I had almost a week between jobs with Canada Day in the middle. We were spending most of it on Galiano, and there was lots to do! Alex and Matt were coming to spend a few days with us over the weekend, which meant we would be able to relax and have some fun, for part of it at least!

We headed back to Galiano on Thursday night, and were staying through the following Wednesday. Thankfully when we arrived I could tell that the grass had not grown enough to need cutting. Thankfully - I don’t think I had that in me. Justine was working on Friday, and Alex and Matt were due to arrive on the evening ferry, so I had a day to get some smaller projects done around the place. I went golfing in the morning and then settled into some gardening work. There’s always lots to do.

I thought this shot was really funny - love the two of them just watching the one swooping in.

The pears are starting to grow.

The last of the foxglove for the year.

My big project for the day was cleaning up the garden. The “before” shot was so emabarassing, I didn’t take one. But the gravel was full of weeds and there were arbutus leaves pretty much everywhere. This is so much better!

Sadly, the garden has not really done well this year. The big empty gap is where the peas didn’t even sprout. Which was weird.

This box was doing a little bit better, but not a lot.

Justine’s flowers are coming in well.

And her snapdragons look amazing!

The apples are growing as well.

Our neighbours Jerry and Madeline were kind enough to drop off a delicious loaf of bread!

Alex and Matt arrived on the (as usual delayed) evening ferry. I picked them up at the ferry dock, and we were back to the cottage by 9:30 or so. We had a relaxing evening, gave them the tour and got everything settled for a fun weekend.

Mount Galiano

Saturday we had planned to do a few things. We started with deer…

Hunting season is over, so they are back…

After breakfast, we package a lunch for our hike, and then we headed south to check out the Saturday market. That was a first of the year for us, and while it was a bit smaller than the peak of last year, it was good to see it busy, with lots going on. We didn’t stay too long, but did have a nice snack and checked out all the various tables. Alex made one small purchase, and then it was time to continue on our way.

We had decided on a hike up Mount Galiano, to give Matt the best view of the surrounding islands, given that we had a perfect blue sky day. It was warm, but not too hot, and it seemed the prefect plan for the day.

For most of this post, I have to give phtoo credits to Justine - I stole many of the photos from her!

A pretty typical view of the trail as we head up the “mountain”.

These interesting little flowers were poking out of the ground in a lot of places.

Interesting mushroom shot.

The view from the top is pretty spectacular.

Matt and Alex.

At the top, we took a short break to enjoy the view and the (finally) summer temperatures, and to have some lunch. It was a perfect start to our long weekend. After we hiked back down, we drove about 100 meters to one of our favourite beach access spots. It was almost full low tide, and this beach is a greats pot for exploring at low tide.

The view from the beach.

We found lots of cool sea life, including a couple of different types of sea stars, anemones, sea cucumbers and even a nudibranch (sea slug)

After exploring the beach for a little while, it was time to head back. We had decided that the wanted to go kayaking on Sunday, so we made a stop at Montague Harbour to book some boats with Gulf Island Kayaking. They had availability, so we were all set for the next day.

The barn swallow chicks must be very close to fledging - they barely fit in the nest!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing. We made dinner at home, hung out on the deck and enjoyed the weather. We also played some fun board games that evening before calling it a day.

The end of another beautiful day on Galiano.

Sunday - Ocean Kayaking

Sunday we had another leisurely start to the day. We had booked the kayaks for 10 a.m., giving us time to ease into the day. Eventually we got lunches made, bags packed and all our gear organized. The drive down to Montague is fairly quick, and we were a little bit early for our booking. The people at the kayaking place are really great, and they had us all set-up and off in no time!

There were lots of kayaks available, so no concerns on that front!

Heading out for a day on the water!

It was another beautiful, blue-sky day.

Exploring the coast line.

Much of Galiano is sandstone, which creates these amazing formations as the ocean erodes the soft rock.

Eventually, you get cool formations like “Mushroom Rock”.

A slightly different, smaller formation.

We started off in the harbour, cutting across through all the boats moored in the protected bay. From there, we skirted around the edge of the provincial park and then along the lovely beach. We headed north, hugging the coast line for a couple of kilometers, checking out the interesting rock formations and all the sea life along the shore line.

Eventually we wanted to cross the channel and explore some of the nearby islands. The weather was lovely and the sea was calm, so the crossing was actually pretty easy. We worked our way towards Parker Island, where we pulled up on the beach to have some lunch. The tide was going out, and went out a good 3-4 feet during our short stop.

After getting back in the boats, we had the best part of the day. All along the edge of this cove there were a ton of seals sunning themselves up on the rocks. We were generally able to get quite close and many of the mthem stayed up and out of the water as we went by. It was pretty cool.

There were a set of smallish rock islands where we decided to head across the channel. There were 8-10 seals hanging around, some of which were curious enough to pop up right behind the kayaks!

HEading across the channel.

We pulled into a protected cove and beach on Parker Island for a break and to have our lunch.

There were lots of seals around.

Alex trying to get close to the seals.

Justine got a good little video of the seal slipping into the water.

Eventually we worked out way back into the bay and back to the dock. The four hours went by fast! After our paddle, we made a stop at Crane and Robin for a delicious late lunch/early dinner.

As we were having lunch at Crane and Robin, a float plane came in.

Sunday night was again pretty low key. We hung out, had some drinks and played more board games. It was a fun way to spend the evening.

Monday, Justine and Alex both had to do some work. So Matt and I took the opportunity to go golfing. The course was way busier than usual, and so our round took a bit more time. After the round, we stopped at the hardware store to pick up a few things that we needed for some last projects. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing, as we just chilled out, played some bocce and enjoyed the summer weather. It was the last day for all of us together, as Matt and Alex were heading home on the ferry in the morning.

Canada Day!

On Tuesday, we had a bit of an early start as the ferry was at 8:30. We helped Alex and Matt get packed up, and I drove them down to the ferry. It was busy already, and I was very glad that we had an extra day to avoid the holiday insanity. After dropping them off, I headed to the golf course and played a round. It was again busy - which is great for the course but not what I am used to!

After my round of golf, I headed to Mornign Beach and went for a swim. It was cold! I can’t believe it took until July 1st to get into the ocean.

After the golf and my swim it was time to get some work done. As mentioned, we really needed to get the deck pressure washed and weather sealed. So I spent the rest of the day pressure washing the decks, so they could dry out and allow me to do the weather sealing tomorrow. It would have been better to give them more time to dry out, but it was warm and sunny and I was hoping for the best. We did make some time to celebrate Canada Day properly, once the work was done!

Happy Canada Day. A G&T to celebrate, with east coast gin from Halifax on the west coast.

Justine’s snapdragons.

Celebrating Canada Day in the fire pit garden.

On Wednesday, Justine had to work, but I had my last day off before starting the new job. I went golfing and had a swim, and then it was back to get the deck weather sealed. Thankfully, that process took a lot less time than the pressure washing. I started with the deck around the shop, then moved on to the two decks around the cottage. It turned out quite well.

Between pressure washing and weather sealing.

Another project finished!

The rest of the day was cleaning and organizing, watering the gardens and harvesting! There were lots of strawberries, blackberries (wild), raspberries, kale and lettuce to bring home with us. We also got four bunches of basil from the local farm as it was well in season.

We got a great harvest of raspberries from the vines on the mound.

The lovely basil we picked up…

…and the pesta we turned much of it into!