Exploring Wied Ghasri in Gozo
We’re looking forward to today as we’ve planned to explore a part of Gozo we’ve never explored before even though we’ve been coming here almost annually for the past 15 years. That’s the beauty about Gozo and Malta: there is always something new to explore and discover. We had a light breakfast around our private rooftop pool while taking in the surrounding terraced farmlands and early visitors to beloved Dwejra.
Ghasri, Gozo
We got into the car and drove to the village of Ghasri as Nanna’s on a mission to discover the only window with “stone louvres” still in existence in Gozo AND Malta…. This information was provided to us by my cousin Josephine a couple of days ago. Ghasri is the smallest village on Gozo. It is said that the name is an Arabic derivation referring to the “period of the day in between afternoon and evening”.
Still, some others volunteered that the word “Ghasri” means “the place of crushing olives”: olives which were grown and harvested in a nearby larger town called Zebbug (meaning olives).
I’m not saying which is right but I’m definitely saying Ghasri and surroundings are beautiful exuding rustic vibes….
Anyway, on arriving at Ghasri, we parked the car and I approached 2 local guys who were happily chatting away in a doorway of a house next to the village church.
I showed them the “address” my cousin had given me and asked them to point us in the right direction…. and that’s when the fun began as these two contradicted each other quite boisterously and loudly and with arms waving and arguing which is the better way we should go😊 (so typically Maltese)….
Nanna meanwhile went into the church while this was going on…. (Hopefully to pray for a solution? 😊) In the end we managed to agree on the “general direction” and so we proceeded on foot.
Villagg Tal Fanal, Gozo
We walked to the hamlet of Villagg Tal Fanal which translates into “Lighthouse Village” where we asked another two locals about directions and they told us that it was just around the corner. Sure enough, we found it. Tick, yet sadly, this piece of Gozitan history is unfortunately lacking in recognition☹. On a brighter side, even though it was mid-morning, it was wonderfully quiet and with beautiful surroundings.
Overlooking Villagg Tal Fanal, the Ta Gurdan Lighthouse dominates the hamlet and Ghasri. It’s an active lighthouse and is one of two lighthouses on Gozo. Ta Gurdan Lighthouse derives its name from the hill it sits on: Ta Gurdan Hill.
We decided to continue exploring and so we fixed our sights on walking to Wied Ghasri. The countryside unfolding before us is in a state of frenzied harvesting activity like we’ve witnessed over the past couple of weeks.
Nanna remarked that the countryside is very much like the scenes Van Gogh created his “late in life” paintings and on reflection she’s absolutely right. I clearly remember seeing such paintings in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam recently.
Not only was the landscape dotted with scattered bales of hay ready to be stored but also many fields had already been planted with summer crops. We could see melon and tomato plants sprouting close by.
Coincidentally, we met a local on one of the paths we were crossing and chatted for a while.
This local said that he lived in Australia for 9 years but returned to the motherland Gozo where he was employed as a lighthouse keeper at Ta Gurdan Lighthouse until he recently retired.
He told us that the wheat/hay is sown, grown, harvested and moved into storage by the livestock farmers to feed their growing herds during the summer and winter months. These livestock farmers “rent” the fields from the field owners and then pay these owners a fee for each bale collected…..something new learned every time we’re in our motherland😊.
Wied Ghasri
Moving on we walked through country lanes, steep and winding in parts. The lanes then turned in country paths which eventually brought us to Wied Ghasri.
What a Gozitan treasure we found 😊
This is a narrow “valley/creek” cutting through rock cliffs with a beautiful secluded pebble beach at one end and the Mediterranean Sea at the other. We descended the steps to the shoreline. We were the only ones about. We were astounded!!
The “cliffs” enveloping the “valley/creek” are bursting with spring vegetation and the grey colour of the surrounding rocks are very complimentary.
We maddeningly took photos and videos and when we finished, we sat down on the pebbles and simply listened to the language of the waves and it dawned on me that everyone’s interpretation will be different…. it is a language that transcends all other languages because the language of the waves speaks privately, confidentially, personally and telepathically to each one that visits…. and each one WILL understand the language of the waves. Hypnotizing!
This was a very unique moment in time for Nanna and me. Experiencing such a “mystical” and “telepathic” moment where hearts and minds are one, is a “stress cleanser”, more so because no other person was about. These moments are cherished forever…
Nanna and I took time to build Pebble Totems at the waterline. We built 7 of them…. one for each of our loving grandchildren and then one with 12 pebbles for our whole family…. and wished our whole family was here to enjoy with us.
Reluctantly, we climbed the steps and when we reached the top, I decided to venture out to the promontory to capture a few photos of where the creek starts its journey inland. Nanna wasn’t pleased given my taste for risk-taking but in the end, I did manage to capture the hoped-for shots.
After about 4 hours of trekking about on this side of the island we made it back to the car and drove to Victoria for a late lunch.
