Salt Spring Island (Canada)

...you?

Then Salt Spring Island is the place for you! A truly wonderful small island - about a half hour ferry ride out of Victoria – whether you want to go for a week or stay for your life you won’t be disappointed!

I went to Canada to see one of my oldest, closest, and most attractive friends - Jennifer Lyons. As well as seeing a lot of Victoria and Vancouver it was SSI that will always be closest to my heart. ...
...make your eyes water!

There are a few towns around the island but I’d suggest checking out a place called Ganges on a Saturday. They have a wonderful market / craft fair on once a week, full of everything from small intricate cedar wood carvings to new age clothes and jewellery.

Public transport is virtually non existent on the island so a car is a necessity! I’d recommend getting a large robust one because ... more

Have you ever wanted to just lay on a hammock in the back of a new found friends garden looking up and being able to see every single shining star looking back at you?

Then Salt Spring Island is the place for you! A truly wonderful small island - about a half hour ferry ride out of Victoria – whether you want to go for a week or stay for your life you won’t be disappointed!

I went to Canada to see one of my oldest, closest, and most attractive friends - Jennifer Lyons. As well as seeing a lot of Victoria and Vancouver it was SSI that will always be closest to my heart. The views on the ferry ride alone are enough to make your eyes water!

There are a few towns around the island but I’d suggest checking out a place called Ganges on a Saturday. They have a wonderful market / craft fair on once a week, full of everything from small intricate cedar wood carvings to new age clothes and jewellery.

Public transport is virtually non existent on the island so a car is a necessity! I’d recommend getting a large robust one because you’ll need it for driving up the mountains! The road to Mount Maxwell is a gravel type path that lasts for about 9 kilometres complete with potholes and jagged stones. It’s a long arduous drive but I cannot really put into words how breathtaking the view is! From there we went to Mount Bruce (driving over Mount Tuam on the way there) and the view from the summit was truly beautiful. If you only decide to venture up one then this one is the definitely the more amazing of the two! We could see almost the entire province from up there. The ant sized ferry leaving port, the hills and mountains surrounding and protecting us, the low cloud draping the scene with a touch of silk… It was akin to being in charge of the world, looking out, surveying the land, maintaining the peace…

There isn’t a great deal to do in the evenings on the island but the daytime more than makes up for it. A wonderful place called ‘The Harbour House’ which was a bar that had live bands, pool tables and dart boards was recently converted into a restaurant. However a great bar / restaurant called ‘Moby’s’ is still open by the harbour and serves the best Long Island Iced Teas I’ve ever had! :)

This has to be one of the friendliest places I have ever been to! Everybody welcomed me, chatted to me and confided in me as if though they’d known me for years! I even spent a long time sitting on the bonnet of the car discussing life and love with a great and cute new friend called Mindy.

The main forestry on the island in a place called ‘Ruckle Park’ A great place to walk around or relax and have a picnic. It’s located on the coast and we were fortunate enough to see some seals during our visit!

There are even a few lovely coves on the island… Secluded and gorgeous if you want to catch some of that summer sun they make an ideal stop! My suggestion is to check out Beddis Beach if you get the chance!

A little way up Mount Maxwell there’s a great little place that offers horse back trail rides for very reasonable prices! My horse was a lovely cream colour and went by the flattering title ‘Miss Piggy’. The ride lasted over an hour and we had a great time.

A few days later I had a familiarisation flying lesson in Victoria and I chose the option of flying over SSI! The place looks even more fantastic from the air than it does from the ground and it was terrific being able to pick out landmarks and places I had been! :) This sort of flight is very economical – less than £40 I seem to remember – and it’s a great introduction to flying! If you ever go ask for Steve or Jennifer (yep THAT Jennifer) who are both fully qualified and experienced flying instructors… trust me… from the moment you climb into that cockpit you’ll be having the time of your life!

A great place to stay is Mallards Mill (www.mallardsmill.com). A bed and breakfast located in a wonderfully idyllic part of the island. It has it’s own working water mill, a mini steam powered train that runs you around the grounds and a hot tub! It’s owned by Jan and Jack - two of the loveliest people you are likely to meet and are great fun to boot! It’s not the most economical of places but if you want to spoil yourselves then I couldn’t recommend this place more! The breakfasts are out of this world… a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, a full delicately produced fruit salad and as much home made toast as I could eat… and trust me… one taste and you’ll be at the table for a very long time! :)

For the truly definitive guide to this perfect island check out www.saltspringguide.com which is run and maintained in part by my aforementioned friend Jennifer Lyons… it’s even won some awards!

This is one holiday I will always remember… for the good times, the great views, the fantastic friends and the fact that I spent most nights sleeping in a big yellow converted school bus… :)

Go for the sights, go for the people, go for the sun… the reason isn’t important… just go… go now and have fun! :)
 

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