VANCOUVER TO JUNEAU AND ALL IN BETWEEN

After a quiet night in Vancouver we set off last Friday (7th) for Salt Spring Island one of the Gulf Islands off Vancouver.   This involved a bus ride to the Ferry Terminal, then a hour and a half trip to Swatz Bay, the ferry terminal on Vancouver Island a two hour wait for the ferry to Fulford Harbour on Salt Spring Island.  The ferry rides were fantastic cruising around the archipelago of islands.  It was great to see Colleen waiting for us as we came off the ferry and even better to get to her home.  There was much catching up to do as it is about eight years since she stayed at our place whilst visiting her daughter Cheryl in Port Macquarie.


Colleen lives on 10 acres and the house is surrounded by forest of fir trees and cedar.  These are two big cedars off the deck.

 

Saturday is Market Day on Salt Springs.   The market was fantastic and soon we discovered what a community of creative people Salt Springs is.  Many of the stalls were filled with local crafts and goods and beautiful vegetables, cheeses, chocolates.  We had a lovely time and came home with bags of fresh food.  We visited the Art Gallery where a wonderful photographic exhibition was on.  I chatted to some of the photographers and discovered this island with a population of 12,000 had a camera club with almost a 100 members.   The photography varied and I saw some great creative images amongst them.  We left the town centre before the Gay March started and enjoyed some of the fresh food for lunch at home.
After a afternoon nap we walked over to Howard's old mill.  (Howard was Colleen's husband who passed away on new years day).  We then went for a drive around the forest over tracks that hadn't been used for ages. 

I found this wonderful squash at the markets and as I was buying it the fellow selling told me they had named it Alfred, Ian whose name is Alfred was standing beside me and we laughed.  This became a joke and here is Alfred contemplating Alfred.  Ian was concerned about the nobs on top being mutilated with a knife.  He felt they were a very tender part. 

Sunday was very overcast and cold. After a late breakfast Ian went for a walk to Fulford Harbour whilst Colleen and I enjoyed sitting around inside with the fire going looking at photos, some of her baskets she has made at a basket making group and just chatting for most of the morning.   In the afternoon we went for a drive around the Island, visited a local winery and stocked up before driving  up to Mount Maxwell where we could see Vancouver Island down the valley to Fulford Harbour.
View from Mt. Maxwell


Monday we set off early and caught the ferry to Vancouver Island.  Colleen dropped Ian and I off at Butchart Gardens.  We wandered around these beautiful gardens for a couple of hours before catching a bus back into Victoria CBD and walked around the old town built around the harbour before having lunch overlooking the water.   We met up with Colleen again after lunch and went to visit a friend of hers for afternoon tea before catching the ferry back to Salt Springs.

 

Part of the Japanese Garden

 The Sunken Garden which was the original old quarry

Tuesday we went to town, again for lunch at Bruce's Kitchen before doing some retail therapy in the great little shops selling more of the locally made products.  We were heading back towards the car and Colleen pointed out a new shop that had only recently been opened by an 'Australian' lady .  I was shopped out by then and nearly didn't bother to go in but so glad I did because the 'Australian lady' happened to be Susan Bowers a Canadian girl that I worked with at Patterson RE.  There was much squealing and laughing and tears were just rolling down our faces.  Neither of us could believe it.  Susan moved from Port about 12 years ago and we had lost contact. 

 

Bruce -  A good advertisement for his food.

Susan and I.  Her shop has a mixture of clothes and interior knick nacks.  Susan was always very much the interior decorator.   We were all most upset when Neil Jenman came and told us he didn't really like the colour of our office in Horton St which Susan had suggested.  She kept telling me I had shrunk and when I look at this photo maybe she is right. I don't remember her being tall.





Wednesday we packed up and Colleen came across to Vancouver Island with us on the ferry and we said a tearful goodbye.  We caught the ferry back to Vancouver then a bus to the airport.  We then had to fly from Vancouver to Seattle and then Seattle back up to Juneau in Alaska.  The sign said welcome to USA however we certainly didn't feel welcome we had to go through the security checks.  They offered to take me to a room if I preferred however I was happy to stand and let her go over me in front of everyone.  I haven't ever been physically search like that before, they then checked all my carry-on luggage for explosives or whatever.  It was just awful.  I must have looked sus.  

We left Seattle at 7.00pm and it was magnificent flying over the mountains that were dusted with snow and coloured pink in the late afternoon sun.  After a long day we were glad to finally arrive in Juneau about 9.30 Alaska time or 10.30 Vancouver time.