Five Days of Island Life

Five Days of Island Life

In late August 2023, our family of four, along with our dog, spent five days exploring Salt Spring Island, one of BC’s beautiful Southern Gulf Islands.

We stayed in Ganges for the entire trip, in a place overlooking the harbour. It was a great location for exploring the island, and we really enjoyed the views of the boats and surrounding islands from our balcony. Even with the wildfire smoke, the sunsets were quite beautiful, with the sky taking on a warm orange glow.

Unfortunately, 2023 was a terrible wildfire season in BC, and smoke had spread across much of the province, including Salt Spring Island. The skies were hazy and the air quality wasn’t great. Not exactly ideal for sightseeing or photography, but we made the most of it and still had a great time.

We did quite a bit of hiking, including Mount Maxwell and Mount Erskine, with our dog joining us on both hikes. The trails were beautiful, and although the smoke affected the views from the top, we still really enjoyed being out there. We also stopped by Ruckle Provincial Park for a short visit and explored some of the island’s beaches.

We also spent some time on the water, kayaking around Ganges Harbour and paddleboarding along the island’s coastline. We even brought our dog along for some of the fun! The water was calm, and it was a great way to enjoy the island from a different perspective.

We explored Ganges, the island’s main town, and visited the famous Salt Spring Saturday Market at Centennial Park. There were lots of local products, fresh produce, crafts, and interesting things to browse.

And of course, we enjoyed some good food along the way. We had fish and chips at Fishery & Chips, and also ate at Moby’s Pub, where we tried their oysters and ribs. Both were really good!

Another place we enjoyed was Salt Spring Island Cheese, where we tried their cheeses and pizza. We also stopped by Sacred Mountain Lavender and visited a few other farms and vineyards. At Sunset Farm Studio, the kids had a great time meeting the friendly animals, especially the little horses and goats. Along the way, we picked up fresh vegetables and fruits from roadside farm stands. It’s hard to resist buying produce when it looks that fresh!

The rest of our time was spent driving around the island, checking out different beaches, enjoying the coastal scenery, and stopping wherever something caught our attention. That’s one of the things we liked about Salt Spring Island. There’s no need to rush, and there’s always something interesting to discover along the way.

Five days went by pretty quickly. Despite the wildfire smoke, we had a wonderful little family getaway, enjoyed lots of outdoor activities and good food, and came home with thousands of photos to sort through. As usual! 😉

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