1.) Malta is an archipelago of islands about halfway between the coasts of Sicily and North Africa. Once home to ancient civilisations and Europe’s most noble families, Malta's history has been at the heart of the Mediterranean's development. Its people, the Maltese, are a friendly, multilingual race. The official languages are Maltese and English, the latter a legacy of the almost 200-year British rule.

3.) From the church I took this photo looking towards our hotel in Mellieha Bay and the huge complex can be seen in the far distance which dominates the bay. (the building in the middle of my photo) Mellieha's popular sandy beach, the largest in Malta is 2km north of the town. It attracted Turkish pirates which led to the village of Mellieha which is set on a spur, being deserted in the 16th century.

5.) The Church at Mellieha is blessed by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Malta in May 1990. One of the amazing features is the church tower, or rather the five bells placed in the church between 1920 and 1940. Bells are different sizes and dedicated to St. Francis, St. Joseph, St. Anthony, St. Paul and Mary. All the church bells of Mellieha were brought from Milan.

7.) The town's present shape goes back to the 19th century when the steep main street, where the houses cling to the rock, was laid out. Mellieha has always been a favourite with the Maltese and is becoming popular with visitors.

9.) Next day we ventured out on an organised day trip to explore the Highlights of Malta and saw another church in the middle of Malta in a town called Mosta. The Mosta Rotunda Church in the busy town centre was built in the mid 19th century and has massive walls 6m deep and these allowed the dome (the third largest unsupported dome in the world ) to be constructed without scaffolding and took 27 years to build. In 1942 a 200Kg bomb pierced the dome but fortunately failed to explode admist the hundreds in the congregation. Two other bombs bounced off the dome without exploding also.

11.) After such a long time under British rule, Malta feels like a real home from home for many ex-pats that live in Malta and there are so many familiar sights including the shops, street signs and red telephone boxes. St Paul's cathedral is situated in St Paul's Square shows two clocks, one tells the correct time on the right and the left one is there to confuse the devil.

13.) A Black & White shot of the architecture in the narrow Mdina. The Mdina is commonly known as the 'Silent City' by the natives and tourists or the 'Noble City'. The town is still contained within its walls and has a population of less than three hundred.

15.) The courtyards and houses in the Mdina were beautiful with their windows, verandahs and the sun was shining and the sky cloudy blue. We were fortunate there were not too many tourists around, so I was able to shoot a few photos in the little time we had and was able to savour the experience and ambience of such a place.

17.) Our guided walk continued immediately to the outside of the walled Mdina and into the village of Rabat where I took this lovely charming quaint house next to our restaurant where we had a quick lunch. The name Rabat derived from the Arabic word for 'suburb' as it was the suburb of the old capital Mdina.

19.) In the workshop we watched the craftsman carving ornaments and tea light candle holders. A shaft of sunlight was beaming through the open window. Two types of limestone rocks are quarried in Malta and they are open cast quarries.

21.) In the Limestone Heritage site I came across this Male wild Turkey (eastern subspecies) The males called toms or gobblers have large featherless, reddish head, red throat and red wattles on the throat and neck. The head has fleshy growths called caruncles. When males are excited a fleshy flap on the bill expands, and this, the wattles and the bare skin of the head and neck become engorged with blood almost concealing the eyes and the bill. The long fleshy object over a male's beak is called a Snood. When a male is excited its head turns blue and when ready to fight it turns red apparently. (It took me 25 shots to get this capture) The Turkey was behind small wire mesh standing on a hutch and I had to zoom through the tiny mesh wire space and wait until he had strutted a pace into the sun as he was standing in the shade. As I abided my time, the Turkey changed colour from a blue face to vibrant red. The sun emphasing it more. This is straight out of the camera with no colour changes etc... He's quite ugly in a pretty sort of way.

23.) On our journey back to Mellieha Bay I took my little Fuji F70EXR pocket camera and shot this image through the moving travelling coach glass window of Spinola Bay in St Julian’s resort. Much of St Julian's is in three layers and has other photogenic bays nearby. By the time we got back to our hotel we were exhausted as it had been a busy day especially with an early start.

