Wednesday 26th January, 2011
You know when you spend so long waiting for something to happen, then it is here and gone in a flash, well holidays always seem like that for me. 2 1/2 weeks here and it is nearly time for me to leave Salt Spring and my parents and head back to Seattle. The original plan was to go down to Portland for a couple of days then back to Seattle to fly back to the UK but on weighing up the financies and the extra time spent with my folks I decided to stay here till Thursday, get the Clipper ferry to Seattle (3hrs from Victoria) and spend just a day there, limiting the shopping time. I have to be at the airport stupidly early on Saturday morning so I am going to try and find a place to stay that is close and then I won’t have to contend with public transport not starting early. So that is the plan for the next few days but first, what haveI been up to since the last post?
Essentially life has been very chilled here, aside from the fact that I have been woken every morning at 6am! I must explain that the lifestyle here is somewhat different to the one that I chose to live. I wouldn’t necessarily classify myself as a night owl or an early bird. But it is totally alien to me that people would choose to be out walking at 6am and be in bed at 9pm but my parents have adjusted to this quite well (my mum really didn’t have any adjusting to do, she always fell asleep at 9pm on the sofa anyway!). Most people work from 7 or 8 till 3.30 or 4 but the bakery in Ganges opens at 4am so you can start your day with bread and coffee in the middle of the night, like I said totally alien to me.
I have walked down to the main Ganges Fulford road a few times and hitched a lift into the town to explore or go for a coffee. I have been on the ferry over to Victoria for the day a couple of times and explored round there, found some great book shops, walked up to Craigdorrach Castle and deliberated over a new laptop bag and managed to resist. I have been out into Ganges to Moby’s pub/seafood restaurant and to Auntie Pesto’s for meals out and have generally been enjoying the company and the situation. Last weekend we venture off island again to go over to Vancouver this time. I have to admit this was a bit of a disaster for me. I got up (earlier again on Saturday mornings!) and wasn’t feeling great and it got worse from there on really. We got the ferry over to Swartz Bay and then got in the queue for the ferry over to Vancouver from there which was over booked so waited for the next one 2 hours later and by the time we got on the boat I was feeling awful. I was eventually sick and things seems to be alot better till I nearly fainted in Granville market and had to make a not so hasty retreat back to the hotel where I proceeded to sleep for the next 17hours whilst my parents went exploring round Vancouver and had dinner at the Spagetti Factory in Gastown. I was gutted to have missed out on one of the highlights of the trip. Feeling a little better the following day we went back to Granville Island and I got to explore a little more this time. From there we went up to went up the coastal drive up to Horseshoe Bay to get a ferry over to Nanaimo and then another one back to Salt Spring. The coastal drive was lovely and reminded me of bits of the Great Ocean Road in Australia and also the road from Picton to Nelson through the hills in New Zealand. I am pleased to report that by the time we got on the ferries I was feeling quite a bit brighter and there was no vomitting on the return journey, just fantastic scenery and although a little misty still great. We went up to the top deck and got some great photographs.
Well thats it for now, going to get some washing done and then I suppose I should really pack. On second thoughts I might leave that till tomorrow and just enjoy the last night!
Friday 21st January, 2011
I can’t believe that I have been here over a week and all that has happened in that time. The journey is all but forgotten now but at the time, was a bit trying. The first flight went without a hitch other than the guy next to me constantly tring to stroke my leg and despite me elbowing him several times and telling him to stop he persisted throughout the whole 9 hr flight. I was very glad to be off the plane but then came the 2 1/2 hr customs queue at Washington which subsequently caused me to miss the connecting flight to Seattle. So instead of the stop over I had planned in Seattle, I spent the night in Washington and got the first flight to Seattle the following morning. Plan B was then set in motion and another flight there to Victoria got me safely through Canadian immigration (all of 30 seconds) and into the waiting arms of my parents. Like I said that is all forgotten now and I can try and sort it out with insurance when I get back.
The first couple of days I settled into holiday mode and only had minor problems wanting to go to sleep at 9pm on the second day here, but I blame that on altitude aclimatization here on the mountain side, rather than jetlag! Snow followed for the next few days and I quite enjoyed being stranded at the house with mum and dad not able to make it down to work. We set to making bread, marmalade and muffins and watched a number of DVD’s but I was relieved to see the snow retreating the following day before cabin fever really set in.
