Monkey business in Gibraltar

Sooooo basically...

I survived the trip to Gibraltar (or Gib as it’s affectionately called). 2.5 days at sea and I didn’t get sea sick- stoked! Well, that could be due to the mounds of ginger tablets, fresh ginger (that I kept in a tupperware in the fridge and nibbled on every hour) and sea sickness pills I was adamant about taking daily, as well as my sexy “scat” sea sickness wrist bands. The boys ripped me off continuously for being such a hypochondriac.  But hey.... it worked!

 

I think it also just took some getting used to... the first day was okay as the waves were small , so there wasn’t much movement. But that evening the swell was bigger and it was quite bumpy for a while. I tried to lie in my bunk (top) but every time the boat rose up and then crashed down, I kind of levitated in the air for a few seconds and my stomach left itself, before landing back down on my bunk with a bump. I felt that feeling you feel on a rollercoaster- and I don’t like that feeling at all (hence why I will never sky dive or bungy jump). This was going to be a problem... so I rolled up my duvet, grabbed my pillow and headed down to the crew lounge- where there is the least amount of movement. I instantly felt better once sitting on the floor, so decided that this was definitely going to be where I would be sleeping that night. I made myself comfy on the couch and had the best night’s sleep ever. I did get some odd stares though...

I was fine the next day so lost the arm bands and managed to sleep in my bunk and my friend Lara painted my nails. 

Look at the detail on the little flowers!

And then yay! We arrived to sunny skies and warm weather in Gibraltar, which was a welcome change from chilly Antibes. 

As soon as we got a day off, I scampered out like an excited child going on a school outing. Gibraltar is a tax free zone so it would be a complete waste NOT to shop- right?? I mean I’d be saving loads- in the long run...  #justificationtoself

So Tiffany was set loose on the shops of Gibraltar (God help us) and obviously did not come back empty handed... With my weeks pay money in my bag (which I was saving to use to buy the new ipod nano) and 3 of the boys in tow; we ambled up Gibraltar’s main street. The ipod nano proved unsuccessful as they only had the 32G and not the 64G, so I was going to have to wait till the UK. The boys were set on buying Rolex watches (around 9 000 euros), so we walked into a few watch shops. 

And then.... I saw it. I was in love. With a Michael Kors rose coloured watch, with cubic zirconia’s all around it! It was just beautiful! 

My friend Jess Oliver has one back home in SA and I’ve loved it ever since I saw hers. Its big and chunky and is an accessory all on its own. It was coming home with me. Even the whopping 250GBP price tag wasn’t swaying me. I tried it on and rushed outside to show all the boys! And when they had ooh’d and aah’d and I’d given my sales pitch and they had given their approval that it was a good buy, I parted (much easier than I thought) with my cash and left the shop as happy as a girl who’d just been given a pony for Christmas. 

I swore that I wasn’t going to spend any more money, but then I found an angora jersey (and it’s going to be so cold in the UK) and a gorgeous tight fitting black sequinned sparkly dress (for who knows when) and a sequinned cream top. I have no “going out clothes” okay? So what if I splashed out just a little, I’m earning euros now! Besides, 3 of the boys bought 9 000 euro Rolex’s, so my purchase was small in comparison! One thing that is super cheap in Gib is booze and cigarettes- a bottle of vodka/gin etc costs around 8GBP (R100) and a carton of cigarettes is like 20GBP (R300). So it’s good for stocking up and for presents for people etc.

We were only meant to stop in Gib to re-fuel, so were going to be 2 days max, but the weather from Gib to the UK has just been horrendous; so it’s been too dangerous for us to go. One day last week there were 14m swells. And the engineers’ said that even with 4-6m swells we would feel it. So they are waiting for the weather to clear. It’s been 10 days now though, and it really isn’t looking any better. Every day the captain checks the weather and will see a gap in like 3 days time, but then 3 days later the weather has changed again and we push back our departure date. As soon as we get a gap we will make a run for it, but at the moment it doesn’t look like we’ll leave before net Tuesday! And there REALLY isn’t anything to do in Gib. Besides see the monkeys. Which is what I did yesterday!

