Ahh! Gozo

Fleeing the packaged Brits and bustle of Malta, Nick and Julie Baldwin boarded the Gozo ferry for the half hour crossing to a different world.

Halfway across the channel between Malta and Gozo, came a fragrant waft of cumin from the islet of Comino (named after this exotic spice). Gozo is a limestone outcrop nine miles long and four across that has changed very little in a hundred years.

It’s a forceful reminder of what Mediterranean islands used to be like before mass tourism, with only a handful of hotels (which were little more than a third booked last year), a coastline that is 90 per cent untouched and a group of ancient towns, including the capital Victoria, huddled in the central heights.

Around them, stretching down to the sea, are tens of thousands of terraces tended by just about every one of the island's 30,000 inhabitants. The terraces are either allotments of mixed crops for home consumption or else given over to wheat, vines, potatoes or, a great local favourite, broad beans.

We'd hired a car at Malta's airport near Valetta and been pleasantly surprised to find that islanders drive on the left. Better still, virtually everyone can speak English (though the first language for most is an impenetrable arabic tongue), so conversations with Gozitan sons of toil can include gardening tips or what fish to try.

However, bird lovers be warned: like so many other Mediterraneans, they shoot or net just about anything that moves, including flocks of migrating birds that touch down en route from Africa, less than 100 miles away.

The main roads are surfaced but dozens of tracks that lead down to isolated coves and cliffs are best tackled by 4X4 or, better still, Shanks's pony. Diving is just about the only major tourist industry, though traditional lace is still made in the doorways of back streets in Victoria (Rabat in the local language).

There are plenty of places to eat out. Local dishes include rabbit in wine, octopus on rice and many variations of pork and fish with Maltese potatoes cooked in meat stock. All can be washed down with local wine or Simonds Farson Hop Leaf beer, and rounded off by a prickly pear pudding.

Most people renting villas tend to shop for fresh produce in the markets or from hawkers (they actually use this antiquated English term) in vans, for consumption by the pool. The cost of eating out is much the same as in Britain and prices are in Maltese pounds which equate to 39 of ours for 25 of theirs. Gozo is definitely not cheap as all but basics have to be imported.