We spent the long weekend camping at the
Garden Faire Campground which was really great; sites were far enough apart, very clean, very green and located sort of at the center of the island. There are quite a few artist's studios on the island; two wonderful
cheese makers (you can read about them here), one good winery (and one bad); a few lakes which have tiny (a few meters wide) beaches - my
favorite being
Stowel lake. On a clear day you can either drive up or climb up Mt Maxwell for a view of the surrounding islands and Mt Baker.
The view from the ferry on Mt. Baker
Gary Oaks Winery
Ganges Harbour
Ruckle Provincial Park - a small shady park with a few nice trails and a beautiful view on the water traffic and the neighbouring islands.
Quite a few tidal pools you can
observe on the rocks in
Ruckle Provincial Park with colorful starfish and other creatures and plants.
On our way back to Vancouver we stopped on Vancouver Island to see whats happening in Victoria on Canada Day. I had great
memories of Victoria based on my previous visit a few years back and this time I couldn't really pinpoint what was it that left such a good impression. The city if fairly boring and an hour is sufficient to see all it has to offer. I think the appeal of the area stems from the nature rather then from Victoria itself.
The view from the ferry on Mt. Baker
Gary Oaks Winery
Ganges Harbour
Ruckle Provincial Park - a small shady park with a few nice trails and a beautiful view on the water traffic and the neighbouring islands.
Quite a few tidal pools you can observe on the rocks in Ruckle Provincial Park with colorful starfish and other creatures and plants.
On our way back to Vancouver we stopped on Vancouver Island to see whats happening in Victoria on Canada Day. I had great memories of Victoria based on my previous visit a few years back and this time I couldn't really pinpoint what was it that left such a good impression. The city if fairly boring and an hour is sufficient to see all it has to offer. I think the appeal of the area stems from the nature rather then from Victoria itself.
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8 comments:
Beautiful! The island seems amazing. Looks like you had a great time. I loved the colored starfish, I have never seen such starfish in nature.
I don't know why you didn't like Victoria, I think it is a beautiful city.
Thank you :)
I am not sure about Victoria, in my memory it was a cute little town and when we were there yesterday despite the busy streets and bars and cafes (Canada Day) it was boring - there is no substance to it.
Hi Anna,
Are you back in Canada?
I can now understand your feelinings about the small cities on this part of the Globe. They are boring. We didn't realise how lucky we were living in Trono (sic!) until we had to move to Burlington, 60 kilomtres S/West to it. It's clean and quiet, but also extremelly boring subarban area. People divide of their time between work, commuting to work, sleeping and working at the backyard. And they seem to love it.
On the other hand, we now visit Toronto as tourists, going to Jazz and theatre festivals and other venues.:)
sammie
Hi Sammie,
Long time no see :)
Yes, I am back in Canada for a while; living in the beautiful city of Vancouver and loving it!
Cheers
Hi Anna,
Just found your blog while googling for info about camping on Saltspring. Great photos of the island! We're going on the August long weekend...did the graden faire campground have showers? You can email me: surprisedsuburbanwife@gmail.com
Thanks! Now I'm going to explore your blog archives!
Hi surprised suburban wife :)
Thanks for visiting my blog; the campground does not have showers (the manager said he will build some next year) but there is a public pool 2 minutes drive (probably 15 minutes walk or so) but I am not sure what are they charging if anything...
I remember some other place we camped at last year and the local pool charged $2 or $3 for using the showers and that included towels as well.
You are also welcome to visit my other blog at http://lovemyfood.wordpress.com
Cheers,
Anna
I envy you. BC is an awesome place to live and travel. We got stuck in Ontario this summer, save for a short trip to Europe in May and a weekend in NYC. So, we are doing the usual stuff: canoeing, hiking and swiming up in the North. Hopefully, we will go for a grand trip in Argentina in December.
Ian (a.k.a Sammie)
Ian,
A short trip to Europe and another one to NYC isn't nothing :)
One thing I really miss in Ontario is the fact that the water gets really warm in many of the lakes unlike here where the majority are glacier fed...
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