Month: September 2024

Today, we traded Vancouver Island for Salt Spring Island, at least for part of the day. This morning we drove five miles south to the community of Crofton to catch the 10:10 ferry for the 20 minute ride to Salt Spring Island.

Catching the ferry was super easy, as we just paid from the car and then drove into line to await the arrival andthe loading. It was a beautiful day (mid 60s F) for the excursion.

Salt Spring Island lies between mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island. It is 70.5 square miles and has a population of about 11,500 people. It is known for its artisan community, numerous parks for hiking, and its agriculture, including produce, cheese, and grapes/wineries.

We started at Mount Maxwell Provincial Park for a hike to Baynes Peak.

After the hike, we thought we’d check out one of the local wineries. Mostly, we wanted to see what was on offer and to check out views from there. We had a very brief and somewhat disappointing stop at Salt Spring Winery, limited parking, very few wines, and not terribly friendly staff.

From there, we drove to Fulford Harbor, another ferry terminal on the island, and a cute community with a few shops. We popped into a local grocery for some sodas before heading on.

One of the big draws for us was the Salt Spring Cheese store. Salt Spring Cheese makes artisan handmade goat cheeses. They are sold in round packaging, which shows off the herbs or other flavorings added to the cheese. We ended up having lunch at the farm with some unexpected guests.

Finally, we headed to Ganges, the main community on the island. It was cute, but very busy with limited parking. Neither of us were sure how they deal with bigger crowds during the summer.

Yesterday was a lazy rain day. The rain started about 9 am and continued steadily on until 2 or 3 in the afternoon and then off and on for a few more hours. It wasn’t stormy, and these rainforest-like forests here can’t green themselves, so it was probably a good thing.

Some rain today as well, but the big event for us came about 4 am this morning when a 4.0 earthquake hit on the island and woke us both us. It was centered 10 miles east of Saanichton, which is much closer to Sidney than here. Apparently, it was even felt in Vancouver.

The weather for today forecasted rain beginning about mid-afternoon, so after I did some work online and Bob ran an errand, we headed to the community of Cobble Hill to get a short hike in while the weather was dry.

Cobble Hill is both the name of a small community as well as the mountain we would be hiking. We hadn’t visited either on our visit last year. It was a little shy of a 30 minute drive to the Quarry Nature Park in Cobble Hill where we would begin our hike up Cobble Hill Mountain. The Nature Park has an off-leash dog park and a bike skills park, along with being the starting point for a number of hikes that go into the Cobble Hill Mountain Regional Recreation Area.

We hope to get back to do some longer hikes, but here’s the pics from today.

The trails were well marked, and as per usual, we were surrounded by green. We also snapped some mushrooms and a slug along the route.

After our hike, we stopped at one of the many farm market type shops on the island. Awesome shop — fun perusal and decent prices.

Today, Bob and I headed north to the coastal hamlet of Yellow Point. We read about a couple of parks there in a magazine we picked up the other day. Yellow Point is located on the east coast of Vancouver Island. A forested peninsula that juts out into the waters of Stuart Channel in the Strait of Georgia. We headed to a couple of parks that were about a 25 minute drive from our house.

We started with a 4k hike at the Yellow Point Community Park. It continued our treks through rainforest like conditions.

After we finished the hike at the Yellow Point Park, we drove down to the end of Yellow Point Road to Blue Heron Park along the coast.

On the last day of the regular (non-holiday) season, Bob and I spent a bit of time learning about forestry/logging at the BC Forest Discovery Center, about a 15 minute drive from the house.

We began by perusing the indoor exhibits in the bright main building. Through the displays, we learned that 90% of British Columbia’s forests are coniferous (versus deciduous), and we got to learn a bit about the different types of coniferous trees native to the province.

We learned that by law, all forested areas must be reforested. Three trees are planted for every tree harvested. 140,000 jobs, or 1 in 17, in British Columbia are tied to the forest sector. There was also some impressive exhibits on how each part of the tree is used as well as the advantages of building with wood versus steel or concrete in terms of sustainability.

My favorite exhibit might have been an old tree stump. This showed the age of the tree through dendrochronology (fun new word!) or the use of tree rings to date/interpret events based on those rings.

The train around the property only runs once an hour, so we started making our way in that direction a little before the designated time. We saw some old vehicles used in forestry on the way.

The following photos were taken on our short train ride through half of the property. We chose to walk back to explore more of the sites.

A bunkhouse that was part of the logging camp.

Yesterday, Bob and I left Tofino a little after 8 am to drive 3.25 hours to Chemainus for our second repeat housesits on the island. We again had the hilly, windy roads as well as roadwork, but arrived by noon, as we had wanted and had a great 30 minute handover with our homeowners. It is always great to drive where you know where you are headed.

We will again be caring for the very cute and playful Willow and Wall-E.

Photos of Wall-E.

Photos of Willow.

We also have fish, but since they are on an auto feeder, there isn’t much for us to do except play with the color of the lights above the aquarium, bright for daytime and darker for night.

