The second address: Vancouver Island

Hi! There I am again :)

I am at this place, called ‘Glamorgan Farm’ for 15 days now. The farm was just like I imagined a farm would look like when I was younger: red roofs, many barns, fields, a big vegetable garden, and a lot of animals. There are horses, a cow, a sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits, ducks, chickens, cats, and a lot of dogs. When I arrived here, there were more than ten dogs, because Sue (my host) went to Mexico to rescue some animals. Now there are (only) five dogs left: the rest is adopted and are in a way better place than before. That's great!

The farm was so big that it took me a few days to know which animals needed to go in what barn, and for what all the barns are used: some buildings are hired by other people. I’ve met a hat maker, a woodworker, a metal worker, and a few people that rent the space to live in. And I haven't even met everyone!

In the beginning, it took a while to find my place here. There were a lot of people coming and going, and Sue was really busy with getting all the dogs adopted. It was pretty chaotic: I switched every 2 days from sleeping place and I didn't really know how or when to fill in my five hours of working, because there wasn't a schedule or something: you could decide by yourself when you wanted to make your hours.Fortunately, I’m settled down no and I’m enjoying my time here. The first days, Sabine, a woman from Germany, (I shared a room in one of the barns with her), Bastian, a 24-year-old guy from France, and I were the only three Workawayers on the farm. A couple of days later, the two friends Nuria (24, from Spain) and Lea (20, from Germany), arrived. Sue, Chris, and Katie (their 23-year-old daughter) were on the farm too, so it was super busy!

A week ago, Sue, Chris, and Bastian went to Sayward, another place up north of the island that they own. Sabine went to a new host, so that meant we were just with the four girls on the farm. Sue sent us a schedule for the animals, but we can still decide at what time we want to make the other hours of work. One day, for example, I went in the afternoon to ‘Butterly Gardens’, a small tropical greenhouse. There were a lot of equatorial plants and animals like flamingos, turtles, bugs, and a lot of butterflies. The rest of the day I spend working in the garden. It’s super relaxed and fun to be on the farm with the girls. Yesterday Chris came back from Sayward, but Sue left again (to Mexico) to get some new dogs.

As for the animals: there are four rounds: at 7.30 am, we feed everyone and around 10.30 am we put them all outside. After that we clean/muck out the animal spaces, paddocks, and barn, and we collect the chicken and duck eggs (they’re so good!!). At 5 pm we’re feeding the animals again, and around 7.30 pm we put them to bed. The rest of the day we mostly spend weeding in the garden, but sometimes there are other tasks too like organizing, general maintenance, or walking the dogs. I love to work with so many different animals!

Right now I have a room in the house for myself. The other room in the barn had no windows, one standing lamp in the corner, and I needed to share it with Sabine. It was fine, but it's nice that I have my place in the house now: the first few nights I slept really bad. I hope I can stay here!

Because there were other Workawayers too, there was always someone to drive a car. The public transport is good, but it’s faster to drive somewhere by yourself: there are just so many activities to do around here! I think I’ve only been on the farm the whole day twice. All the other days I went to different places: the first days I could hop in with Sabine everywhere she got. I’ve been to thrift stores, a few beaches, and many hikes. One time Sabine, Bastian, and I hiked a long route around a big lake called ‘Thetis Lake’. The view and the forest were beautiful!

Recently I go on many trips with Nuri and Lea. Unfortunately, tomorrow they leave, but we had so much fun together! We watched the sunset, had a movie night, and even painted my hair!! I had an amazing time with them! We’re permitted to use the Carolla, an old red car, which is super nice! We got about four times a week to Sidney, the town next to the sea. It's only a five-minute drive so it's easy to go between the tasks to grab some Tim Hortons (the little donuts called ‘Tim Bits’ are a-ma-zing), get some groceries, or just sit on the pier by the water. Sidney is small but there are many little stores and cafes. Today we had lunch in an Indian restaurant in Sidney. It was delicious!!
Monday we even got on a road trip! I’ll tell you about that in the next blog, otherwise, this one is getting too long :)

Last week I took one day off. I decided to go to Victoria to go bouldering: I wanted to save the sightseeing for a sunny day. (’till now, most of the days were gray or rainy...) The boulder gym was nice with a lot of hard routes and cool grips which reminded me of the climbing gym at home. I met some nice girls and together we started some projects.After bouldering, I got to the ‘Royal Museum of British Columbia’. I walked about 2 kilometers across the waterline and through a part of Chinatown. It was not big but it was pretty cool to see. While walking in the harbor, I came across a little fish-and-chips stall. It was delicious!
I was hoping to see all the totems and imitated Chinatown streets in the ‘Human History’ part of the museum, but unfortunately, this part was closed. So even tho I only got to see the ‘Nature History’ part, it was nice to be in the museum.Because I was earlier done than expected, I decided to go to the IMAX theatre, in the same building as the museum. They were playing a 40-minute movie/documentary called ‘Into Americas Wild’). Apparently, it was the biggest screen in BC, so it was pretty impressive!

