What we definitely weren’t expecting to deal with, though, after all the work that was done on Paw Paw over the winter and, particularly because we had replaced all the sewerage system piping, was to deal with blocked pipes again. We’ve never had blockages occur so quickly before and we can only surmise that the high salinity of the Mediterranean Sea may have caused the rapid calcification in the pipes. Regardless, Roy completed the work on both port side heads (aka toilets), which was the bulk of the effort.
Before an afternoon nap, Elaine did muster up the energy to cut Roy’s hair and tidy him up a bit, since he was definitely looking rather bedraggled and then enjoyed a chat to her sister, Dianne.
A documentary on the History of the Moors, wrapped up our day and, besides a fascinating historical account, it certainly peeked our interest for our visit to Morocco.
Today, however, Elaine had no choice, but to be a little more energetic. We were both up with the alarm to head back across the border to Gibraltar; this time for Elaine’s doctor’s appointment, as well as to get her blood tests done and collect a top up of her medications, all arranged a number of weeks ago prior to our arrival and since she was unable to get medical care in Italy or Spain. This included a prior arrangement with a pharmacy too, as some of the medications had to be specifically ordered.
While Elaine visited the doctor’s office, Roy completed a few more To Dos in walking to the chandlery to pick up supplies, an establishment he had been communicating with prior to our arrival as well.
With the doctor and blood work completed, we then walked to the pharmacy, stopping for a coffee and baked delight at one of the cafés off the high street, Royal Calpe, although we had to sit inside due to the myriad of smokers enjoying the best seats outside; something wrong with that picture!
Unfortunately, this visit turned out to be another: “oh my word, we can’t be doing with these crowds, noise and close quarters - get us out of here” moment. We’d hoped that today’s experience would have been better than the first visit, since we were somewhat forearmed, but, sadly, it was just as overwhelming. We, however, had to persevere a wee while longer, since Elaine needed new slippers, which we found at Marks & Spencers and we both wanted to visit Morrisons, one of our favourite British grocery stores, and load up on our favourite British goodies, which included Ribena, Lucozade, Galaxy Caramel chocolate, sausage rolls for lunch, a decent steak and some lamb chops. Delighted that we found everything we wanted, we caught the next bus and crossed back to the Spanish side, with its colourful houseboats, relieved to be out of the mayhem.
There were a few more aspects of life on land in this part of the world that resonated today and that we’re going to have to embrace in returning to a western culture. First was the fact that Elaine has to wait almost a week for the results of her blood tests, whereas, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Türkiye turned these around within two hours; can’t help but wonder which countries are really more advanced. Secondly, the pharmacist took forever to dispense the medications, even though he had everything waiting for Elaine, per our previous correspondence; all he needed was the prescription. It took so long, Roy had to help Elaine sit down on a footstool because there wasn’t anywhere else to sit. Additionally, all the medications were generics, since brand medications are not dispensed here, unlike all the other countries Elaine has been treated in. Definitely not ideal for Elaine’s conditions!
On the plus side, the private clinic was very efficient overall and somewhat cheaper than we had expected, although just being in the clinic exposed Elaine to numerous coughing and spluttering individuals, which is always a risk! It didn’t help matters either that the bus also had numerous coughing, spluttering and sneezing individuals, so much so that Roy actually put on his mask. With the new variant of COVID-19 on the increase around Europe, the UK and the US, this definitely is a cause for concern, but we were surprised to learn from the phlebotomist, though, that there is also a major drug problem in Gibraltar and not just amongst the youth.
Back onboard, we enjoyed our sausage rolls for lunch, then a nap. Afterwards, we got a few more chores completed, including getting the laundry done and backwashing the watermaker, before enjoying our steak dinner.
