In the summer, we like to spend as much time on Galiano as we can. With the addition of StarLink we’ve been able to work from the cottage, which has meant that we can also stay for longer stretches. This trip was two full weekends, bookended around the week of work. It meant we were able to tackle a few projects and also that we were lucky enough to catch up with some friends that came to visit Galiano. I’m sure everyone is getting used to the notices, but again, this is quite a long post. I probably should have broken it up kinot tow (or more).
For this trip, we arrived on June 29th and were staying through until July 9th. We had lots planned - visits with a number of different friends, projects to tackle and a desire to sneak some relaxing in as well. And the annual Galiano Golf Tournament was on the 8th, so there was lots to look forward to! The weather was looking really good (although we have not had rain in a long time, which we need desperately) for the whole trip. We were pretty excited.
The trip started well! On the drive up to the property we spotted a barred owl sitting on the wires! We made a couple of the locals mad by stopping on the side of the road, but they’ll get over it.
So that was a good start. It was fairly late when we arrived, so there was not a lot of time to do much. We enjoyed the last of the evening light and a decent sunset.
The start f the week delivered some very nice sunsets.
Friday was a work day, so there wasn’t a lot share. We did get to have a look around and see how the gardens were faring without us being there. It had been a couple of weeks, but it seemed like things were growing well. Justine’s flowers were in full bloom and my veggie gardens were starting to explode. We had more lettuce and kale than I knew what to do with.
A Bird Nest Update
We’ve been very fortunate this spring to find lots of bird nests around the property. On this trip, Justine found another white-crowned sparrow nest, hidden in the salal. The robin’s eggs also hatched and there are two young in the next. Momma robin attacked Justine when she got too close
White-crowned sparrow nest.
Baby robins. Pretty ugly at this stage…
Canada Day!
We ended up having a very busy Canada day! I wrote up a separate post on our trip to Saturna with David and his family, which filled the bulk of the day. That was an awesome trip and I hope we do it again in the future. We had gotten picked up at noon for our Canada Day festivities, which left some time to do a few other things in the morning.
Golfing
I managed to get over to the golf course in the morning to play a round. It was a beautiful morning, and I played pretty well. There were the usual collection of bad shots, but I hit a few beauties.
The guy that lives on the golf course feeds the deer. He’s now got an entire herd hanging about in the mornings.
Look at that shot! Inside 6” from about 140 yards.
This wasn’t Canada Day, but one evening after golfing, it was warm enough to stop by Morning Beach to go for a swim…
Visit with Alex and Fergus
We had discovered that our friends Alex and Fergus were camping at Montague over the long weekend. After David dropped us at Sturdies after our Canada Day adventure, we swung by MOntague for a short visit. They were there with their two kids, but also Alex’s parents had come over from Vancouver Island for the day. We had stayed at Alex’s parents place a number of times over the years (it’s such a cool spot, and their hospitality had always been exceptions), so it was nice to catch up with them a little bit as well. THe kids were playing in the ocean so we sat on the beach and had a visit. Eventually it was dinner time and the kids needed to eat, so we headed off. We arranged to have them come up for lunch on the Sunday at out place.
Sunday was fun. It gave us a chance to catch up and we played a few games and had a nice afternoon. With them living on Vancouver Island, we don’t see them much, so this was a treat.
Lunch time!
We just couldn’t get the dog to sit still for a photo…
Our Latest Purchase - Inflatable Kayak!
When we were in Portland, there wa a really good deal on an inflatable kayak that we had been looking at for a few years. So we finally pulled the trigger. We had not had an opportunity to try it out yet, so one evening during the trip we pumped it up at home (just to make sure it was OK), then took it one of the nearby water access points at Retreat Cover and dropped it in the water and gave it a try!
The kayak all pumped up and ready to go!
We took it out at Retreat Cover and did a circuit of Retreat Island. It was a calm night and there was lots to see.
The highlight of our paddle was definitely the bald eagle. Justine managed to be quick enough to get a video of it as it took off!