As I said, tonight is the last night with Nuri and Lea. Together with Katie, we’re going to the spa/pool :) On the 20th, another German girl is coming, so ‘till that time I will be the only Workawayer. I’m happy Katie stays here.

Okay, that's it for today! I’ll post some pictures of this place too.

See ya!

~Sophie

The last weeks on Gabriola Island

Thursday I traveled to the new address!

In the morning I said goodbye to the family, and around 9 am, Will dropped me off with my backpack at the Gabriola ferry. I needed to go to a place/area called North Saanich, (above Victoria), about 140 kilometers from Gabriola Island. It’s less than 2 hours if you would drive there, but I needed to go by public transport: 2 ferries, 4 buses, and a lot of transfer time. It took me almost 8 hours in total, but I was lucky enough to manage to get a lift from a guy at the last ferry to the address. It was this big, typical Canadian guy with a long beard, a chain necklace, a pitbull, and a big white truck, that made me skip 2 buses! He even offered me a ticket for the ferry for free ‘cause you couldn’t pay with cash, which was super nice!

In the time between the buses, I checked out Duncan, a small village with some nice cafes, cherry trees, and totems poles. It was a long, but relaxed journey.

My last weeks on Gabriola were nice:

On my time off I did a lot of different things: I have been camping, been on walks with Bodie, rode to a few lookouts, have been to the small cafe in the village with Tanne (a few days earlier I rode all the way down there and it was closed), bought some souvenirs and a present for my sister, and did a lot of bike rides to multiple beaches. I loved to be outside, but I have to stop betting on every little path to the beach to be accessible by bike: I carried my bike countless times over roots and big rocks on my way to the beaches…

I have almost rode down every rode on the island! On the map, (I posted a picture of it (and some more photos) in the collection ‘Photos of Gabriola Island’. Also, I posted some more pictures in ‘Photos of the first address’, and in the new collection ‘Photos of Nanaimo and Duncan’), I marked down every single path I have taken: I’ve been to every lookout and beach on the island :)

One day after a long walk with Tanne we were super tired and had to walk still two hours back. A bit as a joke we were talking about hitchhiking home, and a few moments later we actually managed to get a lift. It went so easy that we decided to try it again (at some point we had to get out of the car ‘cause they needed to go another way). It worked! It was my first time hitchhiking but it was such a practical way of traveling and you meet so many new people! In less than 30 minutes we were home.

The days I stayed home I spend with making some calls home, baking meringues, watching movies with Tanne, reading books, and writing my blogs-, travel diary, and a few cards. Furthermore, I made some plans for the summer and I made a decision for my study (I’ve signed up for the study ‘Wildlife management’ in Leeuwarden, although I was really doubting between this and Journalism in Utrecht). We had some great dinners: Jenn madedelicious pizza, and one day we roasted some salmon on the fire outside!

One time Todd showed us around the other property of him, Jenn, and Will. It was 15 acres (!!) big and maintained sheep, gardens, and a lot of trees/bushes. There was even a super funny swing: you had to hold on to a rope while jumping off the hill and then let go to drop in a big net!

Another evening after work, the weather was so nice that we decided to check out the sunset. We bought some snacks and went to Berry Point, the best place for sunsets on the island. On our way, we made a stop at ‘Gabriola Sands Provincial Park’. Because of the low tide, we could walk around the peninsula: it was amazing! The sound of the sea and all the birds, the sun on my face, the view, the walk over all the rocks: I enjoyed it so much! We even saw a few otters and seals. I hope later, I can live nearby the sea too, just like the nice lady we met during the walk past her house. During the sunset, there were a few more people on the same point enjoying the view, including this Belgium guy who offered us a ride home. That was great because now we only had to bike 10 minutes back in the dark woods instead of an hour.

