Spain - Granada to Gibraltar

Day 14 - Friday 10 May, Granada to Gibraltar

Badger and I were up and dressed early to get to the Triumph Dealers as soon as they opened at 9am. Our aim was to have breakfast at a cafe near the dealers, then I would run Badger back to the Hostel, we would pack, then run Badger back to pick up the bike, load up and get away by lunch. Naturally the plan went awry from the off. The dealer's staff didn't arrive until after 9am, then they had to park all the bikes on the street and do a first service on a local customer's new Suzuki before they could look at Badger's bike. The English-speaking mechanic said we should ring at about 1.30pm. He at least was able to recommend a local cafe for breakfast.

It turned out to be a decent place though at 9.45 they hadn't even set out tables and chairs, however after a bit of banter a decent breakfast was had. I then ran Badger back to the hostel and we packed and checked out. I sat in the lobby and had a couple of hours to update the blog, while Badger went out shopping for bits and pieces. Badger got a cab to the dealers at 12.30 only to find that the bike was ready and waiting for him - needless to say the dealers never thought to ring him and let him know the bike was ready. By 1.30pm Badger was back to the hostel and we were ready to set off.

To be perfectly frank, there was a bit of me that would have been perfectly content for some excuse to come up and manage to avoid Morocco altogether, however as there was no reason to put off this leg of the trip I decided just to try to make the best of it. This meant getting a bit of a wiggle on and trying to get some serious miles in after such a late start. We got onto a very windy motorway as soon as we cleared Granada and tried to keep to 90-95 mph. I was still feeling the after-effects of the previous day's massage and found the going a bit tough.

By mid-afternoon the sun was out and the skies had cleared by the time we got off the motorway and headed into the hills towards Ronda. The riding got much more interesting and challenging and my back pains were soon forgotten. We stopped for a late lunch at about 3.30 at a trucker's place just as we entered Ronda - the food was reasonably priced and of decent quality. We then went through Ronda itself, which I wasn't overly impressed with - it was pretty enough but far too touristy for my tastes. The road through the town was very narrow in places and subsequently very slow and time was pressing - Badger wanted to spend the last night before Morocco with a pint of Guiness in Gibraltar.

By about 5pm we had cleared the Ronda area and were in the hills leading down towards Algeciras and Gibraltar. These were serious hills and there was no room for errors - we were also up in wind turbine country so had to be very aware of the cross-winds. The bends got tighter and the road-surfaces poorer and as we crested yet another rise we got our first glimpse of Gibraltar, the straits and the hills of Morocco beyond that. It was breath-taking and we stopped for a photo session - only to rebuked and told to get on our way by the local police.

Our First View of Gibraltar and Morocco

Another View of Gibraltar and Morocco

The Roads Above Estepona

Once we finally cleared the hills the roads started to straighten out and we blasted down on fast roads toward San Roque and Gibraltar, which we finally reached at about 8pm. We had to get through a full passport and customs check, which was totally weird - British Police and Border officials - except that many of them were Spanish rather than British. We finally got waved through only to be prevented from entering Gibraltar properly as a plane had either just landed or taken off - the runway bisects the only road into and out of the rock. When the lights turned green pandemonium broke out as hundreds of scooters, cars and bikes all started crossing together - we used the power of the bikes to get to the front and were suddenly in the strangest, most schizophrenic place I have ever been to. It all looks very British but you drive on the right - there are loads of warning signs in English stating that over-taking on the right is illegal, it just felt plain weird.

It was pretty darn hot, we were tired and sweaty and just wanted to find a decent place for the night. The first place we tried was the "Bristol Hotel", but this was rather expensive and unfortunately full. I stayed with the bikes whilst Badger went off to find a place for the night. This was the first place on the trip I was worried about parking the bikes, France is very free and easy about motorbikes - you can park almost anywhere including on pavements and Spain fine - you can't leave the bikes just anywhere, but there are loads of bike bays. While Badger was off I took some piccies and got talking to a bloke at the hotel who recommended a couple of watering holes.

Main Street Gibraltar

The Bristol Hotel

Gibraltar

Cannons Lane and Hotel

After 20 mins or so Badger came back - he'd found a place called "Cannons", which he thought was just about OK, but it had shared loos and showers. I got more than a little grumpy as my minimum requirements were a clean bed, shower and decent loo - en-suite. Unfortunately he'd already coughed the money for the room. My new acquaintance pronounced the place a "dump", so it was with a great deal of reluctance on my behalf that I went off with Badger to the hotel. After much confusion we eventually got the bikes to a quiet back street within a few yards of the hotel. A local had warned us to watch out for the police and wardens - there were lots of no-entry, no parking and tow-away zone notices.

We got the stuff into the hotel and I nearly had a nasty accident on the stairs, which were ancient and totally dodgy - the last step was about 12 or 14 inches - no wonder I tripped. The place looked like it was built in Nelson's day and the facilities were at best adequate! There was no way I was sleeping in the bed - on top perhaps, but under the covers - no way! We found somewhere to put the bikes overnight and went off for supper and a beer.

As we walked down the main street there was a rugby club on tour and I began to worry that Gibraltar might be a stag and hen place. I was then surprised when we went to the "Clipper" pub for supper to find that we were virtually the only patrons. Badger was after a pint of Guinness, but had to settle for Murphy's. I had burger and chips and Badger had a steak pie for supper just to complete the experience. As we were by now the only customers and the staff wanted to clear up we finished our pints outside and then wandered down to the Amin Office cafe / restaurant for a nightcap and some advice about Morocco from Amin himself, who is Moroccan. We then wandered back to the hotel and settled down for a not very good night's kip. We left the window open to keep the room reasonably cool but it was a fairly noisy night - the Rugby Club perhaps? The whole place felt totally incongruous to us after our experiences in Spain.

Day Summary

Day -	13
Miles Covered in Day	230 approx.
Miles Covered in Trip	2330 approx.