There are Always Projects that Need to be Done
Throughout the week, there were a number of projects that we needed to tackle. Glamourous things like finally washing the windows now that the caterpillars are done; fixing the deer fencing around the garden and such. There were two however that deserved some photos.
Garden Irrigation Set-up and Tiny Pump House.
With not being on island for weeks at a time, and given that it hasn’t rained in months, we need irrigation for the gardens. I’ve been using a sprinkler off the well, but that’s not really ideal. We had the water collection system installed last year, so we have 3,500 gallons of perfectly good rainwater sitting there. The issue had been how to get it to a irrigation system.
I had bought and tried a couple of different pump options - the first one just did not work and I was hoping that the latest one I bought would to the trick. So over the course of a few days I hooked up the pump and tried a variety of options for irrigation. We ended up with a sprinkler for the orchard and a drip irrigation system for the gardens. And it all worked! So that was exciting.
Now I can’t just leave the pump sitting out there, so I used a bunch of scrap material that I had lying around to build a tiny pump house to protect it from the elements. I think it turned out OK.
Saving the Picnic Table
The only thing that came with the property when we bought it was an old picnic table. We’ve been using it for the last five years, but haven’t really done much to it, other than a coat of stain a few years back. It was getting to be in pretty rough shape, so I decided that it was time to do a proper restoration on it.
Our neighbor David was kind enough to let me borrow a more powerful sander from him, and so I took the whole thing apart and did a proper job on it.
The Damn Deer
There have been a lot of deer around the property this year. Generally, it’s not that big a deal, and they are pretty. We’ve now fenced everything that needs protecting, so it’s been fine. Sunday morning however, we had an adventure we really didn’t need.
Sunday morning, Justine woke up early for some reason - around 5 a.m. She got up to look at the sunrise, but startled me awake with “there’s a deer in the orchard”. Sure enough, one had managed to get in. We’re still not 100% sure how, but when doing a full inspection we did find a piece of fence where one of the larger holes had been bowed out. It didn’t look big enough for a deer to get through, but we’re at a loss other wise.
So we went out and tried to get it out. We left the gates open, but the stupid thing kept running right by the opening. We’re pretty sure it didn’t jump the fence to get in, as it certainly didn’t seem able to jump the fence to get out. Instead, it just kept running full speed into the fencing, trying to burst it’s way out. It was really disturbing - t was hurting itself pretty badly, but eventually it managed to knock a piece of fencing off enough to escape. It looke dlike it was pretty badly hurt - there was blood all over the fencing and even a strip of fur.
That said, the visitors we’ve been having have been pretty cute…
The little fawns visited us a few times this week. We didn’t see mom, so we’re not sure what’s going on with them.
Totally random - but my cactus started to bloom.
Unexpected Consequences
This was completely unexpected, but once I started the drip irrigation in the gardens, we’ve been getting a ton of birds every morning while the irrigation is running. They love the water! I noticed it when I was checking that it was going off as expected. There have been warblers, chickadees, sparrows, nuthatches - pretty much everything that has been around of late. It’s amazing to watch. The photos aren’t so great - too much fencing - but the birds are loving it.
Second Weekend - a Visit from Bill and Krista
On our second Friday, my friends Bill and Krista came for a visit. They arrived mid afternoon on Friday, and Bill was kind enough to help me with the final reassembly of the picnic table. I definitely needed that second set of hands. Justine had needed to go back to Vancouver for a few days for work, and she arrived around dinner time. We had a good evening, hanging out and catching up.
Saturday we had a busy day. Saturday afternoon and evening was the annual Galiano Golf Tournament, which is a super-fun event that raises money for the Health Services on the island. We’ve gone the last two years, and while the golf isn’t very serious, it’s a good time. Neither Bill, Krista or Justine are golfers, but we still had a good time.
In the morning, before the tournament, we headed down south to check out the Saturday Market. We made a quick stop at Morning Beach first, and Krista and I braved the cold water to have a swim. After the market, we made a stop at Montague. None of us were ready to head back in the water, but it was nice to relax and enjoy the scenery.
