Gibraltar reminds me of Jersey - but whereas we affectionately refer to Jersey as the Rock - I think we're going to have to have a rethink on that name - the rock that looms over us is immense and we have learnt by visiting the museum over 200 million years old. It is definitely more rockish than Jersey. But, like Jersey, it doesn't take long before you are bumping into people you know in the supermarket, giving the place a strong sense of community and claustrophobia at the same time. The difference is if you want to get off Gibraltar you don't have to spend over £100 on a flight - you can just hop over the border to Spain. Of course there are other differences. Although it's cold enough for us to buy a heater, when the sun is out the temperature was still about 21 degrees. They drive on the right. And Spain still wants the end of their country back. I think the French gave up on us a long time ago! There are also apes at the top of the rock - and we enjoyed a trip up in the cable cars to see them - very cute!
We were made to feel really welcome by Heidi, David and Milly who lived within spitting distance of our boat. I am so grateful to Heidi and David for giving me a lift over to Spain so I could do some Santa shopping without the kids, cooking us a meal, taking us to Morrisons, looking after the kids so we could get on with some boat jobs, amongst other things. I was also delighted to bump into Julie, a fellow Speech therapy student from over 15 years ago who I bumped into in Morrisons and who also had us over for a meal.
So, our overall impression of Gibraltar was of the wonderful hospitality. Thank you everyone. We were quite sad to leave!