October 21, 2019
Day 2: Ganges to Southey Point (and back)
Our thanks go out to the eleven people who have already commented on this still young journal, and those others who have used email. We have designated Dodie as the official responsible for replies. Right now she seems to be pleading knee pain from having been walked all around and over Ganges. (Knee pain? Do we need warranty service from that knee surgeon?) Anyway, she will get on it, once she gets off the bed!
One other admin note: While cycling today, the ride itself insisted that the theme of this trip ought to be the beauty of these Islands in the Fall. It was all around, impossible to miss. So we changed the name of the blog, including a small pun: Grampies Fall for the Islands!
The day started not with Fall colours but with grumbling tummies. We had brought a couple of sandwiches and some banana cake from home yesterday, but the restaurant in the hotel is closed for the season, and we ended the day hungry. By morning we were plotting to saddle up and head into town looking for food, but Dodie thought she had seen something about breakfast in the hotel. It turned out that not only did they have breakfast, but it was buffet style, and free! (Cyclists' delight!)
Had we been perceptive foreign tourists, we would have immediately noticed how terribly typical for Canada the breakfast was. All made fresh on site, there were pancakes and waffles, scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and sausages, and even semi-passable bread available for toast. If that list were not indication enough, the pancakes and waffles were offered with maple syrup. That is, not just pure maple syrup, but provided in an industrial sized 2L jug!
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Funny how hunger can blind the best of us and if your pallet is like mine you couldn't tell the difference anyway.
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The fun outside continued, with just as much rain as yesterday. However the starting temperature had jumped from yesterday's 9 to now a 10.5. Based on that, we removed some layers from underneath the rain parkas. But waterproof pants, gloves, socks were still absolutely necessary.
Using that book lent by the Paxmans, we set off on a route around the north Island, the one cited as being "flattest". Well flat is relative, and we felt that right from the start we were finding more than enough hills.
I had voted for this route because it passes St. Mary's Lake, the largest of five main lakes or ponds on the Island. I had read that the first white settlers had chosen this area to establish their farms. Indeed, the lake was lovely, and a farm by its shore would be wonderful.
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As we continued north on the Island, there was ample evidence for it's reputation as the home of many artists, plus those with "alternative" lifestyles. Many of the small enterprises are listed in the Island studio tour, and have names like "Sacred Mountain Lavender" and "Salt Spring Wild Cider House". We noticed a number with the word "soul" built in, like Cedar Soulfeather, Soul Matters Counselling, or Soul Shakedown (for dancing). One shoe maker we passed also used the word soul - maybe a pun - Soul Path Shoes.
The "soul" of Saltspring could also be seen in the houses and farms. This one below might not be 100% typical (else why did I choose to pull the camera out in the rain just here?), but still it is a good illustration.
We proceeded all the way to the northern tip of the island, and were rewarded (quite naturally!) with a sea view.
It was heading back down from the Point that it struck me (about time!) just how lovely this forested place was looking in the Fall. Of course, it's not like Eastern Canada, where the greater density of deciduous trees makes for all the more vibrant colours, but the dripping evergreens here together with the mix of flaming maples, and other, was still fetching:
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All that remained from here was to drop down around to the Vesuvius harbour, before returning to Ganges. Even this largest of the islands is not so large. By the time we reached Vesuvius we were both quite a bit chilled from the rain. But we settled in the bus shelter type structure and broke out the hot drinks, plus pancakes salvaged from breakfast. In the distance could just barely be made out the smoke stacks of the Crofton pulp mill. Crofton is where we had crossed from yesterday. The mill no linger seems to stink of sulfur - there must be some advanced scrubbers in action. In the "old days" a premier of BC (W.A.C. "Wacky" Bennett) was famous for saying that he liked sulfur, because it was the smell of money. That of course was just metaphorical, because as everyone knows, actual money owes its smell mostly to aliphatic aldehydes, and alkanes!
We seriously dripped our way back into our room at the Harbour House Hotel. Neither it nor we showed much of the spirit shown in this old photo:
But soon we had peeled off a lot of the waterproof clothing and grabbed hotel umbrellas, setting out or the town on foot.
Ganges is not really much of a town, boasting as it does maybe two main streets. Of course the harbour views are always there:
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Informative posters cover some of the natural and human history of the harbour. One bit that I found particularly interesting included the assessment that the blooming meadows on islands in the harbour relied on fish fertiliser guano from river otter and birds like eagles. It's a classical eco-system situation.
Our walk included Mouat's, a general store that has been here since 1907. Photo walls inside the store describe the native population and earliest settlers. We were surprised to see that among the early settlers were both black people, and people from the Sandwich Islands. No doubt descendants of these are still represented in the present population.
We walked all the way to the far end of town, because that is where EMBE Bakery is. EMBE intrigues us, because it looks large and seems to have a large selection. Yet, we really can not say it is all that good. This time my attention was caught by two muffin types. One was called the Mountainous Apple Muffin and the other the Monumental Raspberry Muffin. We got one of each. Actually, I am eating one now (the Mountainous), and though it is indeed large, and apple-y, I must say its main characteristic is oilyness. In cold weather like this some oil is welcome for heating, but I wish I did not have to keep wiping my fingers!
As we (now quite tired) made our way back, we still could observe some aspects of local culture and life. First. of course, today is a federal election day in Canada. We say lots of cars gathered at a local community hall for voting, and here is a poster for the leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May:
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Looking at the people in the stores, it is hard to find some "average" ones. But I did spot several young women (ahem!) that seemed typical of their group. Two were chatting in French, with the classic tones of the eastern part of Quebec. And this one was dressed in what I would consider a standard outfit - dreadlocks, lumberjack jacket, falling pants, hiking boots. This sure is not Paris!
In some other year, the number of places selling pot might have qualified for a tourist photo. But with legalization in Canada, this is not such a big deal. Still, there were a number of spots like this:
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 2 | Link |
Nice to see they took the flat bed truck out from under it! They did didn't they?
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A final observation (for today). Most of our ride was on roads that did not have terribly many cars, and some were suitably deserted. But on the main road (ok maybe there are two main roads) the drivers are roaring about at unexpected speeds and in unexpected numbers. Maybe they are desperately looking for away off this place! But seriously, when no destination is more than 15 minutes away, what is their hurry? Local government could easily tame the frenzy, and it would make a big difference to visitors like us!
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Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 73 km (45 miles)
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| Comment on this entry | Comment | 4 |
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