Malta 2014

On thursday I landed back in England, I'm back at my parents house for a while before I head back home to Wales. I can't move into my house until the 1st September and I'm counting down the days! I had a great time in Malta though, it was a great experience and I've learnt a lot.

I was primarily there to complete a 4 week placement on a Permaculture research farm. Permaculture is a merger of the words permanent and agriculture, even now I'm still learning exactly what it is but basically permaculture is a way of living where you work with the environment to fulfill your needs, so you don't over exploit the land. One person summed it up as the organic gardening revolution.

The farm was a pretty awesome place to be, the views were quite beautiful.

The main focus of my work on the farm was looking at a plant called wheat grass, I had to produce a research report on the health benefits of drinking wheatgrass juice. We also helped out with general work on the farm, getting to know how the farm worked was just as important as producing a research piece.

The farm had quite the array of homemade solutions which I loved. These old tyres were donated and have been recycled into steps as the farm is in a valley. Everything had it's use on the farm, I love that kind of attitude to life, everything was recycled in one way or another, it's part of the permaculture ethos and was one of the ways I really connected with the idea of the whole thing.

They're practical and look great, what's not to love!?

While we were there to work, we also had plenty of time to explore the island, we were proper tourists a few times and hopped onto bus tours and boat tours then occasionally we partied like locals at town feasts. We were also away for my 20th birthday, we went on a boat tour,where I forgot to put suncream on my face so had quite the tanned nose by the end of the day! We then went for a BBQ in the national park and watched the sun set from the cliffs, it was a great day. Here's some more snaps for you to enjoy. 

Mdina is still my favourite place on the island, I really wish I'd taken one of the horse drawn carriage tours through the town, it was beautifully lit in an evening

This cave is where James Bond, A spy who loved me was filmed.

Finally at Blue Grotto I made friends with an owl, I've never held an owl so making friends with this guy was an experience!

After a month I've never been happier to see 1) The plane home from Malta 2) Trees and grass 3) My home town.

I really enjoyed myself in Malta, it was a great experience and I would definitely recommend a work placement abroad to everyone. I have a week or so back here then it's back to Wales, I'll have some posts about cheap (an even free) days out for you soon.

Keep it Scrimpy,
Laura.