We've been keeping an eye on Gozo Highspeed, the fast ferry that normally does multiple 45-minute trips a day to Gozo, the smaller island to the northwest of Malta. Every day so far, the sneaky winds that have persisted since our arrival have meant the cancellation of all trips.

But today -- just as we'd pretty much given up, because we know that tomorrow is going to be REALLY windy -- we got our chance. It's sailing! We were so excited we forgot to put our recycling out.

First, though, we needed to call in at the bus station to top up our bus cards. You should be able to do this via the app, but you can't -- not even on my phone, which has the Maltese SIM in it. Anyway, that was quickly done, and from there it's not far to the jetty.




The ferry costs EUR 3 per direction per (old) person.

We sat up front on the way out (they weren't allowing people to sit here on the way back, the weather having apparently worsened by then). It was a little bouncy as we left the harbour, but apart from that, it was a very pleasant ride.



You get great views (excuse the spots on the window) of Valletta's always awe-inspiring profile as you head out:




You sail past the dramatic cliffs of Comino (the tiny island between Gozo and Malta), and then you're in Mgarr:




From here, your best bet is get the bus up to Victoria, in the centre of the island. It's already obvious that Gozo is much greener than Malta, and you're definitely seeing vineyards.

A huge citadel takes up a fair whack of the city. It's incredibly scenic up there, and -- mercifully, after yesterday's experience -- it's pretty quiet. There are a few tourists drifting about, but it's all very relaxed.











Back down in the square, we had lunch.

(And, in another of the series of minor weirdnesses that continues to beset us here, we'd just started to eat when a big lorry arrived to collect the skip sitting immediately to our right. We shifted tables, while the English cafe-owner repeatedly apologized, and said no-one had given her any warning about the skip or its removal. Later, when we were having coffee at another place, the server accidentally caught the table indicator with the saucer, sending coffee flying everywhere. Then there was the box of blueberries that turned out to be broken, and started leaking berries all over the supermarket... Not to mention the Maltese phone, which can't cope with topping up our bus cards, but dutifully receives two phone calls, every night at 2300 and 2302, from a number that can't be contacted... None of these things is a big deal. But there seems to be no day without some minor oddity or mishap.)


After lunch, we went back, through the pretty streets that we've come to see as standard here, to the bus stop:




Rather than going straight back to Mgarr, we got off at Ghajnsielem, and walked down to the port from there. Another very pretty place:









Excellent day out.