Chelmer's Nature Notes is Back

We've had a very exciting week in our Norfolk Bear Cave, all thanks to a rather unusual visitor of the feathered variety.

Earlier in the week, our male minder was working in the kitchen and noticed a tiny bird on the bush right outside the kitchen window. It wasn't one he recognised, and it was behaving quite unusually, in as much as it seemed desperate to join him in the kitchen. He took a photo and brought it up to show me. When I saw it, I was quite astounded, as it was no common or garden bird; it was, as you can see ...


... the most beautiful goldcrest (Europe's smallest bird!)

Curly and I rushed down and were delighted to find that this is a very sociable bird who pays numerous visits each day to our kitchen window. He, or she, is not at all bothered by activity in the kitchen, in fact the more there is, the more he perches on the window sill and tries to join us.

We can get right up close to the window ...


... and it is truly fascinating having such a close up view of such an interesting and beautiful bird.

It's certainly been the highlight of our year (nature-wise) so far. Mind you. we're not getting much work done as a result - one of the reasons that there hasn't been a post for a while!

Lots of love, Chelmer, Curly and all the chaps xxx

A Des Res?

We found Malta quite intriguing as there were some really lovely bits, and others that reminded us of some of the worst aspects of the Spanish Costas. We actually think much of the blames for the latter lies with the Brits!

Remember our question to you from the other day, of whether Paradise Beach lived up to it's name or not? We're got a much easier opinion poll for you today.

We'll introduce today's question by saying that we're not great fans of beach huts - they do rather spoil a fine coastline. However, but we infinitely prefer a British beach hut to some of the Maltese equivalents. What do you think to these examples that we're sitting outside ...?


... are we sitting outside a concentration camp barracks or a 'must have' seafront property?

Sadly, these were not isolated examples. There are some areas of Malta where there are so many shack-like beach properties that we really felt like we were walking through shanty towns. We do understand that the Maltese government is trying to do something about them and it's about time we say.

The good thing about Malta though is that there's far more beautiful coastline than blighted coastline. You never have to walk very far to be back in scenery that makes your heart sing for the beauty of it.


Our second picture was taken not far on from our first and in between we'd seen some spectacular erosion giving rise to caves and arches. We certainly had to watch our paws while walking in the area of our picture as we didn't want to fall down a fissure this deep!

Lots of love, the Malteser bears xxx

Food Glorious Food

We certainly didn't lose any weight in Malta as the food was far too good and Maltese restaurants serve some big portions - remember that pizza at the start of our Maltese posts?

As we had a self-catering apartment, well- equipped with cooking equipment, and we were only a 5 minute walk from the wonderfully named Trolley's supermarket, we can give ourselves a pat on the back for much of the good food, as a lot of it was cooked by us, and eaten in house.

However, we did visit two restaurants in our resort of Bugibba to sample the local cuisine.

The first was Granny's in the main square. Granny's advertises itself as a fusion restaurant and there was a lot of choice, but we couldn't really tell if any dishes were a house speciality. We chose a 3 course Maltese menu with choices for starters and mains.


Here we are about to tuck into a plate of rabbit in a sort of curry sauce, with lots of veggies in the stew and also a portion of Asian style stir fried vegetables. We also had a bowl of chips. When you think that starters were a similar size to mains (you should have seen our plate of spaghetti) this was a lot of food even for trencherbears like us. The first 2 courses were followed by something like apple sponge cake and huge mugs of good coffee. It was great value and the food tasted o.k. but something was lacking in the way of ambience and finesse. We decided that our visit would be a one off.

On our last night though, we hit the jackpot. We walked beyond the square, out of the tourist area to the most wonderful Maltese restuarant called the Malet. We'd read about it on the internet so knew it was worth seeking out.

It more than lived up to the Trip Advisor recommendations. The surroundings were tasteful, the welcome and service perfect (attentive, but not too much so) and the food was superb. While we waited for our starters we had a complementary glass of leek and potato soup which made us very happy. When our official starter of chicken wings in a yummy, sticky, spicy sauce came they were simply to die for, as Yorkie's face shows in our next picture.


