Justine’s parents were in town visiting, so we headed over to Galiano with them, as well as Stu, Tammy and the kids so they could have a look at our new place on Galiano. We had a fun weekend exploring and showing them all the cool things on our new home-away-from-home.
Justine posing on the deck of our rented cottage at Driftwood Village
We all took the ferry over on Friday afternoon, and headed straight over to Driftwood Village, our sometimes rental spot on Galiano. We had rented a couple of two-bedroom cottages for us all to stay at, which worked out really well. After getting settled, we walked down to the close-by water access point to see what was going on. We were hoping for whales or seals, but it was a pretty quiet afternoon, and didn’t see much. Still, it gave Ethan and Addison a chance to explore some of the rocky shoreline, and for the rest of us to enjoy the sunshine of the late afternoon.
After hanging out for a bit, we drove up to the property and let everyone have a look around. We walked the property, and showed off all the work we’ve done so far. We probably spent a good couple of hours up there, and it was fun to see everyone’s reactions. After, we headed back to the south end for some dinner. Our original plan didn’t work out, and we ended up at the pub for a slightly later-than-planned dinner.
The evening was spent hanging out and playing some games. Fun night.
Saturday was spent exploring the island a bit more. We made breakfast at the cabin, then went down to the skate park for a bit so Ethan and Stu could ride the park. Sadly, Saturday another wind storm blew in, so while it was sunny a beautiful, the wind was brutal and it felt much colder than it was. After the skate park, we drove up to Bluff’s Park to have a look at the scenery. It was the first time that Justine and I had been up there since the wind storm in December, and we had heard that the park had been hard hit.
One of the many trees downed in the park from the December storm.
We wandered for a bit, enjoying the sheltered, sunny spot. There are some great, big trees in the park, and the kids spent some time climbing and exploring.
After spending some time up at Bluff’s, we drove down through the park, and headed over to Montague Harbour Provincial Park. The wind was still howling, but we spent a little bit of time exploring. We didn’t last as long as we might have wanted to, but that was OK as it was time for lunch. We headed over to the Crane and Robin, and had a great lunch watching the hummingbirds fight it out over the feeders hanging over the deck.
After lunch, we headed back up to the property and explored for a bit. On the way up we stopped at the pottery and glass blower studios, and had a look around. That was also something new that we’d not done before. They both had amazing stuff.
We didn’t stay long, and eventually went down to Retreat Cove and dropped some crab taps in the water. The kids explored the sandstone sea caves (and saw an otter)!, while the adults sunned on the protected dock and I did some crabbing. We didn’t have a lot of luck - only 1 keeper red rock crab - but did add a bit to dinner that night.
We made dinner back at our cottage that night - pasta with our bit of crab added for flavour. We all hung out for the night, and eventually it degraded into Exploding Kittens. So much fun…
Sunday morning, Stu, Tammy and the kids headed to an early ferry back to the mainland, while we were taking the much later ferry that evening. After seeing them off, we headed to the bakery to grab some breakfast. On the way back to pack up and check out, we stopped at Bellhouse Park to wander around a bit. The wind had died off a lot, and it was a beautiful day.
One of the new birds we saw this weekend were Bonaparte Gulls, with their distinctive blackheads. We saw a few of them off BEllhouse, but more later in the day.
After checking our Bellhouse, we got packed up and checked out of the cottages. They worked out really well for our weekend. After sorting that out, we drove up to the property to get some work done. On the way up, we met one of the neighbours (lot 1) that we had not met previously, which was nice. We chatted for a bit before continuing up. Our next door neighbour, Kris, was also up, and we hadn’t seen him since before his wedding last summer. We chatted for a bit and got caught up.
We spent the afternoon working up a storm. I sandee down and stained the picnic table, hopefully adding a few more years of life to it. It looks much better now. Justine and her parents sanded the Muskoka chairs, and I’ll stain them next time we’re up. Justine also tackled some broom, clearing out a big patch at the top of the hill. I fear it will be a never-ending task. Along the way we stopped to have some lunch and enjoy the spectacular view.
After wrapping up work for the day, we walked down to the close beach. There were some seals, but otherwise it was pretty quiet. There was also a flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls, and I got a few more shots of them dive-bombing the small fish on the surface.
Bonaparte Gulls with Mount Baker in the background.
After the beach, we headed back to “town” and had some dinner while waiting for the ferry to arrive. It was a great weekend, and it was great to share the new property with the extended family.