Ralph brought out the Bose system and we danced on the roof balcony
of the nearby beach bar until 4.30am (nobody else was there as it was closed for the winter, it was all very safe until Ian fell down the stairs carrying the bbq fire about 4am)!
With my very sore head and feeling knackered we left the wild camp on new years day and went back onto the site nearby to take advantage of the showers etc for the next few days.
In all we've spent 2 weeks around Tarifa and had a great holiday period with some great people, now it's time to crack on up the east coast of Spain. We are leaving the Morocco trip until another time as a day trip would not do it justice, one year I'll try and make it down through Morocco to Mauritania as many many people do each year, if Mauro can do it on bike then a motor-home should be easy.
Take care all
Neil Dan and Harry
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