Our mains of pork stew and quails were a delight and the bottle of rose we had to wash it down with was exactly too our taste, crisp and fruity, but not too sweet. Thanks to the Maltese portion sizes, we had no room for dessert, and we ended up with a very reasonable bill.

The only disappointing thing was that we were the only customers that evening. It was so good it should have been full. We wrote a glowing review for Trip Advisor so hopefully more visitors to Bugibba will be seeking out this gem of a restaurant. If we return to Malta we certainly will.

Lots of love, the Malteser Bears xxx

Wafted to Paradise ... or not?

It was good to be a bear on Malta as we had more travelling options than our minders. This was because we were able to avail ourselves of bicycles, left in convenient places all over the island.


There was plenty of room for all 4 of us to clamber aboard. As our legs are shorter than our minders', it provided a good way to keep up with them.

Most of the cycling was fairly sedate as Malta isn't too mountainous an island. However, there were a few dramatic moments. We particularly enjoyed cycling out to this headland, joined to the main cliffs by a narrow isthmus. There were big drops on each side so we had to make sure to concentrate, and not be distracted by the scenery.


We saw a lot of Malta's northern coast on our walks. Before we left home, various people had told us that the beaches weren't that good, but we were pleasantly surprised. There were some real gems on the west coast, including Golden Bay and the beaches close to it.

One beach that we weren't so sure about, was the one that sounded from its name, as if it should have been the best. This was the beach called Paradise Bay at the north west tip of the island. We sat at the top of the steps down to the beach and wondered whether it was worth going down or not, as it didn't seem to match with our idea of paradise. What do our readers think?


Perhaps it was just the rather grey day, or maybe it was the proximity to the ferry port, but we decided not to take a closer look, but to continue with our headland walk and see what else this stretch of coast had to offer. We were quite amused by the huge circular car park, not far from where we were sitting. There were hundreds of free parking spaces but only one or two were taken. It was January though, so hardly high season. Perhaps there would be a bit of a beach makeover before the summer season started.

Lots of love, the Malteser bears xxx

Gozo Day Out

We're back in Malta today, in spirit, if not in body, to tell you about our wonderful day out on Gozo.

Malta might be a small island, but Gozo is smaller, although not as small as Comino which sits almost between the 2. A visit to Gozo is a must for any visitors to Malta, and we were keen to see it and experience its rustic charms. Even though it was still winter, the 2 ferries were running round the clock. They are so regular that you don't need a timetable, you just turn up and catch the next one. And the great thing is that you don't need a ticket, or have to pay, until you come home. We had a strange (to us) feeling of naughtiness, strolling on board without a ticket, but that is what you have to do.


As you can see from our picture, it was a lovely sunny day for our trip, so we sat out on deck and enjoyed the sunshine and the sea views. We had had a small moment of worry earlier, when we had set sail while the bow door was still being closed! but there didn't seem to be no danger of the sea coming in, so by the time our picture was taken, we were completely chilled out.

On our journey we passed Comino, but that was as close as we would be going on this holiday, as it was too soon for the small day trip ferries to be running.

Once disembarked on Gozo we set off on a coast walk straight from the ferry terminal. The harbour was quickly left behind, as everything on Gozo is on a small scale, and in just a couple of minutes we were out in lovely countryside, walking with the sea on our left. A few minutes more and the path took us down to a very pleasant beach where we could paddle (the water was a bit cold for swimming) then sit in the sun to dry off our paws and munch on a sandwich, while watching the 2 ferries (the white blobs) plying their way between the islands


As with our 2 previous coastal walks, it was an interesting coastline, with lots to see. We passed a beach where 3 large vessels, one a former ferry, had been scuttled to provide some interesting dive sights. They were just a bit too far offshore or us to see them.

