Wednesday began with an early rise, around 8am for a shower and balcony breakfast. Tez had already voiced his intent to hit up the Sky Lounge and pool on the roof of the building, so we all headed up there shortly after 9am. It was a reasonably sized pool with a separate jacuzzi tucked away to the side; the skyline was unfortunately marred by the presence of a crane, but then again, every destination I travel to these days has an en suite construction site, so nothing new there! By mid morning, Tez had been and bought a pitcher of Sangria and the day's fun was really getting underway! 🍷🍻🏊🏼♀️ I sensibly applied sun-cream whereas others didn't bother 😬👀 after the PTSD from Tenerife last year, I was adamant that sunburn was not going to be on the agenda this time round! 🥵☀ By the end of the holiday, I'd be the only one to not get sunburnt 🤪
Discussing our plans for the day, it became a logistical nightmare of planning buses and ferries to permit us the required time to visit Ggantija, yet get back in time for the Sunset Boat Trip at 5pm 🏃🏼♂️ since it was myself who was determined to see Ggantija (to the point I said I'd go alone if nobody else could be bothered), I inherited the responsibility of planning the commute 😩🤣 we left the rooftop at 11ish and made our way to Ċirkewwa Harbour around midday. Frustratingly for Moz, there was nowhere to order proper food, so we had to settle for a Cisk instead 😅 we got the ferry to Gozo at 12:45, interestingly not needing to purchase an outbound ticket as staff advised we'd just pay on the way back (which was a little unusual) 🤔 once we reached Gozo Ferry Port, the bus situation looked diabolical because there were swarms of tourists milling about. Tez tried to secure a taxi to take us to Xhagra, but ultimately we all ended up fighting our way onto the bus and securing the entire back row. The drive to Xhagra (where the temples are situated) wasn't too bad. We drove through Nadur which had some really fancy street decor (presumably to do with the L-Imnarja Carnival on June 29th), and arrived at our destination around 2pm.
Time was not on our side, so once inside the Ggantija site, I didn't dally too long looking at the museum area, preferring to make my way to the proper temples. I could always read up on the museum-y stuff online at a later date - I wanted to spend my limited time at the actual temples! On the approach, their size actually caught me off guard... They were a lot bigger than expected, and the conundrum of how they'd been erected ~5,500 years ago really baffled my brain. We waited for Tez and Stace to catch up before we had a wander around the inner chambers, noting the typical tourist photos, and the areas of marked interest. It was all rather fascinating, but unfortunately we couldn't linger for as long as I'd have liked since we needed to get back for the boat trip. By 14:45 we were out of the temples and en route to the bus stop. Moz had disappeared into the horizon (par for the course), meanwhile we took a diversion into Lighthouse Food Store to grab some proper food since we'd not had any lunch. Moz reunited with us in the shop to get supplies 😅 I took the rare opportunity to buy some fruit which I had struggled to find anywhere, along with a chorizo collar which I shortly thereafter ate in it's entirety 😂 then we got the bus back to Gozo (backseat bus wankers again) and got onto the ferry back to Ċirkewwa Harbour at 15:45. This gave us plenty of time to relax, sip our Cisk, and not feel rushed for a rare change! 🤗
Once we arrived back at Ċirkewwa Harbour, we parked ourselves at the Cirkewwa Cafe seating area nearby. I ordered myself a beef and onion pastry which reminded me of a Wrights Meat & Potato pie to line my stomach with something more filling than random snacks and foodstuffs. At 5pm we boarded the Xlendi Pleasure Cruise and headed out into the northern waters of Malta. The boat cut it's way across the coastline, then headed out in the direction of the small island of Comino. As we navigated the choppy waters, rogue waves splashed playfully onto the boat soaking those sat on the front benches 😂🌊 Our first stop was the Crystal Lagoon which we arrived at around half-5. As we approached we witnessed a group of lads cliff jumping into the lagoon, and shortly after, we weighed anchor and prepared to enjoy the turquoise waters ourselves. I was straight up to the top deck and the first one to dive from the boat into the water (though I did have to wait for a few people who jumped from the lower deck to swim out the way first!). The water was crystal clear but salty AF. Like, absurdly so. I got back onto the boat and met up with Tez on the top deck before I dived in once more. And then I got back onto the boat and prepared to snap a few photos myself, including a sick one of Tez diving in. Stace had asked to borrow my cap and I was dubious about her taking it into the water since I'd previously ruined a cap by getting it salt stained in the sea. Tez reassured me he'd replace it if necessary, and then Stace jumped into the lagoon... and the cap came off immediately, and stayed off the entire time she was in the water... meaning she may as well have taken it off before she jumped in! 😂 I dived back in for the third and final time, and this time, the brothers all swam across to the caves at the bottom of the cliffs together. I cannot tell a lie; it was more tiring than I'd expected! 🙈😂 we toyed with the idea of venturing into the actual cave but I strongly opposed the idea as it looked like the waves could drag you in easily. Before we knew it, BEEP, it was time to get back on the boat! Stace was signalling to us, and we weren't sure if she was waving or beckoning from how far away we were! 😬 after we swam back across (and were the last aboard), our tour made it's way over to Gozo Ferry Port where we had been not that long ago on the ferry. After a (thankfully) brief stop with some commentary from the Captain, we made our way around to the Blue Lagoon, arriving at 18:35. We had an hour stop off to eat, drink, and be merry. We walked around the cliffs and got some nice photos, then deliberated for ages on what to eat and/or drink from the various stands. It was a surefire tourist trap. After debating it, I ended up with an Adios Motherfucker cocktail in a pineapple for €10, then also had a Cisk for after 🍍🍺 then we headed back down to the dock to relax under the sun, before Tez & Stace went for a paddle (and Stace became an impromptu photographer 📷😂). Then it was back on the boat to head to Ċirkewwa, singing like it was karaoke under the setting sun 🎤🌆
Once we were back on dry land, we caught the bus back to Luna. We got freshened up, and headed around to Roy Thai Street Food at 21:30, convinced that today we would actually get to eat there despite it being last orders! 😂 The place looked like it was occupied by the Yakuza but it didn't stop me accosting their aloe vera plant so Stace could treat her sunburn 🌵 I enjoyed a Cisk and some Duck Drunken Noodles, before we made our way on the bus to Billy's Sports Pub for a second shot at actually getting to sit in... which we managed since there was no football on at 11pm 😂 fuck, it's getting silly now... he thought to himself as he drank his southern comfort and coke, then henny and coke, then spiced rum and coke... and realised he was taking absolute liberties with his ability to handle alcohol after so long being sober! 😵😂 we left Billy's and caught the bus back to Luna at nearly 1am... and I was fucking wiped out, and subsequently crashed immediately after intending to lay down "for a minute" on my bed! 🥴😴
