Week 32 of Gibraltar Diary

The new day finds us in a cheap drinking establishment in La Linea. At about 2.30am we go back to a friend's house where, as usual, Barney the cat is the star of the show. At 4.00am I persuade my girlfriend it is time to go and we walk back through the centre of La Linea which is still swarming with party goers - nothing seems to get going in Spain until about midnight.

We get up very late and decide to do our bit for global warming by driving the car to Tarifa - very fast. The SEAT Leon really corners well - much better than far more expensive cars that I have driven. In Tarifa we find a castle we have not seen before. On the way back we call in at our favourite beach bar where we see that there has been major erosion of the sand. Note the exposed sewer manhole covers.

Also note the special micro climate over Gibraltar.

Late in the afternoon we wander down to see what lay behind the police "keep out tape". All along the inner harbour the banks have been badly washed away - not by idiots in power boats (although they doubtless contribute) but by the recent storm. This is doubly amazing since it is a harbour within a harbour and you would assume that it would remain relatively calm in the fiercest storm. But evidently not. Doubtless the insurance company will have been surprised too but no doubt have other things to worry about in the financial markets.

I'm afraid the new Canon EOS1000D is getting sadly neglected. It is attached to the TeleVue-85 telescope and only operates properly on the manual setting. Consequently, when I hear the roar of engines I reach for my trusty Panasonic FZ18, set it on "Automatic" and point and shoot. The whole photo opportunity rarely lasts more than about fifteen seconds and if you don't react in that time scale then you don't get the shot. Similarly if the battery is on charge or the camera is in somebody's handbag

Elaborate gear is fine if you are on a serious stakeout - waiting for that elusive bird to emerge from behind a tree or trip over the red carpet.

In the evening a group of us eat at the Cafe Rojo in Irish Town, which as usual is excellent.

As we go out there are people looking down the lift shaft. On enquiring, we find that this is because we told the porter that this particular lift made very loud banging noises last time we used it. They are now in the process of correcting the fault (which may relate to the recent storm.). Did nobody else notice? Why is it always me that has to point out such things? Would they rather die than make a fuss? Probably.

Later, my girlfriend takes a shot of a roof in an arcade that we had not noticed before - the perspective is such that it is hard to distinguish from looking looking down. The human brain is the world's last unexplored mystery.