There is a cable car that goes up to the top of the famous “Rock of Gibraltar” and that’s where the monkeys live. I had been wanting to go for the last week but the weather had been too bad. So yesterday I begged and managed to persuade some of the boys to come up with me, despite the drizzle. They all had brand new camera’s anyway so wanted to test them out. I could not CONTAIN my excitement. Dave, our chef, had gone the week before and a monkey had sat on his head and peed on him! I wanted a monkey to sit on my head!! If that was the only thing I wanted from my trip to Gibraltar, it was that! 

View of Gib from cable car, looking towards Spain

View of the other side, looking towards Africa

So we go up the cable car and start walking, with me squeaking about the monkeys and jumping around like a child (boys not impressed).

We walk down a road and see a car with a dad and son parked in the road, with monkeys all around them. The one monkey had climbed up to the passenger window and was sticking his hands through the car window to get some food that the little boy had. I ran up and started snapping away.

OMG this was so exciting! I asked the little kid if I could have some snacks for the monkeys, hoping if I held one, one would climb up and come and sit on my shoulder. So the boy’s father gave me a box of shreddies (cereal) and I started feeding the monkeys...

Within minutes I was attacked by about 3 monkeys, pulling at my skirt, climbing up my front and yes- sitting on my shoulder! I was in my element and shrieked to the boys to take pics of me so I had evidence of this amazingness! 

I was absolutely loving it and tried to share out the shreddies, but then this massive big monkey who almost pulled down my skirt and underwear, jumped up and grabbed the shreddies out of my hand and ran away with it. 

“Oi!” I said. “You can’t have that!”. So I went up to him to try and pry the box away and he gave me this look, bared his teeth and made an unattractive “ooo” throat noise, which I translated as “Fuck off”. So I did just that and decided to leave him alone before I got bitten. 

At this stage, James had a monkey sitting on his head and he was freaking out, 

so I put my arm out, hoping the monkey would climb onto me instead, and the little shit bit my arm! Thank God it didn't bite through the skin or I probably would have got rabies or something. Serves me right for trying to make friends with wild animals I suppose!

Rock of Gibraltar

Selfie!

Having a stretch...

On Saturday we went out as a crew for the first time and watched the rugby- SA vs. Scotland and England vs. Australia. There were 3 saffa’s (myself, a deckie and my chief stew) a Scotsman (our first officer) and 2 Brits (stew and deckie). So everyone was cheering for their team! We had some awesome pub food and a few beers and I was screeching for both SA and England simultaneously, as they were playing on screens next to each other (always have to cheer for England after SA due to my British ancestry and the fact that thanks to them, I have this glorious British passport). 

My chief stew

Supporting the boks....

As we won the rugby I was in high spirits, and on the way home, passing a shoe store I caught a glimpse of some boots that made me start walking in slow motion as I tried to take them in- Black. Suede. The boots I had searched for all over London. Now granted they were heels, not flats, but when I tried them on it was like they became part of my body. Comfiest boots I have ever worn that fitted like a glove. Ching-ching! Another  110GBP. Eeeeek! This was becoming ridiculous. My blog is going to have to change to eat, pray (not to get fat), SHOP. I swore (for real this time) that this was my last purchase. So I took the rest of my euros up to our First Officer and told him to lock them away in the safe, and to do so with the rest of my weekly pay checks until I left for SA (bar 50 euros pocket money a week).  I even drew up a budget (before you freak out mom and dad...). 

SA- yes! So I was granted my leave to come back for Tammy’s wedding and was told I might as well stay for Christmas, so I am pretty ecstatic! CPT summer here I come! It’s a month till I get back so I have 4 weeks to tone up to fit into that bridesmaid dress, so last week I started a diet and kiff as exercise plan. I’ve been pretty good, although tonight my self-will totally left me when the chef’s brought out dessert (which they rarely do), consisting of chocolate torte and homemade pistachio ice cream. Total indulgence.

I’m on watch this eve so I have to go do my last rounds now, hopefully I’ll be in Portsmouth when I next write! Twilight Breaking Dawn part 2 with the girls tomorrow eve! Even more exciting than the monkeys! x