Friday, July 29
We were up early this morning, as we had to walk to the ferry dock at Valletta and then catch the ferry across to Sliema by 9am! We boarded a Turkish Gullet called Fernandes II, which is a 38m long two masted gaff rigged vessel (I copied this description from their brochure!). Our first destination was the island of Comino and the Blue Lagoon.
It was another beautiful day and very pleasant sitting under the covered deck, admiring the coast of Malta as we cruised by. The Captain pointed out some of the highlights as we went, but the landscape was very dry and with the buildings built in the local sandstone or limestone they blended in to the countryside - it reminded us a bit of the coastal scenery in Oman.
We arrived at Comino and moored alongside many other tourist boats, and admired the amazing colours of the water. We signed up to do the jet boat ride to some nearby caves, and these rides are always a lot of fun as the driver always makes sure you get a bit wet! After that it was time for lunch on board, and a little later we took our first plunge into the Mediterranean for a swim.
I decided to check out the beach area just over the point, and was amazed at how small it was, but also how crowded it was! In Australia we have so many lovely beaches with lots of sand, so it was incredible to see a strip of about 50 metres jam packed, and the overflow of people who couldn't fit on it (or those who didn't want to pay 25 Euro to rent 2 deckchairs and an umbrella) sitting and sun baking on the surrounding rocks!!
A few hours later we headed off for a secluded bay on the island of Gozo for some more swimming and snorkelling. You could see fish from the boat, but not the numbers and different colours that we have seen at the Great Barrier Reef and other spots in the world. We spent about 2 hours here and then it was time to head back to Sliema. The day had gone really quickly, but it was a fun day in the sun seeing some of the natural beauty that Malta has to offer.
We were up early this morning, as we had to walk to the ferry dock at Valletta and then catch the ferry across to Sliema by 9am! We boarded a Turkish Gullet called Fernandes II, which is a 38m long two masted gaff rigged vessel (I copied this description from their brochure!). Our first destination was the island of Comino and the Blue Lagoon.
It was another beautiful day and very pleasant sitting under the covered deck, admiring the coast of Malta as we cruised by. The Captain pointed out some of the highlights as we went, but the landscape was very dry and with the buildings built in the local sandstone or limestone they blended in to the countryside - it reminded us a bit of the coastal scenery in Oman.
We arrived at Comino and moored alongside many other tourist boats, and admired the amazing colours of the water. We signed up to do the jet boat ride to some nearby caves, and these rides are always a lot of fun as the driver always makes sure you get a bit wet! After that it was time for lunch on board, and a little later we took our first plunge into the Mediterranean for a swim.
I decided to check out the beach area just over the point, and was amazed at how small it was, but also how crowded it was! In Australia we have so many lovely beaches with lots of sand, so it was incredible to see a strip of about 50 metres jam packed, and the overflow of people who couldn't fit on it (or those who didn't want to pay 25 Euro to rent 2 deckchairs and an umbrella) sitting and sun baking on the surrounding rocks!!
A few hours later we headed off for a secluded bay on the island of Gozo for some more swimming and snorkelling. You could see fish from the boat, but not the numbers and different colours that we have seen at the Great Barrier Reef and other spots in the world. We spent about 2 hours here and then it was time to head back to Sliema. The day had gone really quickly, but it was a fun day in the sun seeing some of the natural beauty that Malta has to offer.
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