 |
| Salt Spring Island is beautiful |
Last weekend we took off on a little mini vacation to a place I kept hearing about, but had never visited: Salt Spring Island
 |
| the beautiful clouds at the ferry terminal |
 |
| Stuck in the lower deck with Whiskey |
 |
| Yey! We’re here |
We spent a total of 5 days on this small but packed island with the whole family including our cat, Moo! While we started driving to the ferry as soon as we got off work, we had to endure a 3 hour ferry ride getting shuttled from one island to the next to finally reach Salt Spring late in the evening. When we finally reached our super quaint airBnb cottage and herded everyone in, we were so tired we fell asleep super fast and couldn’t wait for our next adventure.
 |
| Moo explores and dreams of escaping |
 |
| The dock at our vacation home |
 |
| breakfast with posers |
I’m not sure why, but our normally mellow Vizsla was very very excited to be on vacation and wasn’t happy to let us sleep in. While my partner slept until noon, I took Whiskey out for a little tour of the farm we were staying at. She was so excited about meeting the sheep, I was afraid she would sneak under the fence!
 |
| Vizslas are the best! |
 |
| She kept trying to “touch” the other dog |
 |
| omg sheep!! hello sheep! |
We choose Mt Erskine as our first hike of the island as it promised great views and hidden fairy doors. The start of the hike was a little hard to find, but once we got started we really loved the trail. A relatively short hike, we soon reached the top for extensive views of Vancouver Island. Along the way we only found 2 fairy doors but we heard there are many more we missed and along the other trails. At the top was a beautiful stone dog bowl dedicated to someone’s loved one.
 |
| On our way up Mt Erksine |
 |
| No better place to explore |
 |
| A fairy door! Who lives inside? |
 |
| I love banana slugs! |
 |
| At the top much faster than expected |
 |
| really nice views |
 |
| I love these fairy doors |
 |
| knocking to see who’s inside |
The next day we headed over to Ruckle park on the other side of the island. It has a much longer trail up to Yeo point and we met few people. We passed by a couple tiny beaches and overall loved how quiet it was on a long weekend.
 |
| Ruckle park’s scenic walk |
 |
| It’s chilly but there are some dive sites here |
 |
| loving the moss covered rocks |
 |
| racing to the camera |
 |
| Taking a moment |
 |
| Loving the fresh air |
 |
| more sheep! why cant’ we be friends? |
After the hike we checked out a local cheese farm, brewery, and hopped out a couple times on the road to check the farm stalls. There are unsupervised stalls along the roads with fruit, veges, eggs (and one time bacon!!) that you can pay for on the honor system leaving cash in the cash boxes provided. We just loved the trust here. Afterwards we drove around the main town which was full of cute little local stores. The Saturday market was in full swing and I really loved wondering the stalls (but dogs are not allowed) and buying up all the local produce, even local dog treats!
 |
| Saturday market |
 |
| cooking with all local ingredients (Moo approved) |
 |
| This is how Moo hangs out |
 |
| Farmer’s stalls everywhere |
On our last full day it looked pretty cloudy but we hit Mt Maxwell anyways hoping the clouds would clear when we got to the top for a little view. We didn’t really get our view but what we saw was much better: fog. I love fog and the pictures usually look so much more beautiful than under blue skies. It’s also easier taking photos with someone else to direct the dog and being able to take your time. The hiking here was super well mapped out and signed and I suppose the clouds had scared away most people because we didn’t meet anyone except at the top (which you can drive to). I’m so happy we didn’t drive!
 |
| We started here and walked 1,5,4,6,6a,2 and back |
 |
| Just starting out and it’s pretty |
 |
| This is the life! 4 days off |
 |
| not much of a view, just a hint |
 |
| I am in love with fog |
 |
| Playing with silhouettes |
 |
| running around the trails |
 |
| My shot of the day! |
I’m not sure how much Moo enjoyed the trip but she wasn’t stressed out at the change whatsoever (great appetite and went straight to exploring). Her escape plans are getting better though, and we had a couple scares but we caught her quickly. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have such a confident genius cat…
 |
| Last day’s beach visit |
 |
| until next time Salt Spring |
 |
| A much nicer ferry ride for us |
 |
| Whiskey wonders when we’ll be done with ferries |
The last day we had found out the ferry was full so we ended up taking a ferry to Vancouver Island, then another one back to the mainland. We were so happy and tired when we got home!
No Comments