We slept nicely in our little cabin in the trees. One of the more unusual features here is the extra-long bath tub.
Our first stop of the day was the Saturday Market in Ganges. There are a number of crafts markets featuring the work of local artists in British Columbia, but this one is the biggest and most famous. Everything sold there is supposed to be “grown, cooked, or made” by the person selling it.
I did not really need pottery cups or hand-knitted pillow cases, but I was interested in some of the food stands. This gentleman was enthusiastically selling sprouts of all sorts and varieties. I have never much understood the appeal of this particular food, but we did buy some shitake mushrooms he was also selling.
There were a number of musicians and performance artists there as well.
We decided to take a look at the high-end accommodations on the island. The Hastings House looked lovely, but a stay there starts at 595 dollars a night! John read about a concert that will take place here tomorrow on the lawn overlooking the harbor, so we purchased a couple tickets to the event while we were here.
In the late afternoon, we decided to go to Ruckle Provincial Park on the southeast corner of the island. On the way there we went to a farm where sheep and goat cheeses are made. There was a little walk which you could look through windows into the rooms at the different steps of cheese making.
We bought about 250 grams of a nice, mild goat cheese. I think we’ll have grilled cheese sandwiches in the next couple days. Just outside the shop, they had the only sheep fountain I think I have ever seen.
Just down the road the sign for a farm stand. We pulled in, two large gates swung open, and we found ourselves right next to this almost finished house. The farm stand is just to the right in the picture below. As is typical on the island, the food stand is on the honor system with a money box where you can deposit your money and take change if you need it. We found it impossible to imagine anything like this in Los Angeles, which is, as one commentator once pointed out, is the home of pay-before-you-pump gasoline. We saw a big garden nearby with a large tent, so we think that this farm really grows weddings. I think that this house is supposed to accommodate the bride and her family and friends on the night before.
Ruckle Park was pretty crowded and had the most restrictive dog policies of any government park we have found in BC so far. The prolonged period of warm, dry weather has raised concerns about forest fires and water shortages, but it is has certainly brought out the campers.
So we went to another little cove at the end of Beddis Road. There were also lots of people here, but nobody at the far end of the beach. Here we tossed the ball into the water and Eli had a great time retrieving it. Edie still doesn’t understand what he sees in that stupid tennis ball.
