Wednesday 14th October

Nadur Circuit

Up early with another bus connection walk on the cards in forecast warm and windy weather.

Seems most of hotel guests had the same idea with the breakfast queue out the door. 

Up to the local bus stop and a bit of dialogue with the locals about arrival times and bus selection left us a bit confused with them suggesting we catch the inward bus to make sure we got a seat in the outward one.

Opted to wait for the outward one and secured a seat easily to take us to the town we visited on Day 1 on our laundromat excursion.

Soon on another steep trail out of town offering views out over a valley covered in farmlands growing all sorts of produce from prickly pear to green vegetables, but no animals.

Track wound its way around and we came across a trail side littered with discarded fake designer handbags. How and why they were there was a mystery.

The lack of animals trend changed as we passed through the valley as we came across several horse farms. The mystery of why they were there was solved later in the day.

Soon headed upwards on rough tracks towards our first planned stop of the day at the Ggantija Archeological Park which is home to some of the oldest temples in the world being built before a pyramids, Stonehenge and invention of the wheel.

Even at 1000am the place was packed with bus tourists meaning slow progress through the museum. Myth had it, as the name suggests, the temples were built by a race of giants all about 7  feet tall. 

Looking at the size of the rocks in the ruins it may be well founded. We wandered through the ruins taking in the history before taking a panoramic view of surrounds. The horse mystery was solved with a huge trotting track at the bottom of the valley. Dr Google advised it was home of trotting industry on Gozo and they raced there 60 times a year. Binoculars only showed a lone horse doing trackwork.

Headed away from the valley towards the coast on tracks and minor country roads being buzzed regularly by off-road buggies obviously heading towards the beach at Ramla  Bay  for which we were bound.

Like  our own beaches parking  is at a premium and the side of a dusty road in was littered with cars from about 400 metres away. One smart farmer near the beach was selling paddock parking for 5€.

The beach itself was packed reminiscent of our own with rolling waves, red and yellow flags, beach umbrellas and in true European style deck chairs for hire at 10€ a pop. A Pom in front of me tried to bargain them down with little success ending up taking a hot sandy seat on the beach.

The beach whilst sandy had a good collection of rocks along it and out into the water. Even people with reef shoes were hobbling in and out. We opted to move on to the next beach.

Walk soon had us in the dunes and then heading up what could only be described as a rocky creek  leading through a bamboo forest. It was like an old Jungle Jim movie using the poles as a makeshift machete as we hacked our way towards the top where the bamboo disappeared and the track turned into a steep concrete road to the top where we enjoyed a great view back to the beach.

It was onwards towards another diversion to see the huge manmade Calypso cave overlooking the coastline. It was 3 km round trip for the privilege to scramble down rocky steps into an amazing cave which was sadly full of people reticent to move meaning only a distant glimpse from the back out to sea.

Back on track we continued to be amazed by the amount of shooting and roosts plonked any where and everywhere. Similarly almost every roadside was covered in wild thyme bushes- but none seem to end up in any dishes.

The next section of the track took us towards San Blas beach described as a tiny beach difficult to access via very steep steps which may be covered over by waves if windy. As the last chance for a swim it didn’t sound inviting and that turned out to be true. It meant getting wet so we soldiered on.

Track led down to a beach about 40 metres wide with a rocky entry reached only by scrambling over rocks. Only one person in the water and he was getting pummelled by the swell close to shore. It was to be a dry day for us as we settled for a beer in the cafe up near the carpark on the other side. We left wondering if that bloke in the washing machine would enjoy such a luxury.

It was the last time the word luxury was uttered as we crossed the carpark to go almost vertically up a road for 400 metres where grabbing the handrail was not a sin. The only sin would have been if I tried to keep up with the girl wearing a thong( not the foot type) who started off 25 metres in front of me.

The top of the hill was a welcome sight – the bus stop. It seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, so I politely knocked on the window of a car who was hopefully awaiting its arrival. Unfortunately, the driver with a parrot sitting on his steering wheel had either suffered a stroke or was inebriated and I left unsure which of the two had given me the answer.

Bus finally arrived , chucked a Uturn and soon had us travelling along now familiar roads back towards home base.

Exhausted and sweaty it was a shower and then a visit to the hotels infinity pool for a relaxing dip and lay in the sun, albeit in a back row of deck chairs.

Group in front left about an hour later and I grabbed two available chairs with an adjustable umbrella. Keen to set the scene for the perfect photo shot I upped the umbrella – and that’s when the problem started. A French couple objected to my shade impacting on their ability to improve the tan- mind you it’s 545 and not a lot of heat in the sun. 

It was almost a bugger you moment until Jane whacked me over the back of the head and suggested I not create an international incident by acceding to their request. I could only agree and order another Hugo cocktail and sit like a sulking Frenchman looking out to sea.

Pool time over it was time to get ready for the Hotel dinner and frock up. For the first time in 5 weeks I wore a clean long sleeved shirt which stayed clean for about an hour before dribbling some cherry sauce on it at dinner. 

Meal not as good as the restaurants, but the local Rose was very nice.

We went for an evening walk and stocked up on bottled water as the desalinated water here is dreadful then headed home ready for another day in perfect weather walking along the clifftops.