We Were On The Other Side...
Today I 'drove' a boat to Comino island...
Anadi drove some of the way too... Especially as my steering was a little haphazard.
'No no, point to the tower', our captain called to me 'steer it like a car...
He then suggested I hand the wheel to Anadi!
We had our own private boat...
Anadi and I had run down the hill to the harbour to 'catch' the 9 o'clock boat to Comino, but we were the only ones...
'There are no other customers' our ticket man said... 'It would suit you to walk around a bit until 10 o clock...?'
'What would it cost, to take just us'? I asked...
'30 euros' he said....
I produced the 30 euros, and looking a little surprised he said, 'that is okay?'
'Yes that is okay' I said...
He directed us to our boat, and on the way we passed signs saying, 'boat to Comino - €4.99 per person' - 'look' Anadi smiled, pointing to the sign...
'Ah but we have our own boat' I laughed...
It was great fun... The boat was dipping into the waves and lurching from side to side, sea spray soaked us, and we got to drive..!
We were dropped off at 9.20am, and arranged to be back on the jetty at 12.15pm, for our return journey...
Comino Island is about a mile in length and, as we discovered for ourselves, five miles around the circumference...
The original plan had been to run it, but as we set off on the rocky stony pathway, we found ourselves walking and talking, and enjoying the magical little island at a slower pace...
The different rhythm to walking lends itself to a different dialogue, a different feel. Walking through the land reveals a type of connection both to it, and to the person you walk with, that is unique to the pace of the walk...
Not necessarily better or worse, just a different quality, a different flavour. Another aspect of self and the other is revealed; unexplored pathways within, open up when the road is walked instead of run.
I have found this too when cycling or swimming, that new energies are required and revealed, when travelling on a bike or in the water...
Not so many walk the whole way around it we discovered...
The blue lagoon at the jetty is the brightest turquoise blue imaginable, and many people stay there, snorkelling and swimming and lying in deck chairs provided by 'Mr Comino', as our boatman called him...
He lives on the little island all summer long, he told us, and in the winter travels; 'last year I went to India and this year I will go to South America...'
We told him about our lifestyle...
'Respect' he said 'It is the way to live, I have only just begun this life of travel'...
We stayed right on the edge of the island, which did rather resemble 'a road less travelled', at times, the path was more a case of leaping from rock to rock...
but we got to look down into some awesome caves...
Soon we re joined a more familiar path and there in front of us, instead of Gozo was Malta...
We were on the other side!