Sunshine, sparkling blue wavelets on the ocean...and no boat. What to do, but head for the nearest ferry and get the second to best thing. Having reached the age of free personal ferry travel between Monday and Thursday, it is easy to park the car at the ferry terminal and just 'walk on', free of charge to be transported to the nearest convenient Gulf Island - this time Saltspring Island. By many defined as 'one of the 100 things to do before you die' it is a lovely and unique spot here in British Columbia. No plans for dying yet, but Saltspring Island is still a rather inviting idea for me. At Crofton on Vancouver Island - my departure point - , where a pulp mill emits odorous vapors, one joins the crowd of pedestrians, bicyclist, motor bikers, RV-ers, ambulances, construction trucks, armoured money transports, and regular commuters. Twenty minutes after cast off, one arrives in Vesuvius on Saltspring Island.
Rather funny feeling for me, to be on the very ferry that I dodged so many time each summer season when my boat and she crossed path.
The long defunct Vesuvius Pub is still awaiting a buyer, but the Seaside café at the ferry dock is doing a lively fast-cuisine business. A transit bus is allegedly meeting the ferry to take walk-ons to 'downtown' Ganges.
However, mainland efficiency has raised its bureaucratic head: if the ferry is delayed even one minute past scheduled bus service, one is out of luck and walks off the ferry and the bus has 'just departed'.
I was out of luck, and 'hung out' until the next one arrived an hour later.
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| Bicyclists, ambulance...then the rest leave the ferry. |
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| Reflection of ferry terminal pylons |
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| Vesuvius Bay with a warm and sandy beach, leaving Crofton on the far horizon, the fumes of the paper mill being dissipated into higher clouds. |
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| Eclectic, slightly crazy Saltspring. Teak wood flower pots at about $25. Art, crafts abound. The rather quiet environment of Saltspring Island fires imagination and creativity...beneficial boredom sets in after enjoying the matchless views and residents express themselves, their innermost artist, their hidden talents in torrents of artistic endeavours. |
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| People watching at its best, just don't expect elegant style or fashionable displays. Individualistic, sometimes inspired by long gone hippy days, dreadlocks, flowing gowns, Birkenstocks, homespuns intermingled with the clam diggers, message t-shirts and baseball caps of the visiting cruising crowd. |
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| Abstract by a tango aficionado....displayed in ArtCraft, a local public gallery. |
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| Pottery, painting, carving...shapes one never dreamt of. |
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| Textile Art, depicting a typical Gulf Island islet, mirrored in the ocean |
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| The Oystercatcher....waterfront bistro and bar, where locals and visitors enjoy the view of marinas, landing and take off of float planes, and just plain pleasant surroundings |
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| The fast way to get here....float plane |
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| Detail of a larger oil painting depicting a sand spit in Fulfort Harbout, Saltspring Island |
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| Almost a photograph, a super realistic oil painting of an apple tree in winter |
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| Painting of abstract wave patterns |
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| Native Carving with a modernistic twist |
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| Wind sculptures...shapes in spoon shapes catch even the slightest breeze and gracefully circle in the balmy summer air. |
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| Low tide in Ganges public marina |
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| A popular spot for visitors, dinghies are parked everywhere to shuttle boaters ashore. |
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| Ganges Harbour at low tide |
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| Local hardware store, advertising paints in a fetching way |
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| Old Vesuvius Store still stands... |
