Salt Spring Dispatch #3: Vancouver, then Home Again, Home Again

I'm home now, but I did want to leave you with some thoughts on my adventures in Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday.

First, let me just say that while the idea of spending three hours on two different ferries just to get to the mainland seemed a little daunting when we first worked out our itinerary, the ferry itself was so luxurious that it seemed more like a short cruise on luxury liner. On the way out, anyway. The trip back was on a somewhat older, shabbier ferry, but still quite comfortable.

We decided to spend a night at the Ramada on Pender, which is a beautiful old hotel (especially on the inside) located just on the edge of a somewhat sketchy area of town. Still, as long as you're in before dark it's quite nice, with the most awesome used/antiquarian bookstore ever on the corner.

We arrived too early to check in, so we decided to head straight over to Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium which is HOLY FRICKIN' HELL EXPENSIVE!! Seriously, SEVENTY BUCKS for two adults and a teenager?! Plus the requisite crazy expensive lunch? When we managed to see everything there in about two and a half hours? Ugh.

Ok, so the otters were really really really cute. Not quite as cute as this when we were there, but still...

After the aquarium it was on to the totem poles and the drive around the park where we managed a fleeting glimpse of the Big Hollow Tree that is now completely fenced off awaiting the final decision on its fate. And all the while I was seized by a burning desire to rent a bicycle and ride the whole way around the seawall. Go figure.

Then we checked into the hotel, and hooked up with a couple of The Beaver's ink stained wretches, Alision and Bob, along with Bob's S/O who, along with my husband, made sure that we didn't spend the entire time talking about politics.

This was the first time that I had actually met other bloggers IRL, and it was absolutely wonderful. Alison and Bob are even better in person, and I hope this won't be the last time I have the pleasure of their company. You guys are welcome here any time.

Meanwhile, we had set the boi loose with fifty bucks and specific instructions to head West instead of East. He of course headed east - straight into East Van, Chinatown, and eventually to the other side of a bridge somewhere. Still, he managed to make it back safely without getting mugged for his backpack or getting addicted to heroin. As he reminded me, he's a big boy now (turning sixteen next week), and since we've now left him on Salt Spring for an extra two weeks, I guess it's high time I learned to trust him to his own devices.

[grumble]

On Tuesday we spent at least an hour getting lost in the jumble of McLeod's Books, where I picked up a nice Penguin paperback of 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', plus a firsthand account by one of Burgoyne's troops of events leading up to the Battles of Saratoga in 1777, the first of which was fought on my ancestor's farm. Fifteen bucks total. Score.



We were going to go do the Capilano Suspension Bridge, but after getting fleeced at the aquarium we decided to check out my sister's old neighbourhood instead and go shopping along The Drive.

'The Drive' is Commercial Drive, and it's a very interesting place from a local economy perspective. It's an old Italian neighbourhood that is now filled with cool restaurants and funky book, music and clothing stores. My sister tells me that its total lack of corporate franchise stores (except for Starbucks, of course) is due almost entirely to a concerted effort by the local community. I am very curious as to how such a thing could actually be accomplished on a local level, since it's exactly the kind of thing we could use here in Milton. Hmm...

On Salt Spring Island, "local" is practically the local religion. Local food, local wine, local wool, local crafts... local jobs.

It all makes perfect sense on an island, of course, where anything non-local will cost you half a day's travel and a rather expensive ferry ride. What surprised me is how pervasive this attitude was off the island. Even in Vancouver, where most of those cheap Asian imports first make landfall in our nation, local wines and beers top the list in every watering hole, the sustainable fishery debate is alive and well on every menu (damn you, tasty salmon!), and you can find entire neighbourhoods where corporate franchise stores are not only absent but actively banished by the community.

Except for Starbucks, of course.

I have no idea what effect (if any) this love of the local is having on BC's economy, but I can't help but wonder if they might be on to something. Imagine if we started putting a premium on local products and services here in Ontario, instead of forever chasing the elusive greenback. Sure, some things might be more expensive, but would that not be balanced by higher wages from local jobs?