The golf tournament started at 4:00, so we headed down about an hour before. The tournament is a fundraiser for the medical center and is really just a fun day out. There’s nothing serious about the golf and they go to great lengths to make it so anyone can participate.
Our friend and neighbor Shirley is a part of the organizing committee, and has a special skill for getting people to participate/donate to the 50/50 draw. There were only ~40 people at the golf tournament, but she still managed to get the pot up to $1,000 over the course of the day. All to a good cause!
Bill, Krista, Justine and I of course played together as a foursome. I was for whatever reason not playing very well, but the way they set things up, it doesn’t really matter. Every hole they do something crazy - hit with wrong handed clubs; obstacles on the course to avoid; hitting tables between the tee and green. It makes it fun for everyone and there are no winners or losers in the traditional sense.
We had a great day out. The food was good at the end, and while we didn’t win any of the prizes, we still had a lot of fun. We will certainly do it again next year!
Sunday, we were up at a decent time and made breakfast on the grill on the BBQ. It’s quickly becoming my favorite feature of the BBQ. Makes it easy to do eggs, bacon and sausage all at the same time for the whole group. We had a leisurely morning, getting some things organized as we were all departing later that day.
We had decided to go for a hike and thought that the Conservancy and the hike along the water would be a good option. So we packed up water and a snack and headed down. The fact that it’s nice and close by helped with the decision. Justine and I have done most of this hike before. It’s lovely, winding through old arbutus along a ridge high over the water. There are lots of places to stop and many great views to be had.
The map of our hike, with a few key locations marked.
A pretty tyoical views from up on the Cormorant Cliff Loop part of the hike, near the beginning.
Krista enjoying the view.
The first part of the hike was in the old arbutus section of the forest. It actually changes a lot over a fairly short distance. The whole hike was only a little more than 5 km, so not that far. But when you see how varied the landscape gets, it’s pretty amazing.
Justine’s sharp eyes picked out this little guy sunning itself on a rock as we hiked along. I believe it’s a Northern Alligator Lizard.
The trail led along the cliff top for a while, before working back into the forest. It really is a very pleasant walk.
We headed up towards Chrystal Cover, as we wanted to see what the water level was like, and what was going on in the ocean.
After initially rising a bit further, the trail starts to work it;s was back down to the ocean. The tide was about half way between high and low, meaning the cove was accessible and there were some areas on the rocks that we could get to easily.
I didn’t see it initially, but there was a turkey vulture sitting on the small, exposed bit of beach when we arrived. It flew up to one of the trees overhanging the beach and stayed there for quite a while. I got quite a few photos before it flapped off, resting a little further away on the rocks and spent the rest of the time we were there sunning itself. You don’t often see them that close up. They are pretty big and very interesting.
We spent a while hanging out in the cove. I really wish we had brought bathing suits and water shoes with us, as it was really hot and the water looked amazing. It would have been frigid, but worth it. Sadly, we were not that smart.
This was a first for em - I’ve never seen a sail added to a kayak. He seemed to be making pretty good headway without paddle very much.
There was a small family of song sparrows hanging out near the water.
Taking off!
After enjoying the cove for a while Justine and I entered new territory, as we took the trail across the cove, which we had not been on before. It climbed up from the beach, eventually intersecting with the main trail. We were headed out to the far end of the Conservancy’s property, towards Tranquility Cove. The landscape started to change, with less arbutus and more douglas fir, gary oak and other species. One of the info boards actually explained that this section of the forest is considered old growth. The trees do not look as big as you would expect because the soil is so thin and poor - they just don’t grow as fast. It’s really interesting to understand and gives you a better appreciation for the forest.
Posing under a crazy arbutus tree.
Eventually we made it back to the parking lot and it was time to head home. We made some lunch and got organized and packed up for the trip back to Vancouver. Bill and Krista were catching the 5:45 ferry and we were on the 8:25. It gave us a few hours to get organized, do some clean up and get ourselves packed up. It would be a couple more weeks before we will return.
It was really nice to have Bill and Krista spend the weekend with us. We’ve turned it into a bit of an annual thing, and we had a great time. It was a long stretch on Galiano, and we crammed a lot in!