Malta 2001

Holiday time! At the end of September several nutters spent a week in Malta, for rest and recouperation, for sun and sea, for swimming and lazing around, for drinking and partying.

Dramatis Personae

There were in attendance:

Jennifer aka The Wicked Stepmother aka Yours Truely
Your narrator.

Jenny aka Sharrow
Radio person, astronomer, exobiologist, cosmologist and mother.

Jack aka The Boy
(as in "Nine pints of beer please, and an orange juice for the boy").

Rick
The only person I know who has actually been to a Star Trek Con.

Dave
Land Rover groupie and radio person.

Nick aka Nicky-babes
Bill Gates groupie and official group diaryist.

Bernie
Another radio person and expert on lightbulbs.

Andy
Van driver and ISP to J-Squared

Gavin aka ptek
Biker, Archer, and BOFH.

Maky
Fluffy lemur and official group mascot.

Wednesday 26th September

We actually left from Gatwick on Tuesday, but it was just after midnight when our flight arrived in Malta. A coach dropped us at our appartments in Buggiba at around 01:30.

Half of us (the hard core) immediately went looking for alcohol and chocolate cake, and found a 24 hour cafe selling both. After a couple of drinks and a slice of cake or two it was so close to dawn that it didn't seem worth going to bed. "Sleep is for wimps!" we cried, as we ordered another round of beer.

Maky decided he couldn't wait until morning, and had a swim in the pool adjacent to the cafe.

The rest of us waited until the first sign of light, then went outside to greet the dawn. It was our first sight of Malta by daylight, and it was worth the wait.

We head back to our appartments, buy breakfast from the local corner shop, and rest. The rest of the morning is spent organising a couple of hire cars, and in the afternoon we hit the water running for our first swimming session!

Thursday 27th September

Thursday, after a late start, we drove to Valetta and had a quiet day walking around the old town sightseeing. We discovered a lot of feral cats, some strange but not unpleasent Maltese liquour, and the famous Maltese cheesecakes and pea cakes (which looked and tasted exactly like vegetable samosas to me, but what do I know?)

Back to Sliema where a few braver souls took to the water for a quick swim before dinner in a local Tex-Mex.

Friday 28th September

Golden Bay! One of the sandy beaches on the island, but with plenty of rocks a short swim from shore to provide excellent snorkelling. The water everywhere in Malta is absolutely georgous, clear and warm and full of fish. It's like swimming in a tropical aquarium. Swimming and snorkelling take up most of our time in Malta, and I don't think a single day passed without us hitting the water somewhere. I had more excersize during this week than I've had during the entire previous year.

While most of us were swimming or sunbathing, Rick and Gavin went off on a jet-ski. Rick came back shaking slightly and telling us all how fast it went, but they seemed to enjoy themselves.

In the afternoon we went to Medina, the Silent City, probably the oldest and certainly the highest city in Malta with fantastic view of the entire island, and did the sightseeing thing again.

Jennifer doing her mermaid impersonation

Saturday 29th September

After another late start we take a ferry and a packed lunch to Comminetto and the Blue Lagoon. Another wonderful day spent swimming and sunbathing. I'm beginning to turn very brown.

The ferry dropped us at Comminetto, but Comino is just a short swim away, so some of us investigate. We spend most of our time chasing fish and exploring the caves, both above and underwater.

Sunday 30th September

A quiet day. Malta is an intensely Catholic country, and most of the shops are closed. We play in the pool for most of the morning, and drive out to look at more sights in the afternoon.

Monday 1st October

Today we visit Gozo. We manage an early(ish) start, catch the ferry, and are in Gozo by mid morning. We manage to hire a boat (they trust us because Jenny is able to announce she has a coastal skipper qualification) and set off to explore the bays.

We stop in the first bay and spend an hour or so swimming, and diving off the boat.

Jack emerging from the waves We wander around to the second bay, and watch small boats zipping through a narrow cave in the cliff face to reach a small inland sea on the other side. Our boat, unfortunately, is too large to fit, so we attempt to anchor and swim through.

After several failed attempts to drop anchor we realise that the water is so deep that the anchor doesn't reach the bottom, so we give up, go back to the first bay, and spend more time swimming.

Tuesday 2nd October

This is our last day. Since our flight back isn't until midnight, se spend the day at a local waterpark. Almost empty, rather tatty, but it does have some dangerous looking waterslides and a nice pool and lounge area, so we are happy to stay there relaxing until they throw us out at closing time.

Time for our last lesiurly meal in Malta before going off to the airport and on to cold England.

	Jennifer aka The Wicked Stepmother aka Yours Truely Your narrator.
	Jenny aka Sharrow Radio person, astronomer, exobiologist, cosmologist and mother.
	Jack aka The Boy (as in "Nine pints of beer please, and an orange juice for the boy").
	Rick The only person I know who has actually been to a Star Trek Con.
	Dave Land Rover groupie and radio person.
	Nick aka Nicky-babes Bill Gates groupie and official group diaryist.
	Bernie Another radio person and expert on lightbulbs.
	Andy Van driver and ISP to J-Squared
	Gavin aka ptek Biker, Archer, and BOFH.
	Maky Fluffy lemur and official group mascot.