At the weekend we headed over to Vancouver Island on the early ferry and stopped for quintessential canadian breakfast of pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup. We ventured round the shops in Victoria and I bought a few absolute essentials! The really started to make its presents felt so we got in the car and drove up the Malahat to Nanaimo. Originally heading to Tofino we realised that the weather was going to put a real downer on the trip and fact that we had to be back on Salt spring for Monday morning meant that most of the weekend would be spent driving in awful weather so time for plan b again and Nanaimo was our destination. Called the ‘Harbour city’ Nanaimo is Vancouver Islands second largest city after Victoria and renowned for its outdoor culture. It has fantastic scenery, parklands and would be a great place to explore on a dry day. It was dark when we arrived so we settled into the hotel and walked down to a great little Greek restaurant just down from the hotel. I know they say you should never judge a place from the outside and that is certain true in this case. From the outside it looked really dark and there was the obligatory blue and white flag restaurant board. We walked in the door and I was amazed it was like a mini greek palace in a conservatory. The food was amazing an we were all stuffed when we left. I also got to sample a Greek red and I definitely approve.
On Sunday we started the day with wafel making at the hotel and then went out round Nanaimo. After a brief drive round the city, which was really more a town, we went to Chemanius. Chemanius is the town that is home to the world famous wall painting. I was here 20 years ago and when we arrived memories of certain areas came flooding back. We walked round the wall paintings, which are far more extensive then they were all those years ago. The skies had cleared and the sun was out and it felt lovely walking around taking photographs.
After Chemanuis we went to Duncan and we went for coffee at an organic cafe and then took the Totem tour. Basically, the Totem tour is a series of yellow footsteps painted on the pavements that guided you a round the40 plus Totem poles around the town, each one unique on its colours and carvings. A quick visit to Maple bay for a walk on the beach and more photo opportunities, although I didn’t manage to get one of the man falling out of his canoe, before returning to Salt spring on the ferry from Crofton.
You know when you spend so long waiting for something to happen, then it is here and gone in a flash, well holidays always seem like that for me. 2 1/2 weeks here and it is nearly time for me to leave Salt Spring and my parents and head back to Seattle. The original plan was to go down to Portland for a couple of days then back to Seattle to fly back to the UK but on weighing up the financies and the extra time spent with my folks I decided to stay here till Thursday, get the Clipper ferry to Seattle (3hrs from Victoria) and spend just a day there, limiting the shopping time. I have to be at the airport stupidly early on Saturday morning so I am going to try and find a place to stay that is close and then I won’t have to contend with public transport not starting early. So that is the plan for the next few days but first, what haveI been up to since the last post?
Essentially life has been very chilled here, aside from the fact that I have been woken every morning at 6am! I must explain that the lifestyle here is somewhat different to the one that I chose to live. I wouldn’t necessarily classify myself as a night owl or an early bird. But it is totally alien to me that people would choose to be out walking at 6am and be in bed at 9pm but my parents have adjusted to this quite well (my mum really didn’t have any adjusting to do, she always fell asleep at 9pm on the sofa anyway!). Most people work from 7 or 8 till 3.30 or 4 but the bakery in Ganges opens at 4am so you can start your day with bread and coffee in the middle of the night, like I said totally alien to me.
I have walked down to the main Ganges Fulford road a few times and hitched a lift into the town to explore or go for a coffee. I have been on the ferry over to Victoria for the day a couple of times and explored round there, found some great book shops, walked up to Craigdorrach Castle and deliberated over a new laptop bag and managed to resist. I have been out into Ganges to Moby’s pub/seafood restaurant and to Auntie Pesto’s for meals out and have generally been enjoying the company and the situation. Last weekend we venture off island again to go over to Vancouver this time. I have to admit this was a bit of a disaster for me. I got up (earlier again on Saturday mornings!) and wasn’t feeling great and it got worse from there on really. We got the ferry over to Swartz Bay and then got in the queue for the ferry over to Vancouver from there which was over booked so waited for the next one 2 hours later and by the time we got on the boat I was feeling awful. I was eventually sick and things seems to be alot better till I nearly fainted in Granville market and had to make a not so hasty retreat back to the hotel where I proceeded to sleep for the next 17hours whilst my parents went exploring round Vancouver and had dinner at the Spagetti Factory in Gastown. I was gutted to have missed out on one of the highlights of the trip. Feeling a little better the following day we went back to Granville Island and I got to explore a little more this time. From there we went up to went up the coastal drive up to Horseshoe Bay to get a ferry over to Nanaimo and then another one back to Salt Spring. The coastal drive was lovely and reminded me of bits of the Great Ocean Road in Australia and also the road from Picton to Nelson through the hills in New Zealand. I am pleased to report that by the time we got on the ferries I was feeling quite a bit brighter and there was no vomitting on the return journey, just fantastic scenery and although a little misty still great. We went up to the top deck and got some great photographs.