Today, we walked into the town center (about 15 minutes) to the Owl’s Nest, our favorite bakery in town, for a scone breakfast at nine. They make maybe the best scones ever. We usually get the cheese scone, but they didn’t make those today, so Bob got the mushroom and feta scone and I got the blueberry, and they were both great as well.

I had picked up a Coffee News little front and back newspaper, really venue for ads for local businesses. While purusing the little paper, I noticed this.

We dawdled over breakfast because we wanted to stop at the Visitor Center and pick up some information, and they don’t open until 10 am on Saturdays. Their posted hours on the door when we got there also said 10 and we arrived at 10:20, but they were not open. We took some photos of the very attractive Waterwheel Park near the center as well as the logging operation and ferry terminal behind the center.

We then walked to The Country Grocery, the only grocery store in Chemainus and a nice one, to restock on some items. It’s a beautiful day here, and we’re excited to be back and do some repeat favorite activities (like the bakery and the theater) as well as some new activities.

Today we wanted to do some hiking in Canada’s Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, which lies in between Tofino, where we’re staying, and Ucluelet. The national park is 197 square miles, bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean. It is divided by a highway that runs through it and connects the two towns (Tofino and Ucluelet). It has a number of trailheads that can be accessed by car, as well as by foot and bike due to the multi-use trail which also connects the two towns.

Our first stop this morning was Combers Beach Trail. There was plenty of parking in the large lot on (what was then) a misty/foggy day. As required, we purchased a day use pass from the handy pay parking machine in the lot. The cost was a very reasonable $22 Canadian ($16.22 US, £12.22), especially as it was a group price for 2 to 7 people.

The trail to the beach was a relatively short downhill trek. When we got to the beach the tide was out, which really made the beach seem huge.

We left our car parked and walked a little over a mile to our second trail, as it was connected by the great multi-use trail that parallels the Pacific Rim Highway.

Our second hike was the two-loop (one on each side of the highway) Rainforest Trail. Unless you’re allergic to green or damp, it was an almost mystical hike, almost entirely on boardwalk, through the rainforest.

Finally, I had read about a Lighthouse Loop in the town of Ucluelet. We headed to the southernmost point of the town for our final hike of the day. This one would provide us with lots of views of the Pacific Ocean without the morning mist/fog.

Below are some photos of the scenic route.

Today, we explored Tofino, starting with my early morning run along the impressive paved Multi-Use Path, which runs for 23 kilometers across the Pacific Rim National Park. I didn’t run 23 kilometers, but it made for a great, car-free run. Bob started his morning with a walk around town, on which he discovered some big heads that we photographed later.

We had a rare breakfast out at a local bakery just a couple blocks from our stay, and we sat upstairs and watched a street crew dig up a road. It seems to be the time of year in this part of the world. . .

We then headed off to find and walk the Tonquin Trail and the Tonquin Connector Trail, which connects the Tonquin to the multi-use path that you can bring back into town. The Tonquin Trail begins at Tonquin Beach and then heads through almost a rain forest type environment to Third Beach and Middle Beach.

We are surprised at the level of activity here. We thought that mid-week in mid-September, it might be fairly quiet, but it’s still busy with people, though likely not as busy as in the height of summer. We’re heading to the Pacific Rim National Park tomorrow.

Today, Bob and I completed our Sidney, BC housesit for the sweet and very special Rafa.

Based on the homeowner’s (and later other’s) recommendation, we drove from Sidney to Tofino for a visit to the west side of the island before the start of our next housesit on Friday. While it is only just over 200 miles from Sidney to Tofino, it is nearly a 5 hour drive due to the windy and curvy roads as well as some roadwork on the way. We also hit a bit of rain today just to add to the fun.

We are staying at the Lunar Cove Inn, which we reserved through AirBnB. We got a scare last night when Bob found some info online that the inn had closed. We had been receiving texts about our stay, so we reached out and learned that we are the last guests as the owners have sold the place. I was a bit worried driving here, but we do actually have a room that is as advertised. We are about a block off the main section of Tofino.

Tofino and this area of the west coast of Vancouver Island attracts surfers, hikers, nature lovers, and bird watchers. It is just outside the Pacific Rim National Park, which we hope to visit while here. It has a couple of great hiking/biking trails as well as numerous beaches.

Today, Bob and I explored some new, to us, areas of the island on a gorgeous September day. We wanted to grab lunch at Deep Cove Market, a grocery/deli which we had read about in a local paper’s Best Of results. We decided that after that, we would explore the Deep Cove area, which is north and west of Sidney.

After we drove along the coast, we stopped at Lillian Hoffar Park, which is back in Sidney. This is a very small park, which is basically a trail leading to the Salish Sea near Sidney Harbor (which is different than Sidney Pier near downtown).

Our time in Sidney is drawing to a close. We will be leaving Tuesday morning to head to Tofino on the west side of the island for a few days before starting our next housesit.

Bob and I did a repeat visit to the Saanich Fair, which is held every year over the Labour Day weekend. Fairs remind me of my youth, as I was in 4-H and exhibited in sewing, baking, stitchery, and knitting. We had a good time checking out the exhibits, looking at the animals, eating bad (for you) fair food, and listening to a local band.

Oh, and Bob found a fair-themed big head opportunity.