Salt Spring Island

3-day travel log

08 Jul 2017 View Comments
#trip #salt #spring #island #travellog

Salt Spring Island is a small island located beside the Vancouver Island, just above the Victoria. It is one of the popular places for the camping to enjoy the nature and to meditate. It was early this year when my friends and I got together and planned the Canada day trip. We also booked for our stay at the time since the place goes no vacancy fairly quick. My friends said they camped the year before and really enjoyed their stay. I personally do not like to camp out in a tent and we decided to book through the Airbnb and stay in a cottage instead. The cottage was booked early this year as the island gets crowded very quickly.

June 30th

Long Harbour -> Oystercatcher Seafood Bar & Grill -> Maple Ridge Cottage (St. Mary Lake)

My wife and I got together with my friends in the morning then we got on the ferry in the afternoon. After we arrived, we went straight to the restaurant in Ganges town, which was only a couple of minutes from the harbour, called Oystercatcher. We ordered some oysters along with some finger foods. We then walked around the town seeing some markets and the visitor center. I was actually quite surprised to see the visitor center still exists. At least for me, it has been years since I dropped in one of those. I was able to get some animated town maps which had animated picture of places to visit in the town. The map was quite detailed despite the island being so small. The island literally takes less than an hour to just go from tip to tip. After looking around the town, we headed to our cottage, which is called Maple Ridge Cottage located on Tripp Rd right beside St. Mary Lake. It had small 3-4 cottages just like the one we stayed in. The cottage itself was super cozy and the view from the balcony was serene. We decided that my wife and I use the bedroom with the bed and my friends volunteered to use the sofa-bed. The cottage owners had life vests and a row boat. We opted out to the lake to give it a try. There I found my true self, boat rower. I am not sure how, but I was actually rowing pretty well and efficiently. My wife was also in the boat but I literally had no problem rowing myself. At first, I really hesitated to get on the boat but once I was on the boat, oh boy, I wanted to row to the other side of the lake. My wife was a bit scared though that we called it a quit before I even question about going to the other side of the boat. At night, we were around the fire pit with the fire going. The woods were provided by the cottage owner with the cost of somewhere between $5-$7.

At the Oystercatcher

View from the cottage

Another view from the cottage

On the boat

July 1st

Salt Spring Coffee Company -> Ruckle Provincial Park -> Salt Spring Island Ales (Brewery) -> Salt Spring Island Cheese -> Salt Spring Vineyards & Tasting Room

We woke up early after the great sleep. The view was even better in the morning. Everyone wanted some coffee quickly and we headed straight to the local coffee shop, Salt Spring Coffee Company. Apparently, there was a long line up of people just like us wanting a fresh cup of coffee. We each ordered a different type of coffee. I had a black Americano, which they actually corrected me to call it as Canadiano. It had a bitter taste that I had added some milk and sugar. We then decided to drive south-end and found ourselves at the park called Ruckle Provincial Park. The park was great for a light hiking. Even though there is an option to hike longer, we just hiked to see some water which took us just a few minutes. There were some speechless views at the water side. We had our moments to take some photos. Then we moved north to start our drinking. We arrived at the place I have been waiting, Salt Spring Island Ales which is a beer brewery. From the beginning, I wasn’t sure whether I will have the chance to come here. However, everyone seemed to be enjoying as well where I was kind of relieved. I bought myself a one-litre growler and filled IPA which I finished drinking them that night. Next visit, we went to get some cheese nearby, Salt Spring Island Cheese got ourselves some cheese so we can have with the wines we purchased at the winery, Salt Spring Vineyards & Tasting Room. After we are fully loaded, we came back to our cottage and finished all drinks along with another campfire.

At the Salt Spring Coffee Company

View from Ruckle Provincial Park water side

Inside Salt Spring Island Ales

Sunny Sky

Campfire with drinks

July 2nd

Tree House Cafe -> Salt Spring Wild Cider House -> Fernwood Road Cafe

We had enough sleep with all the drinks we had the night before. We headed for a breakfast at the place we wanted to try out on our first day. The place had a decent breakfast but we just had our coffees and teas. After we dug for more drinks at the cider place. The place was like the brewery except they were serving ciders made out of fruits/plants instead of beers. It was quite unique. Then we drove all the way north to Fernwood Road Cafe. We had a well made tasty lunch but the orders took a bit of time even though we had like the whole afternoon until 3 pm ferry. We eventually got our foods and finished them right away. Then we just decided to wait for the ferry at the harbour. We parked our car at the waiting lane then just hiked around where we could just hike around for few minutes. We got on the ferry which appeared to be a brand new with automatic doors and fancy chairs.

Tree House Cafe

Salt Spring Wild Cider House

At the Lake beside Fernwood Road Cafe

Another sunny sky at the Fernwood Road Cafe

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