A Weekend on Salt Spring
Our adventure on a little piece of yuppie paradise.
All good Gulf Island
trips start with reservations on BC Ferries. From Vancouver there are
two ferries a day - one in the morning and one in the evening. We got
morning reservations on the milk run from Vancouver. When you have
reservations you want to make sure you are there at least 40 minuets before
the sailing.
First we crossed the Straight of Georgia and heading toward Galiano.
A passing super ferry "Spirit of Vancouver Island" is here in front of Mayne
Island just past the
Active Pass
Light House. Our first stop was Sturdies Bay on
Galiano island. After Galiano we
visited Mayne, Pender and then Salt Spring so we spent nearly 3 hours on
the ferry.
The Bed and Breakfast
We stayed at
Sunset Farms.
It's a working farm and available for rent for 3 nights or more. The
farm house is log construction with lots of "farm home" touches.
The home owners use the barn at the bottom of the drive to maintain the
animals. There is a donkey which is allergic to grass and a big pig
with a few piglets. During the summer most of the sheep are on other
pastures but a few of the pets and show animals are still home. At
night the owners bring the sheep in to protect against any predators.
The farm house was a great base of operations. The farm has a badminton
court and a wonderful view toward the main land. It's about a 10 minuet
drive to Ganges and the rest of the island. The roads are very hilly, but
good for biking up and down.
Saturday Market
One of Salt Springs' claims to fame is it's Saturday Market. The
market is in Ganges and is going full steam by 9:30 or so. The market
is mostly local artists selling their art and farm products. Sunset
farms has a stand where they sell sheep skins, candles, lamb and local made
soaps.
The sales people are often the artists so you can ask questions about how
things are made, durability or any special care requirements. Then
candle vendor was especially funny - he kept telling us how to make fireballs
with his products!
Mt. Maxwell
Mt Maxwell is one of the higher peaks on the island and has a road up to
the top. We went for a short hike (across the parking lot) and took
in the views.
The view itself is pretty spectacular - this is the view west across Sansom
Narrows. The mountains on the left are part of Salt Spring - far left
is Mount Belcher and to the right of that is Mt. Sulivan. The bay on
the left is Burgoyne bay. On the other side of the water, the large
area is Maple Mtn Centennial Park.
The mountain on the left has been
given a pretty poor hair cut - large sections have been clear cut.
The little note says
"These clear cuts have been brought to you by
Texada Land Corp. Dorman Timber and sponsored by
Manulife Insurance"
I can imagine there are a number of locals who aren't too happy about the
logging (it certainly is ugly.)
These little flowers we a bit of a surprise - they are a few steps down
the path from the views.
So this is us at the top - amazing views and the backgrounds aren't bad
either <grin>.
Boat Tour in Ganges
Sean has wanted to take a boat out for a while and what better place than
Ganges Harbour? We rented the boat for 2 hours for about $65 and with
no training and a map we left behind we headed out into the ocean!
Ganges Harbour has lots of little islands with houses on them. Most
of these houses are full time residences - they are very nice homes!
We stopped on a shell beach at the last of the three sisters islands.
The island has a short but view filled trail and some great trees.
Tags: gulf island(18), Salt Spring Island(12), market(7), Do Not Tag(7), farm(5), vista(3)
People: Mark(4), Sean(4), Andrea(3), Jesse(2), John(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - A Weekend on Salt Spring
From: John Harvey Photo > John Harvey Photo - A Weekend on Salt Spring
From: John Harvey Photo > John's Overnight Page > John Harvey Photo - A Weekend on Salt Spring
I want to address the comment on the "ugly clearcuts", as a former logger and a B.C. economic refuge living in Alberta I say to you spoiled British Columbians, even with the clearcuts (that will grow trees again) you still live in the most beautiful part of the world. So let some people make a living off the land and you enjoy the beauty around you. Its still better than these bald, flat prairies.
Gary Holland
Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 18:34:39
Last Modified Saturday, January 21st, 2023 at 23:38:28 Edit
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