October 26, 2019
Day 7: Mayne to Galiano
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It seems as we continue with each day beside the water and among the islands, the ferries loom larger in our consciousness. That is not just the obvious part - wondering when our next one leaves - but watching for them as they pass by out in the water, or welcoming or waving off ones that are not ours, at the terminals. In fact, I had to interrupt typing this very paragraph, as we both "barked" at the main ferry from Vancouver as it passed directly in front of our window, out in Active Pass.
Our day began with the brief cycle from Miners Bay over to the terminal, at Village Bay. (With the map above, if you click the upper corner - where it likely says RWGPS - and select instead "Map", you will get better labelling and so easily see Village Bay.)
The downward angle of the ferry parking lot is a minor clue to just how darn hilly all these islands are.
Pretty soon we had two boats in port (neither of them ours). One was our favourite - the Salish Orca, out of Tsawwassen and soon heading back. People got off and switched over to the second boat, to go deeper into the islands.
We usually have fun with the ferry workers, pointing out how much we look like them, all in our hi viz outfits, or coveting their safety vests, that have more pockets than ours. This time Dodie asked one where the Salish Orca had come from. She expected an answer like Swartz Bay, but got "Poland".
This turned out to be perfectly true, because (as found on a BC Ferries web site):
The Salish Orca, Salish Eagle and Salish Raven are the newest vessels to join the BC Ferries fleet. The Salish Class vessels were built at Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. in Gdansk, Poland. All three vessels arrived in BC after a 10,440 nautical mile journey for each ship. The Salish Orca arrived in Canada in January 2017.
These "Salish" ships seem very very nice, but they are clearly the product of a BC Ferries policy of going with the lowest bidder, while ignoring the benefits of patronizing BC's domestic shipyards. This is no doubt the result of the ferry corporation no longer being a government department or even a crown corporation. It's a different time from when in the 1990's the government commissioned local construction of aluminum "fast ferries", which they felt could take advantage of BC electricity (used to make aluminum), provide local employment, and speed up the transit time from Victoria to Vancouver. These ferries turned out to be too fast, making waves that damages shorelines. They were soon sold off at a huge loss. They now have drudge jobs, transporting workers to oil rigs in Egypt.
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Once out in Active Pass, we strain to see our last night's cabin, and the blue house, that one of us still wants to buy!
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Our attention was soon distracted as we landed at Galiano and popped over to the Galiano Inn, which which is right by the terminal. The Inn seems very elegant, and certainly is priced that way. Our cost tonight is $165 plus taxes. However the bikes have a nice spot inside, there is a wood burning fireplace, and most importantly, we have a front row seat for watching the ferries!
We set off immediately for that long lonely road along the island, the one I obsessed about when thinking about this trip. Of course, in that obsession the road was not only long but wind and rain swept. Today, though, it is sunny and with no wind. That only leaves hilly, something I had not really imagined while obsessing.
But wait, we can't really leave for down the island without checking out the one bakery.
Like the others we have found (other than on Saltspring) this bakery had excellent things, many very creditable croissant or "viennoiserie" type pastries.
Ok, to the long, lonely road. Actually, as you can see from the track at the top of this page, we did not really follow it to the bitter end. And guess what - it was not really all that lonely. Rather we encountered a small gaggle of touring cyclists. They were set up for camping. Ooo, sounds chilly.
"One of us" thought it would be "fun" to go see Montague Harbour. So down we went. Waay down. They even had a bicyclists' warning sign on the long hill. We were rewarded by, yes, a harbour. Ok, so we stood there and ate our sandwich. Dodie was gracious about it, and did not even whine (much) on the grind back up.
While we were standing at the harbour, I tried to articulate a difficult concept. I was thinking that our perceptions of this place are clouded by so many decades living among these trees and by these waters, on the West Coast. But trying to see though the eyes of someone from another land, what was around us truly was wonderful. (The difficulty comes when one tries to cope with the idea that in fact every natural landscape (even desert or prairie) is wonderful in someone's eyes.)
So, as if I have not snapped enough photos, I declared that I wanted a couple that would fully capture the wonder, particularly of the forest. I said to Dodie - "I'm looking for forest to photograph". Since we were and have always been totally surrounded by forest, you can imagine her surprise, and she advised me to just point, and shoot. "No, I want a shot like that one you paid $500 for the print of, that hangs over the desk at home". Clearly, with my little camera that was not going to happen. So I just pointed and shot. Hmm, I think I need Scott Anderson out here!
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We completed our circuit and half hearted shot at the long road, and returned past beautiful Whaler Bay.
Now installed in our luxury room, we prepared to pull out our non luxury egg sandwiches, which we had prepared in our cabin this morning. My little camera could not capture both the room and the view out its windows at once, so here it is in two shots:
This is the first room we have ever had with a working fireplace. Since we heat with wood at home, we were quick to get it going. Besides, sitting by the fire by the sea is part of our image of why it is great to be here, in this season.
Now of course, we are not triflers when it comes to wood heat, and each year prepare and burn many cords of wood. So the little artistic pile of wood provided by the hotel was not going to do it for us. Fortunately, my keen eye had spotted their wood splitter. No, I was not about to start that monstrous machine up. But where there is a splitter there is bound to be split wood. Indeed, I came back with lots, taking care not to alert the staff that we were about to potentially burn down their real estate investment!
So now we have a roaring blaze, and lots of egg sandwich. Life is good!
Tomorrow we will get up early and hop the ferry to Swartz Bay. Possibly we will be among those doing a transfer, at Pender or Mayne. The schedule is too complicated for us to figure that out. Still, we will enjoy another ride in Active Pass, on and around our new favourite islands!
Today's ride: 31 km (19 miles)
Total: 249 km (155 miles)
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