On the weekend of the 22nd, 23rd and 24th March 2013, a few friends and myself set out on a challenging hike that would take us along the entire coast of the island of Gozo. This 52 kilometre hike would take us along ever-changing terrain but will also enable us to see all the beauty that the island of Gozo has to offer.
The plan was to take a half day off work on Friday and head to the northern port of Cirkewwa to catch the ferry to Gozo. Once we arrived on the island we set out towards the West. Our first pit stop (or beer-stop as we liked to call it) was Xlendi where we got to relax for a short while and have a few pints of Cisk to re-fuel. Once we were done we set out to reach Dwejra by nightfall where we would pitch our tents and spend the night. Before we went to sleep we treated ourselves to dinner at the only restaurant that was open, and although the choice had been made for us due to the lack of options the food was very good and so was the wine.
On Saturday morning, we struck camp and set out for the rest of our journey. The next beer-stop was Marsalforn and because we were ahead of schedule we decided to spend a couple of hours there relaxing and chatting over a few pints of beer and an English breakfast. Once we had refuelled our bodies and our supplies from a nearby supermarket we set out for the final stop of the day - Ramla Bay in Xaghra. The journey to Ramla was difficult and dangerous and the most challenging one we had encountered till now, but the worst was yet to come. Passing through tightly packed bamboo fields, climbing crumbling clay cliffs, and all while carrying about 10 kilograms ore more on our backs were just a few of the challenges encountered that day. On arrival in Ramla Bay, however, we pitched our tents, gathered some wood, prepared a fire, and managed to relax proud of the fact that we had made it this far despite all the obstacles thrown in our way. Little did we know what would be in store for us on the last day of our hike.
That night was a very windy one, which meant that those of us who were light sleepers did not get much rest which is always a problem when undertaking a challenge such as this. Another let-down for the day was that one of the hikers encountered issues with one of his feet which meant that he felt he was unable to continue and had to catch a bus back home. With one man down and a slight lack of sleep, we set out for what would become the most challenging part of the entire weekend trek. Using our previously made calculations, we concluded that this hike should take us approximately 4 and a half hours due to the distance and the average speed we had maintained throughout the weekend so far. Therefore, by our calculations we should have been home for lunch. This, however, was not the case, due to a number of factors including a very dangerous and long field covered in massive boulders, more bamboo fields, and getting lost due to a lack of clearly marked paths. In fact, the last part of our Gozo hike took us almost 7 hours to complete. Nonetheless, we completed the challenge we set out for ourselves and walked the entire 52 kilometre coast of the island of Gozo. This hike enabled us to see the beautiful scenery that Gozo has to offer from a perspective rarely seen when just holidaying on the island. It also made us proud that we were able to prove to ourselves that this challenge was not out of our reach.
Photos coming soon!
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