How many would know the number of steps that lead down to Ghajn Tuffieha Bay?

One person who knows is Michael Khan, an Englishman who is celebrating his "pearl anniversary" or 30th visit to Malta.

When Mr Khan first came to Malta on holiday in 1975 he would have never thought that the island would become a second home he would visit every year for three decades.

In fact, he has come to think of himself as more of a visitor than a tourist. He is in a position to view Malta through a lens that is not tinted by tourist novelty or clouded by native indifference.

Sipping a cappuccino in a Valletta coffee shop, Mr Khan's Maltese-cross pendant - a token of Maltese friendliness - glistened in the sun as he turned back the clock to the first time he came to the island.

He recalled that when he arrived on holiday with his wife Margaret and their three children Julian, Carolyn and Lisa the first thing that struck him was the heat that engulfed him as he stepped off the airplane one summer night.

Once he dried his forehead, he was immediately smitten by "the outstanding warmth and friendship of the Maltese people" - a quality that turned Malta into a yearly destination.

During their first few visits, he and his family stayed in rented houses that, at the time, were being hired by English teachers throughout the winter. When the teachers left Malta Mr Khan thought that would be the end of his visits to the island.

"But then, literally by accident, as I was walking in Portsmouth, where I live, a car hit me from the back and a Maltese man, as it happened, came across and offered to be an eyewitness. I told him he sounded Maltese and asked if he knew anyone who had apartments for rent in Malta. It turned out his mother did."

So for the next few years Mr Khan and his family stayed in an Msida apartment and, during those years, they met Carmelo Camilleri and his wife Therese with whom they established a life-long friendship.

The Khans eventually started staying at the Camilleris' apartment in Gzira during their summer visits until the Camilleris decided to sell it.

Ever since then the Khan family has been hosted at the Camilleris' home where they feel welcome as part of the family every summer.

Mr Khan explained that he and his family never stayed in a hotel or travelled on a package holiday because they like to be independent. "Our holidays here, particularly now that we are staying with a host family, are home for home."

"What pleases me about Malta is the family life. I find it very reassuring. When I walk along Tower Road, Sliema I can see grandfathers and mothers with their grandchildren all out together. This is a rare sight in England," he said.

"Another thing I like about the place is that there's never been a language problem and we drive, more or less, on the same side of the road. The combination of those things really made us feel at home and at ease."

During these 30, yearly, four-week-long visits, Mr Khan has compiled a mental timeline of snapshots of the island and changes that have taken place.

"I think the most significant change, without being controversial, is what you may call construction but which, in certain cases, one might term as destruction.

" For example, along Tower Road, those beautiful houses with the balconies and the shutters... they've all gone now... A country's heritage should be there to be protected.

"I think there's been an enormous amount of rebuilding. Whether it's in proportion to the island I'm slightly unsure," he said.

Another obvious change, he added, was the development of Malta International Airport. "When we first arrived it was small and everything was crammed whereas now it's very, very impressive."

A positive change which he noticed on a personal level was the speed at which one can change money at the bank. It used to take an hour, he recalled.

He also noticed an improvement in the water supply. "We nearly stopped coming in the 1980s because water was cut off regularly."

Mr Khan and his family do visit other countries during the year but Malta remains their "number one destination". "When I come to Malta I look for a relaxed atmosphere, to which I plan to keep coming, because I just love it. Every year I try to see something different."

It is this love for the island that fuels Mr Khan's curiosity to learn more about it - that same curiosity that drove him to count all the 186 steps leading to Ghajn Tuffieha bay.