So after work I did many nice things, and I enjoyed the work around the farm, but sometimes it’s also ‘just working’: I needed to take care of the horses twice a day and did A LOT of garden work: we repotted plants, plant seeds in the greenhouse, and more. We spend three mornings weeding herbs between the garlic: the difference between garlic and blades of grass is SO small, so we needed to look at every single one. The first morning it was nice to do it in the sun and with some music, but after a few hours, it gets pretty boring… I was happy when we were done!

Luckily it wasn’t only gardening: I stacked and moved some firewood, helped Will with getting some hay bails from another farm with the truck (which was a fun job to do!), tidied up the house and the terrain, organized some drawers and shelves and got Jenna hand with making a ducktape boot for Kaden, the biggest horse: he had a nail in his foot, so he was a bit lame.

Sometimes the weather is super nice and I’m really enjoying the work, but at other moments it’s raining or colder. The weather was super unpredictable last week: we’ve had sun, rain, and even snow (sometimes all on the same day). Unfortunately, the snow wasn’t sticky and already gone in a few minutes.

One evening while babysitting, Ophelia fell asleep in my arms after reading 5 books and a lot of effort. She was sleeping so sweet that I didn’t want to put her away so I lay there for one or two hours ‘till Jenn and Will came back from work. I almost fell asleep by myself ;)

Unfortunately, past week Ruxton tested positive for Covid. A few days later the rest of the family got symptoms too… Because of Jenn’s work, they couldn’t risk it to keep working, so they needed to stay home for a couple of days. For me and Tanne was there not much impact: we both didn’t catch it (probably ‘cause we've both had it already) and didn’t need to go into quarantine or something. We could still stay in the house or get out around the island (I see now one here anyway). Even tho that was really nice, it was super busy in the house at some moments (‘cause everyone was home all day long), so I mostly stayed in my trailer after work or got out on the bike.

I’ve not been homesick (yet), but sometimes it’s a pity not to be at the events happening at home: it’s nice that it’s possible to have so much contact, but that makes too that I see all the nice things going on at home, like moving from my uncle and his family and everything around it, easter brunch, parties, kings day, the Dutch Youth Championships from my climbing team and much more. But of course, I got nothing to complain about ‘cause I’m having an amazing time around here :)

On Monday I’ve been to Nanaimo: Tanne left this address and decided to stay there for the night. After doing the horses, we took the ferry and dropped off Tanne's stuff at her hostel. First, we went to ‘the Vault’: a cafe ‘downtown’. We had some hot chocolate with cake :)) The atmosphere here was great!! If I would get the chance to make a layout of acafe, I would have done it exactly the same: it was an old building with a few levels of tables close to each other, a big bar, and lots of stuff (paintings, books, plants, chalkboards, etc.) on the walls and in the room. It was really cozy! After that, we hopped from one small store to another and made a walk across the water (Nanaimo Harbour walk) and a few old statues and totem poles. In the afternoon we ate sushi at a small, local restaurant. The town reminded me a bit of those old Canadian/American-style towns with vintage cars, signboards, and low, colored buildings. Around 3 pm I already needed to go back for the horses. I was a bit late so I decided to hitchhike (it was a long walk home), and after more than 10 cars I finally managed to get a ride. The last two days on the island I mostly spend in the house and tidying up my trailer. I also wrote in the Workaway book where you can leave a message for the family.

I had such an amazing time at my first address on Gabriola Island: the tasks were varied, I visited so many beautiful places, and the family was great. I really hope to see them again!!

Ps: I’m not sure if everyone noticed it but you can subscribe on my blog while leaving your email address: you just need to scroll all the way down the other stories ;)

See ya!

~Sophie

Camping on Ruxton Island

Hi! Yesterday I and Tanne went camping on a really small island next to Ruxton Island, the same place where we searched for oysters last time we had a boat trip. It was so much fun!!

The island was even prettier than last time: all the pink flowers were coming out everywhere, and there were brooding geese, bees, seals, and even hummingbirds! It looked (and smelled) like spring :)

Around noon, the family dropped us offwith the boat with a tent and some other camping stuff. We searched for a high place to set up the tent (it was a big tent!) and settled in after exploring the island. (Which you can walk around in less than 5 minutes).

At low tide, we could walk to Ruxton Island. It was about an hour walk around and we saw a lot of vacation houses: there are a few residents on Ruxton island but there was no electricity or running water. We found a funny swing too where we, of course, stopped for a while.

