One Summer Afternoon On Salt Spring Island
Hello! Trying something new where I embed a song I’ve been playing recently to a piece so you can listen and read along to the mood of the trip.
What better way to start the summer off than an island road trip :)
I picked the boy up Thursday afternoon and we set sail (via ferry) to Vancouver Island. The plan was to stay in Cowichan Valley for the extended weekend and day trip to Salt Spring Island on Friday. No matter how many trips I plan, I still have the sticky habit of overbooking and overextending myself. The lesson of leaving some room for resting and bouncing back is one that still needs a few reminders in order to stick. Case in point, I initially planned an ambitious itinerary to hit both Salt Spring Island and Galiano Island on the same day, which looking back is nuts. We cut back and stuck with one singular day trip to one singular island. Ironically, Galiano is much easier to get to from Vancouver mainland for an independent day trip, anyway.
It was insanely difficult to work that Friday. The view from our Airbnb was breathtaking, and the occasional strip of sunlight that would come through the skylight window only screamed how I should be spending the day outside, unchained from my laptop. Not only was I frustrated about needing to be available on a day like this, I was also tired from not having slept well the night before. The Airbnb is sweet without a doubt, but the window in our bedroom was slightly torn at the edges which welcomed mosquitos at night. We decided to take a later ferry and recharge with a nap.
Sunshine and good weather calling my name on a Friday afternoon
There are two ferry stations on Salt Spring Island so it’s worth double-checking which terminal you’ll be arriving and departing from. Because we were arriving from Vancouver Island, we bought tickets to Vesuvius instead of Long Harbour. There were no online tickets when we went, but being so close to the ferry station we managed to squeeze onto the small ferry as the last car. That power nap wasn’t enough earlier so K and I took a second power nap while the ferry swayed us from one shore to another.
The largest of the Gulf Islands, Salt Spring Island shares a similar, Mediterranean-esque climate similar to Cowichan Valley on Victoria Island. The flowers are more vibrant and the grasslands lusher. It didn’t take long for us to notice numbered signs of sheep along the road. As it turns out, Salt Spring Island is famous for sheep! The fluffers fared well with the steep geography of the island, and the climate allowed them to graze, undisturbed, for long periods of time. There are whole tours dedicated to sheep farms and local crafts around the island. In addition to sheep, the climate of this island also gives way to plenty of red poppy growth and lavender farms.
Salt Spring Island is steep and hilly, but otherwise very flat with stretches of farmsteads, lawns, and soccer fields. I see a lot of travelers here just exploring by bike and wonder how they can still move from their bed to the bathroom later at night.
Out of nowhere, K suggests we check out this taco spot. Color me skeptical because we are almost as far as we can be from Mexico within the continent, but I am famished and curious. We pulled into a very small parking lot (minimal signage from the highway, I drove past it the first time) and walked to a small window that said “Tortilleria”. Color me skeptical and then color me a hater because these tacos and the agua fresca were AMAZING. Especially that wild mushroom one. Fresh ingredients are just unbeatable.
Father & son moment at Dos Amores Tortilleria
Driving on this island is both fun and efficient because quite often the rolling hills will propel your car forward without needing extra work from the engine. I’ve been privileged to not think much about rising gas prices, but going home without draining the gas tank is a rewarding feeling.
K has been holding the word “kayaking” on his lips for days, and when the weather turned for the better we drove out to the harbor area to try our luck. Due to travel restrictions, most kayak rentals were closed and the ones that were open required 24 hours advanced booking. We ended up just walking around the small downtown area, getting soft serve from an airstream van and brownies from an unmarked shipping container. We walked by a small food truck park that’s exactly what it sounds like.
Food Truck Park on Salt Spring Island
Coast guard station
I bought this Hopped Apricot Cider from a random liquor store in Ucluelet last year and only got around to trying it at the beginning of this summer. It’s so delicious and refreshing especially when sipping under the sun that I pinned Salt Spring Wild Cider as our first planned destination on the island. Our reservation set us outside on the patio overlooking some mountains and sheep farms, socially distanced from other tables. I sipped on a tasting flight of mixed match glassware while K downs a cider-wine concoction, and we split salmon jerky and cheese-stuffed figs. A small black dog (is she a chihuahua?) sniffs out the jerky and decides she is interested in being friends.
It’s the mixed match glassware for me
The common theme in a lot of trips or weekends with K is that we just eat our way through the days. If they made edible maps, we can carve out a pretty accurate itinerary with our teeth. We left the cidery to fetch our pizzas from Twig and Buoy at the northeast edge of the island. I had been craving pizza for months but refused to give up my earned New York snobbery towards “quality” pies. This place just felt right, but it was a hard sell to K. Despite Google Reviews and Yelp, what really hooked him was the scarcity of opportunity. As soon as he was informed he’s calling for the last takeout window, no further information was required to make a case for pizza.
Okay but these pizzas?! If what makes New York pizzas so delicious is the water then the water on Salt Spring must be holy.
Tasting food like those tacos and the pizzas illustrates the recurring lesson that all foods, but especially fresh, local, sustainable ingredients, are gifts from mother earth to our palate and our health.
At some point we drove by two chickens just roaming about and minding their own business and K joked we should steal a chicken as tribute to our Airbnb hosts. Anyway, I chased two chickens around on a hill.
Sadly, one of us does not have the ex-swimmer metabolism to carry tacos, cider, cheesy figs, and TWO pizzas inside with zero consequences, so I (yes, it was me) dragged K to a small hike at Duck Creek Park despite his pleas. It’s a short, dog-friendly loop that allows a choice between a shady wooded area and the open plain that leads to a field of daisies. There are so many incredible hiking spots around the island that I’ve listed below.
Cheesin’ in Duck Creek Park
FOOD
Dos Amores Tortilleria
Twig and Bouy
Food Truck Park (corner of Rainbow Rd & Lower Ganges Rd)
Buzzy’s Luncheonette (huge pastrami sandwiches)
Beachside Cafe (coffee shop + kayak rental!)
OTHERS
Lavender and Black (sells essential oils, skincare, dried lavender bundles and all that good stuff #buyblack)
HIKING TRAILS
Duck Creek Park (dog-friendly, off-leash areas)
Channel Ridge (there are so many trailheads you can enter from to hike around the island, make sure to look into which one suits your itinerary!)
Mount Maxwell Provincial Park
Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park
Reginal Hill
