It’s a great feeling when one gets to cross off items off their to-do list, let alone the THINGS I MUST DO BEFORE I DIE list. Cycling and camping on Saltspring island was one of mine and man was it fun!
Jay, Morgan, Ieda and I sailed in from Fulford Harbour off the BC Ferries and made our way to Ruckle Provincial Park to pitch our tents and relax for a while. Upon arriving, I was surprised to see so many other campers on site with their tents all edging up to the coastline for a good view of the straight. It was like tent city!
At dusk, the four of us snuggled up to each other in one tent to share childhood memories of how we were like growing up. I told stories about the joys I had in film and video production, running the school’s network station, OrcaVision, and hanging out with a Mac friend in the Mac lab fooling around with Apple’s Network Assistant and controlling a network of thirty LC520’s at once to launch Hampster Dance on a Netscape browser. Please excuse this run-on-sentence.
The morning after, Ieda and I woke up and took our bikes to explore the historic Ruckle family farm. Jay and Morgan was still sound asleep in their tent. A trail through a forested area opened up to the farm and a vista of dilapidating barns on hectares of land came to view. While reading a plaque on the history of a particular barn, Ieda called me over to her direction. As I rounded the corner, I saw a lone turkey resting comfortably beside an old wheel leaning against a shed. This was one ugly bird.
Shortly after, a male and female turkey, presumably a couple, caught my attention. Following closely behind was a baby turk curious about its surroundings everywhere it went. This baby also bore resemblance to the look of its parents; so ugly that it was almost cute in a way. It was certainly nice to see a family of a different kind behaving like a family though.
What stuck me most about Saltspring island were it’s numerous roadside farm stands along the way offering everything from cookies and freshly cut flowers to fruits, vegetables, and free-range eggs, all sold under the honour system with a cash box on the table. Ieda and I bought a few cookies for we were feeling a little peckish having not yet eaten breakfast.
Back at our campsite, Jay and Morgan had woken up and had already had breakfast. They were in the middle of taking apart their tent when we cycled in and seemed a bit tiffed that Ieda and I had an early start without them. Perhaps they rolled out of the wrong side of the air mattress...
After several hours of hard cycling along Stewart Rd. which turned into Beddis Rd., we rode into Ganges where the heart of the island was. Hotels, shops, restaurants, estate agencies, and a public square were all here. For our second night on the island, we camped out at Garden Faire Nursery and Campground. To quench our thirst and replenish our energy, we dined at the Saltspring Inn. The food was surprisingly good! And for desert, we stopped over to Thrifty’s for ice cream to take back to our campsite and consumed it all in one sitting. Cones included.
I conked out early this evening as I was feeling extremely tired. I crawled back into my tent at 1900 and fell into deep sleep instantaneously. I didn’t wake up until 0700 in the morning! I can’t remember the last time I had slept half a day away... I guess I needed it. As we were having breakfast using the remaining free-range eggs we had bought earlier, we had a chance meeting with Rebecca who came over to visit our site after hearing familiar voices. We were all surprised and glad to see her here. She was here on a yoga retreat with a group of others.
Alas, it was time to say goodbye to Saltspring island as our weekend excursion was coming to an end. We caught the ferry at Long Harbour to Village Bay on Main Island, and then transferred onto the Queen of Nanaimo back to Tsawwassen.
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