There was an idyllic inlet (the Port of the Galleys), which suddenly became less idyllic when we learnt its history. It had been the place where a party, led by a Turkish raider, had landed in 1551, and carried most of the island's inhabitants off into slavery. Just before the inlet was a 17th century tower built by the Knights of St John; there is certainly no shortage of history on Gozo.

We also liked these amazing salt pans carved into the rock ...


It was good to be a bear rather than a human here, as were just the right size to scamper along the retaining walls and get a really good close up look.

The coastal part of our walk ended with 400 foot cliffs - we took care not to get too close. We then turned inland to walk through the small town of Sannant then on, just over another mile, to the town of Victoria, the capital of Gozo. We had a quick look round the citadel, but it was getting dark, so it wasn't long before we headed for the bus station to catch a bus to the harbour and our ferry back to Malta. Here there were tickets booths, so we finally got to buy our return tickets. We thought that just over €4.5 for a return was a very reasonable price to pay.

Sadly our holiday wasn't long enough for another visit to Gozo, but we hope to return one day, and we will certainly be recommending it in the Friendly Planet Guide.

Lots of love, the Malteser Bears xxx

Britain's Favourite Conversation Topic ... again

We hope all our readers having been faring well during the recent icy blast.

One B.U. member who enjoyed last weekend's snow more than most, was Polar from the Midlands branch, who is spending the winter with us.


Polar has adapted well to life off the ice, but when the white stuff falls, and especially when it turns icy, his polar bear genes come to the fore and he is literally in his element.


Along with his hardy friend Russ, he went out last Sunday afternoon to search out some pristine patches of snow to play in and mark with his paw print. The plastic bag his was wearing was not to keep him dry, his fur does that for him, but to give him extra slip when he went body sledging.

Polar played so hard that he got tired and decided to hitch a lift home. Here is is giving his paws up of approval to the snow.


We've all been looking after our feathered friends this week and making sure the bird feeders are well stocked. Our efforts have paid off and Chelmer and Curly were thrilled to sight some more unusual visitors, making their first appearance in our garden yesterday. They sat at the kitchen window with the bird book and binoculars watching ...


... a pair of blackcaps and at least one redpoll. Both species seem to be residing locally, as they're with us, feeding, for several hours each day. It gives us all a special feeling to know we are helping such lovely birds.

But the all important question remains, will today's thaw continue, to allow racing at Fakenham on Friday? We very much hope so.

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx

P.S. back to Malta next time!

The Taste of Malta

Well the Malteser Bears are all safely home now; we returned bearing gifts for our friends who stayed behind to keep the wheels of commerce turning, and what could be a more appropriate gift to return with, than a big bag of Maltesers?

We decided to take pictures at the airport so we could prove that our Maltesers did come from Malta and not from England (although we wouldn't like to speculate on how well travelled they are).


What better chap could we have in our airport photo, than a genuine knight of St John featuring the Maltese cross on his costume. As you can see his hat made a great place for us to rest with our Maltesers.

We knew that Playmobil fan, Fred's Mum of the Suffolk branch, would like this picture, but we think that when she sees our next picture, of us with our second airport friend, she may like it even more ...


... and this is because that pirate face reminds us very much of someone who is very close to Fred's Mum's heart - must surely be a relative? What you think Aunty M?

Before setting out for the airport, we had a pretty full day in Malta and finally got to take a look at Valletta, which will be the subject of a future post. The downside of gaining an extra day, was that we touched down at Gatwick at 10.00 p.m. and got a real shock to find the outside temperature close to zero. The Bearmobile performed well and got us back to the Bear Cave as fast as possible, but it was still 2.15 a.m. when we arrived and we were all too cold to get much sleep that night.

As the cold week has progressed, we are finding it hard to believe that only a few days ago we were enjoying being bears in the sun ...


... this was us on enjoying the sun terrace at the top of our accommodation which was a great place to catch a few rays. Of course, we didn't spend too much time time here as there was so much exploring to do and so little time. We've plenty more posts from Malta in the pipeline so keep watching the blog.

Lots of love, the Maltese returners xxx