25.) Malta's climate is strongly influenced by the sea and is typical of the Mediterranean. The Islands have a very sunny climate with a daily average of five to six hours of sunshine in mid-winter to around 12 hours in summer. Winters are mild, with the occasional short chilly period brought about by the north and north-easterly winds from central Europe. However, we found the weather to be cool, rainy, thunderstorms, hailstones and mixed with warmer sunshine when we were on the Island. Apparently, Malta was experiencing their worst February weather in over 60 years when we visited.

27.) We had pleasure feeding the friendly birds of which these are The Spanish Sparrow or Willow Sparrow (Latin name 'Passer hispaniolensis'.) and is a passerine bird of the sparrow family Passeridae. It is found in the Mediterranean region and south west and central Asia and is similar to the House Sparrow.

29.) The outdoor swimming pool might look lovely, warm and inviting but believe me it was cold to touch even in the mid afternoon sunshine. The sunbeds were all empty and not a towel in sight. Our hotel was All Inclusive so we certainly made the most of all the free beverages namely the Hot drinking Chocolates for me and a warm brandy or two for hubby.

31.) First stop was to The Azure Window which was a 66ft high arch carved out of the rocks by the pounding sea waves. This natural phenomenon of inland sea is a land locked sea water pool but with a natural tunnel in the rock that allows sea water in. A boat trip can be taken through the tunnel which gazes at the Mediterranean. To Gozitans it has always been known as Tieqa Zerqa - The Azure Window. It has featured in films like Clash of the Titans, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Odyssey. Nearby off Dwejra Point, the rocky outcrop in the sea is known as the Fungus Rock.

33.) I had previously planned a few shots I had in mind for this particular location and so I had packed a little wooden photo frame (without the glass ) to 'frame' the cove from a different perspective. Geoff held the frame while I lined up the shot and clicked the shutter.

35.) The imposing basilica of Ta' Pinu was built between 1920 and 1931 in the countryside. The Roman Catholic parish church has a reputation for miracles and inside the church there was a display of photos of individual miracles that in reality had happened, which was very touching.

37.) Next stop on the 'Discover Gozo' tour was lunch in a restaurant in Xlendi and afterwards we had ten minutes to grab some photo opportunities. I spotted this fabulous Valkyrie motorcycle parked outside a restaurant and thought it looked classic.

39.) Once again, in the limited time we had after our Gozo 360 cinema experience of the island, we had less than an hour to explore the Cittadelle. The origins of this fortified enclave go back to Gozo's early history under Roman and Arab occupation. Many of the buildings inside the Medieval walled Cittadelle were destroyed in the seige of 1551 and an earthquake in 1693 but have been sympathetically restored and a walk around the ramparts offers terrific views while evoking a sense of Gozo’s ancient past.

41.) Next day we went on the organised half day trip to Marsaxlokk, the largest fishing village on Malta. Both the Turks in 1565 and Napoleon in 1798 landed their troops there and today there is an invasion of tourists that descend every Sunday morning for the open-air quayside market. The beautiful village provided picturesque photograph opportunities of the bay filled with colourful fishing boats in the midday Malta sunshine.

43.) The village name of Marsaxlokk comes from marsa meaning port and xlokk which is the local name for the south east. Located a few yards from the Harbour is the attractive parish church dedicated to Our Lady of Pompeii and built in 1892 in the traditional form of a Holy Cross. Between the twin towers there is a statue of Mary standing in a boat (a traditional luzzo) pointing out to sea.

45.) The area remains a haven for birds and although we were limited to time, it was an interesting place to visit for an hour, even if the birds were few to view from the bird hide. The protection the reserve enjoys ensures that as the seasons change, Ghadira hosts a variety of animal and plant life. As we were leaving I spotted the rabbits running wild in the Nature reserve.

47.) On our last full day in Malta on Monday 13th February 2012 Geoff and myself visited the popular tourist attraction of Anchor Bay about a mile or so from our hotel. Hollywood came to Malta in 1979 and made Popeye the movie. When shooting finished in 1980 the set was turned into a tourist attraction.

49.) The rain just stayed at bay while I did some outdoor photography. We had a few hours to leisurely wander around the film set which was very quiet with few tourists and we watched Popeye film reels and explored the different interesting buildings. Then we had a well deserved rest in the Seafarers restaurant and ate a delicious large pizza washed down with a cider before returning to the hotel to pack our suitcases.