We had two very early starts – 5am each day in order to present ourselves at the Maltese office for identity checks and then to travel. The first day was almost the final part of our application for residency – now just the wait for our residents cards. We left the apartment at 5am and had a trip on the busiest Gozo to Malta ferry we have so far been on – the 5:30am departure. This is clearly the “commuter” ferry and the queue for coffees was longer than we’ve ever seen it – there were also hot pasties, sausage rolls and pastries should one need breakfast on the way to work. There was standing room only when we got to the cafeteria deck – and it was almost silent, everyone on their phones or reading books – none of the usual holidaymaker chatter. We finally felt more like locals as I got our coffees and of course a sausage roll for skipper Nigel 🙂 Once we disembarked we had a drive through traffic to get to the office and find a parking space – our appointment wasn’t til 8:30 but we weren’t going to miss it so we got there very, very early. I was almost elated to see a Sicilian coffee shop next to the office so a huge croissant and cafe con leche came my way before we went to not queue up at the office (very different from our Spanish experiences). The office was a pretty unassuming modern glass block – but even from the outside it looked modern and efficient. We were straight through and waited less than quarter of an hour for a ten minute appointment – then we were headed straight back to Gozo to pack our bags. The next day would be another early start – this time heading to Spain in style – with a chauffer driven taxi to the airport.
We were on the 6am ferry the next day with our driver Andrew who took us to the aiport in style, he was very friendly and we were very lucky with the traffic so we got the airport in plenty of time. It was a lovely relaxing start to our trip to Valencia where we would pick up our car and drive to our house. Without a boring story of the journey – it went like clockwork and before we knew it we were back at our house, spraying the minor ant invasion and settling in for the night.
The following day we relaxed after the journey before heading to Gemini J the day after for another load of checks how things were in our absence. All good was the verdict and we were so happy to find some of our friends still aboard their boats in the marina. We were very quickly planning our escape and we headed out sailing and then to spend a couple of nights on anchor.
We went out to one of our favourite anchorages Azhoia – we found our friends aboard Katarina and had a great couple of days swimming, snorkelling and paddle boarding. We also found time to socialise too which was great.
All too soon the weather meant we had to come back into port, we also had a few boat jobs to do (in reality there are always “boat jobs” to do) so we started with a good old wash and brush up for her. We were already planning a second trip as soon as we could get out again, as always depending on the weather. In the meantime we enjoyed being back in Cartagena and I particularly enjoyed walking my old wandering grounds.
Our second anchor trip was a little more lively as there was a bit of a chop – so no paddle boarding or kayaking which I was hoping to do – but we really enjoyed another night on anchor and were hoping our friends on Katarina might join us again. As it turned out the weather was just too good to miss for their onward journey so we watched them on full sail flying along towards Aguilas (they had a fabulous sail). In the morning I got up early and saw a magnificent Ray fish gliding past the boat, I was so amazed and excited, I don’t think we have seen one in the med before. I tried to take a photo – but to be honest if I didn’t tell you, you wouldn’t know what it was 😉 We were very lucky that our friends had given us ice creams – which we managed to fit into our teeny tiny “freezer” compartment in our fridge – that was a delicious treat – thank you Katarina 🙂
So now we are busy preparing the boat for a longer sailing trip as we plan to come back and sail her to Malta during September, we are most excited about that…….meanwhile we will go to our lovely friends wedding in Yorkshire and then head back to Gozo for a summer of fun in the sun.
The Adventures of Gemini J 