More on this later.

Salt Spring Dispatch #2

The last three days have been spent on one adventure after another. Sunday it was a trek across Vancouver Island in our Quest for the Pacific Ocean, which took a little longer than we had anticipated.

We planned to take the ferry from Vesuvius Bay to Crofton, then cut across the island to Port Renfrew. We were told that the roads were rough but tolerable, and were advised to get a 'better map' than the rudimentary one in our tourist guide. We did, and were suddenly presented with a plethora of choices for routes overland, all of which appeared to be of identical quality. So we made what seemed a logical choice: we picked the most direct route, which happened to follow a river valley rather than wending its way through hill and dale.

The fact that the road was called the “Old Port Renfrew Road” also seemed to imply that it would eventually get us to Port Renfrew. You'd think.

It all went well until we passed the Provincial Park. Up to that point, the road was unpaved but perfectly serviceable. After that, things degraded. It got narrower. The gravel got coarser. Culvert repair operations meant that we had to gingerly traverse patches filled with big, sharp rocks that threatened to disembowel our rental PT Cruiser. We started passing open metal gates which seemed to indicate that either the area flooded regularly or that we were on private property.

About 2/3 of the way across, an hour since our last sight of pavement, we came upon a gate that was closed.



It was a beautiful spot, teetering halfway up the San Juan River valley. But there was nowhere to go and nothing for it. So we back-tracked the entire way, and three hours later arrived at our destination via the coastal route (or as the locals like to call it, “Sooke way”).



Tired, hungry, almost out of gas, we were desperate for any sign of civilization, but our first impression of Port Renfrew was hardly favourable. Still, we found gas (at the usurious rate of $1.58 at the marina), and after asking the locals were directed towards a place called “The Coastal Kitchen” for lunch.

It was like an oasis. Spacious, funky decor, and a menu full of seafood and pestos and focacia sandwiches with sweet potato fries - huge, delicious. Nummm. And then it was on to the beach and, at last, the open ocean. For the first time in my life, I stepped into the Pacific. And then stepped out again because it was really rather cold.



On the way back, we found the real overland route which had apparently been recently paved. After spending half a day getting there, it took all of an hour and a half to get back to the ferry.

Monday we travelled to Vancouver for the ritual 'Fleecing of the Tourists', but I'll save that story for another day.

Today is our last day.
__________________

A Few Things I've Learned in BC

1)Patience.
2)What a “through fare” ticket is and why I would want one.
3)If you don't like the weather, drive for ten minutes and it will be different.
4) Not all “roads” marked on a map are actually roads in the traditional sense of being able to take you from one place to another.
5)Appreciate the journey, because sometimes that's all you get.
6)Food tastes better when you know its story.
7)When you are on an island, local is the default.

Salt Spring Dispatch #1

Greetings from Salt Spring Island, BC!

I have never been to the west coast before. Never been west of Chicago, in fact, so there are all sorts of little things that keep letting me know that I am someplace very different. The trees. The mountains. The smell of the air.

Even the deer look a little... different.




My husband says they're just the same, but I think they're smaller and redder.

We went for a walk down by the ocean yesterday and found these things hiding behind rocks to get out of the sun.



I didn't think living things came in that particular shade of purple.

We also wandered around downtown Ganges and watched this fella having a grand old time rolling around on the dock in the warm sun. Just like my cats. Only bigger.





My only complaint about BC so far is that everything costs so much more than back home. Particularly the car rental rates, which turned out to be double what we would have paid in Ontario. Not something you want to find out as soon as you arrive (yeah, my bad for not reserving).

The cost of the ferry has also caused us to re-think a few of our plans, but I am still determined to hit Vancouver even if it means an expensive three hour ferry ride and a hotel room so we have time to actually do stuff while we're there.

So, Vancouver's on for Monday-Tuesday. Today we were going to cross over to the big island and drive up to Tofino, but the morning got away from us. Maybe Sunday.

Any suggestions for our itinerary are welcome. We're here 'till Wednesday.