Saturday, we took a break from being at home and made a day trip over to Galiano to make sure everything was in good standing. It has been a month since we had been over, and it looked like it was going to be a nice day. We ended up with amazing view of the mountains, and even saw both humpbacks and orcas from the property!

We took the morning ferry over and were booked on the afternoon coming back, giving us about 6 hours to get some things done. We didn’t have a lot planned - more puttering around, and since it looked like it would be a nice day, wanted to relax a bit and enjoy it. Getting off the ferry we made a stop at the bakery for some items for lunch, and checked out the new mural they had added.

After getting up to the property, we were treated to amazing views across the water to the mountains on the mainland. With some fresh snow, the views were spectacular - this is why we bought.

The view back across to the mainland.

The Lions look amazing, covered in snow.

On a clear day, we can even see Black Tusk.

The city, with the local mountains hovering above.

We puttered around for a bit, taking care of a number of tasks that needed to be done. Nothing serious, but good to knock them off the list. One of them was putting up a new metal bird (pileated woodpecker) that Justine had found online. We think it makes a nice addition to the arbutus tree.

We took break around lunch time and sat and enjoyed the view. We could hear the sea lions again, and occasionally whales. We did see humpback as well, way out on the water. I’ll share a few pics, but be warned, they are pretty small and grainy. Just too far away.

The typical view of a humpback whale.

A pectoral fin, up out of the water.

And down it goes…

Our neighbors were up and doing some burning, we we wandered over and had a physically-distanced visit around the fire. It was cool, and it’s always nice to have a fire in the winter. We still had some work to do, so it was a short visit, and likely the last one this year as I do not think our visits will overlap through the end of the year.

Towards the end of the day, we had a new first - orcas that we could see from the property! Again, very small and very far away, but still amazing to see!

Before too long, it was time to call it a day and head back to the ferry for the trip home. We had beautiful weather and got some things done, so all-in-all, a productive day (and a nice change of pace!).