Our first month in Malta has flown by. We have been in two temporary berths over the past weeks and have now been allocated our permanent winter berth on 'L' pontoon, home for the next 5 months.

Malta is a tiny island and sits at the heart of the Mediterranean. Six islands make up the archipelago of Malta but only three are inhabited with Malta, the largest, housing 400,000 people. It is believed to have been attached to Sicily until the end of the last Ice Age. The oldest free standing structures in the world are to be found here, and it has a rich heritage of settlers from many countries, and the whole population was awarded the George Cross for their bravery during the Second World War. The Knights of St. John settled here in the 16th century and built fortifications and lots of the cities beautiful buildings until Napoleon arrived in 1798. Two years later the British arrived and stayed until 1979.

We haven't done too much exploring yet as we have plenty of time to do that over the coming months but we have visited the capital of Valletta, which is close enough to walk into, St. Julian's Bay & Paceville where all the nightclubs, bars and entertainment are, and Sliema our nearest shopping area. Getting around is very easy on the old Leyland buses which are very cheap and efficient.

The weather has been mixed but on the whole the sun seems to come out most days. Once the sun goes down, it does become a bit chilly but we are still wearing t-shirts!