Fw: Cueta, Northern African, Pillar of Hercules.
Moxie - Beck Family Adventure
Mike, Denise, Asia and Aranya Beck
Sat 2 Jul 2011 16:00
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35.45.17N
005.21.23W
Nice easy hop 15 miles from Smir in Morocco to Ceuta in
Spain (well still in Africa - it's one of the last Spanish enclaves, Spanish
Authority, Spanish time, Spanish language, the Euro and no shops open
between 2pm and 5pm).
 The impossible photo, taken off a poster wall in the
museum. It's an aerial view looking from the Atlantic through the
straights of Gibraltar into the Med. Top left peninsular is Gibraltar, top
right is Cueta. In Greek mythology these are the pillars of
Hercules. Hercules wrenched apart Africa and Europe creating an entrance
to from Ocean to Sea. There are two fantastic statues of Hercules
performing this feat in Cueta, unfortunately we managed not to
photograph them.
It was another stern-to mooring with pick up lines, bit
trickier with a crosswind but again without incident, so much for the
finger pontoons mentioned in the pilot book. If you have ever wondered if
it is difficult to dock a 50 foot yacht in a marina then just imagine
pushing an overloaded shopping trolley the size of a bus, on an
awkward slope, whilst wearing roller skates, through a carpark full of
Ferarris, yeah it's that easy. Now think to yourself how good are the
yacht instructors, how good is Ken Walker? Ken is the legend that
gave Denise and I, in a force 8 gale, parking lessons the first week we
owned Moxie, nerves of titanium, the patience of a desert seed awaiting rain and
boat handling skill that makes it appear to be an effortless art
form. Actually, Ken has provided all of our training - we would not
be here but for a touch of Mr Walker's magic. Even now we are under
the watchful eye of (soon to be) Mrs Walker, thank you Ken and Lisa, but I
digress...
 A pillar of Hercules, Cueta, at exactly 12pm every day a
cannon is fired from here, the sonic shock wave is impressive.
 Cueta is very pretty very, very clean and has a massive amount of
history. We really liked it here and stayed for 3 nights despite the
2x Gibraltar marina charges.
 An open tomb complete with real skeletons, upon
discovery a museum was built above the site.  Told ya.
   Fantastic beaches of Cueta, Smir in the distant background
 Sculptures aplenty, this being one of my favourites.
 and the double A's favourite.
 And are not quite sure what this one is all about, but things are looking a
bit sinister.
 Right next to the marina is a beautiful swimming
pool. It's a salt water pool and is massive, the whole place is like a
five star hotel setup (actually, just what I imagine that must be like).
Still pre school holidays so there was hardly a towel guarded chair to be
seen.
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