We’ve had a very busy time since leaving the west coast and have been based about 45 minutes north of Gibraltar in the countryside as you can see above.

We have been out walking everyday and as I keep telling my mother – Te Mata Peak is going to be a Doddle when we get home.

They don’t make mini hills here.  They can be extremely steep and all are very rocky however we are making our way around a goodly amount of them.

The type of wildflower varies depending upon the altitude with Cistus and Lavender growing quite high up, close to the shale line.

In the picture above you can see Phil, the intrepid plant hunter, studying the guide book as to where the trail goes next!  Guy Hunter Watts book has been invaluable in finding all these walks and thankfully the trail notes are excellent – as it’s a long way up and down should you go the wrong way!

On this particular hike out of Gaucin we were lucky to find several huge patches of peonies in flower and thrilling for us was the number of young plants and seedlings that were around – showing that the colonies were very strong and healthy.  We also came across several groups of Iberian black pigs and a couple of deer.  A really great walk that took us through big stands of cork oaks which we never get tired of.

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