10 March 2008

Post #39:  Golden Bay

On Saturday afternoon, Dave took the kids for a drive, while DeDe took a much-needed nap. Dave and the kids went to Golden Bay, and found a fabulous sandy beach, where they played and Dave rested at the beach cafe, where he could sit and watch them.

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to go back to that area, as Dave spotted some hiking trails nearby that beach, so we packed up and headed out for a hike. We first walked near the cliff above Golden Bay Beach, where the trailhead parking is found. We took some pictures up there, near the gunpost. Every point on the island, and every high place, especially those along the shore, have a gunpost, for defense against enemy attack. Obviously, they're no longer in use, but they do make you sense the historical need for such visual security on this tiny island.

The geography near Golden Bay is really amazing. See the web album for pictures. The rocky-scree slopes, in a bay not far from the beach is really not what you'd expect along the seashore. It was a little unnerving having a two and four-year-old hiking along near the edge of this scree slope. It looked as if the surface under our feet could crumble like a sand castle any moment. So we kept the kids on the more solid side of the trail, and away from the sheer drop!

At the top, the amazing wind-swept rocky precipice stands above our heads, and again, you wondered when the structure would start to crumble because of the pounding of wind it takes day after day. We stepped past it and found a cut out square cave where the kids stepped inside. We took a few quick pictures, but we had to be fast, because the kids complained that it was smelly in there. Probably it offered a bit of privacy for hikers needing a bathroom break? Yuck!

We hiked back to the trailhead from here, and on that walk, we turned toward the sea and snapped a few near sunset photos. Then we drove down to Golden Bay, and purchased a much-needed two-liter bottle of water. We ran out of drinking water on the weekend, and DeDe forgot to call for more on Friday...as we knew the businesses would be closed through-out and after election weekend on Monday.

From there, we drove to Mgarr, a nearby village up the valley a bit. There was a nice playground there, and a large plaza area in front of a magnificently huge church. The kids played while Dave went to a nearby restaurant to size up the potential for a family meal. We ended up dining there, and it was really nice. The kids behaved wonderfully. The two year-old had a momentary freak-out when the Sprite didn't get poured into his sippy cup. Being un-napped, this was expected, and he recovered once his daddy understood what he was saying.

The menu gave us a bit of a pause. There were interesting options, like Rabbit Stew, Quail, HORSEMEAT and Octopus. Hmmm...we took a pass on all those exotic local options, and went for something more familiar. Dave had a burger and fries with side salad, DeDe ordered a calzone and a mixed green salad. Rachel had pizza, Ian had spaghetti Napolitana (with tomato sauce). Addison: burger and fries, David: chicken nuggets and fries. Nathan lives on our extra fries, nuggets, etc... Bobby had crackers, followed by potato mash that his mommy squeezed out of the inside of the unsalted fries!

Outside the restaurant there was still much celebrating going on over the PN's victory in the election. There was a large truck parked on a side street, with speakers blasting, “We gotta fight, for our right, to PAR-TY!” Young people were dancing on top of cars along the street, and horns were blaring.

On our drive back to Msida, we went through one city centre where we saw beer bottles, plastic cups, wine bottles, and much depris strewn about the curbs, so that we could imagine we had missed quite a celebration there. Many police officers were stationed along every block, as the business owners were sweeping up the mess.

The kids were extremely tired upon our arrival home. The wind and fresh air wears them down quickly. They really do handle all these excursions well. We're praising God that we've had no injuries, even with the hiking on rocky, sometimes slick, surfaces, and in some dangerous places. We're grateful, too, that we've had no illness while here in Malta.

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