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Published: September 17th 2016
Diary of a 14 year 7 month old teenager - I am just over 14 years old and feel very adult and grown up. A week ago I packed my small bag with a few belongings, filled my purse with £20 I had saved hard to collect and in my blue, red and white striped school summer dress and regulation blue Clarkes sandles I set off for the docks at Liverpool. This was the starting point of a voyage of discovery on the school cruise on the SS Nevasa . Its the 9th October 1966. The big cruise ship set off around the coast of North Wales, between Wales and Ireland and round the coast of Cornwall before heading out to sea into the Bay of Biscay. Yes I did want to go home when I woke up seasick on the Monday. The crew happily played Sloop John B for us as we were sick everywhere. Our first port of call was La Corunna as it was known in those days. Added to this was a side trip to Santiago if we wanted to visit. Before the visit we had history lessons aboard ship on Spain, the spanish inquisition , pilgrimage
and the geography of the rias that run along the coast of this part of Spain. I remember the food. I can still smell the freshly baked bread served for breakfast by the Indian crew. Our next stop was to be Gibraltar. That was after lessons on the strategic importance of the Rock, Nelson, Trafalgar and its Britishness.
I remember it loomed large in the sea. Towering above the straits of Gibraltar separating the world away of Africa. We would head there a few days later. I cannot forget the red pillar boxes, the red phone boxes , the policemen who looked the same as back home. British food and British pounds. Everyone understood us. I saw Africa across the water, I saw the Apes, They even let us photograph them. Then we went to see St Michaels caves and sent postcards home. I bought a cotton badge sewn with the arms of Gibralter which I took home and sewed on my duffle bags.
It is now 2016 I am 64 years old and its almost 50 years since I was last in Gibraltar. I woke early not knowing I was going. Glenn had decided the night before
to surprise me and take me back. I paid for our campsite and we set off as I thought for Cadiz. It had been a bad night. One of our neighbours talked for hours before going to bed and the doors of panel vans and cars were slammed until the wee hours. Sally Sat Nag showed a journey of two hours. Back down the mountains with very little vegetation on them. The odd motorhome had parked overnight and we thought we would have had a better nights sleep had we done the same. There were shrines here and there were young men either plunged to their deaths over the cliff edge or were smashed to oblivion when they drove into the rock face. We we reached the bottom we saw a flush of vivid blue . Morning glory climbing walls and fences and scrambling its way over the paths. Housing developments where you could buy a mansion for one and half million euros and stalls selling golf buggies and golf balls. Gated estates with high class real estate.
We drove on and I began to wonder why we were heading in to La Linea. The penny hadn't dropped that
we were going to Gib. It loomed large a bit of a thorn in the side of the Spanish. In the referendums the Gibraltarians vote regularily to remain British but in the recent EU exit one they voted 99% to stay. Wanting to avoid upsetting Europe but I wonder how that one will pan out.
We arrived at the frontier. What would Gib look like 50 years later? What would that bright eyed young thing think of the whole thing? We found our parking spot - a massive car park on the Spanish side . It was empty but the queues of cars to the border posts were long. We were in a security area with high fences, a spanish guard . The cars all Spanish in the queue were going in for the day to do the cigarette run. Goods are cheaper in Gib than in Spain and trafficing and smuggling regularly occur and are viewed dimly as we could see from the high numbers of both British and Spanish police.
We arrived at passport control. This was the first time we had taken the passports out to show the law since we left Britain. The machines
did not work on the automatic readers so we joined the back of a tour group of Canadians. The last time I was here I did not need a passport I was too young and Franco was still a dictator of Spain. The guard too a peek at our passports and let us through. Outside we caught a bus £1.80 return for two old age pensioners to ride to the top of the rock. We crossed the airfield which in itself was an odd experience to be next to huge Ryanair and British Airways jets either just arrived or waiting to take off from the short runway into the sea.
We got off the bus too early as we always do at the Western Casemates. There are casemates all over the world but none like these at Gib. We sat next to them in a small cafe drinking a good cup of British tea made with proper Ty Phoo tea bags and proper milk. Glenn ate a real bacon and tomato toasted sandwich. It was odd paying in pounds and even odder to be spoken to in English and to hear the locals switching between Spanish and English in
the same sentence. The prices were steep for food but cheap for petrol and diesel . Diesel less than 97 pence a litre , a loaf of bread over £2.
We walked up Main Street, It still had red pillar boxes, red phone boxes , familiar looking police and familiar shops. Mothercare , F & F (tesco brand) and Marks and Spencers . Shoppers Heaven to find an M & S. A Newcastle Building Society. We had intending walking to the top but Glenns knee was giving him pain so we only made it to the Arab fort which protected the landward side of the Rock. We did not get to see the monkeys, nor go up on the cable car but it would have been selfish of me to force Glenn on with a swollen painful knee. We stopped for dinner and ate pizza in the street . It was the best pizza we have ever had from a fast food stall .
Our last stop was the garrison in Gib . A soldier in grey carrying an automatic rifle stood in front of a portrait of our Queen. After a while he came out of the
shade and marched a few steps before clicking his heels and marching back. All neatly done. We saw houses named after scottish towns, a scottish church and a whole lot more .
Was it good to be back in Gibraltar . Of course Our next stop on the cruise would be Africa and Casablanca. This was where a Tunisian wanted to buy one of the blond girls and offered us six camels as payment . Not sure how our teachers would have viewed us coming back minus a school girl but with six stinking camels .
What a day full of memories . Thankyou Glenn and thankyou Gibraltar . You took me back 50 years .
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Travel--the best way to learn!
How fabulous that you had a taste of the world at 14! Surely, this must have helped point you to the open road. I went to Gibraltar, not so long ago, but found it too expensive to eat, but I did climb up to the macaques and buy a fabulous pair of my beloved Clarkes. Ever so sweet that Glenn held this as a surprise for you. You two travel well together.