We grabbed some dry wood from Ruxton island and brought it to our place. When we came back to ‘our’ island the water began already to rise, so we were happy to be on time (otherwise we would have had a pretty wet foot).

After watching the sunset (it was so beautiful!!), we tried to set up a fire. It took forever but I couldn’t handle the fact we might not have a fire that night so we kept trying, and after a while, we finally managed to get (a big!!) fire on the beach. We roasted some marshmallows underneath the stars, which was so much fun to do! After an hour or something, we heard the fire hissing. We were super confused and put on a flashlight: there was water everywhere!! The tide had sneaked upon us and in less than two minutes our fire was gone, while we were just standing there with our marshmallows… It was sad but it was actually super funny too :)

After watching a movie and eating some snacks in our tent, we got to sleep. I had the chance to finally see the sunrise, so I set up an alarm and got out of bed at 5:45 am. It was worth it! Luckily I could get some sleep afterward: we slept almost ‘till 10:30 am! It’s been weeks since I slept that long!

After breakfast, Will and Ruxton picked us up. After we got some mussels and clams, we pulled up the traps of prawns. Will also showed us his treehouse on ValdesIsland which he build when he was younger. It was super big, and definitely a treehouse!

That night we ate again so much seafood: Jen prepared them in a delicious sauce with garlic and saffron.

It was such a nice experience to camp!! I posted some new pictures of the camping too. Thanks to Will and Jen for giving us the opportunity and for dropping us off! :))

Gabriola Island II

Hi! Here I am with a new blog :) They’re getting longer each time, but there is just so much to tell!

The past week I had 2 days off; Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday I decided to check out the east side of the island. On my way to ‘Drumbeg Provincial Park,’ I came by chance across a little church with petroglyphs behind it. It took a few minutes before I found them but they were cool to see!

The way to the park was really beautiful, and the park was even better! There was such a pretty view from all the little, hidden spots near the water and there was a lot of washed up wood on the beaches. Besides, the weather was amazing!

After a few rounds in the Park, I rode to ‘Silva Bay’, the little harbour a bit to the north. There was a small store where I bought a map of the island: the last few days I tried to mark down every road I walked or rode on Gabriola on my phone (to see where I haven’t been), but that would be a bit easier on paper :)

In the store, I had a conversation with a woman who was wondering what I was doing on Gabriola. I told her I worked via Workaway at Deep Roots Farm, and she immediately said: “oh Jenn! I know Jenn, everyone does!” I see that a lot of people know each other here (on the bus, on the road); It makes the atmosphere on the island very relaxed!

On the way back I rode past a small pond. It was so peaceful there! I sat here for almost an hour just with my music, and after that, I went back to the house.

On Friday, unfortunately, Sarah and Miriam left with the ferry. They were going on a road trip more inland. We said goodbye but maybe we can meet in Ucluelet or Tofino this summer!

Blessing in disguise; now the girls have left I got permission to move into their trailer, which was way bigger than mine. I spend the rest of the day cleaning and arranging it (I even found a cozy carpet on one of the shelves!)

The day after, the new Workawayer girl arrived. Tanne, a 24-year-old girl, was Dutch too! It’s a bit weird to talk English and switch back to Dutch a few moments later, but because of that, of course, we do understand each other better. The age difference between us is bigger than it was with the other girls but she is really nice and friendly.

That evening, Jenn asked us to join the family while they were going to a birthday/dance party. Of course, we wanted to join! The party was pretty funny: there was a big party tent with disco lights, a DJ and people were all dressed up with rainbow colours and crazy decorations in their hair. Tanne and I were mostly talking a bit nearby the fire, and after an hour or something, we went back to the house with the family. I’m glad I went!

There is a bit of a sickness (stomach flu) going around here: the day before the german girls left, Sarah got sick. The day after, the kids were. On Saturday Will got sick, and on Monday it was my turn: I started feeling nauseous and cold when I woke up, and when I tried to eat something after a few chores, it didn’t work out really well... In the afternoon I slept almost 4 hours! Fortunately, after a good night of sleep, it was mostly over. After me Tanne and Todd got sick too, so ‘till now Jenn is the only lucky one I guess... Luckily, for most of us, it only lasted one day.

After I got sick, Tanne and I got two days (Tuesday and Wednesday) off. Because of the bad weather and the sickness going around, I hadn’t been out the last few days, so I decided to go for a bike ride. Via the trials and a few stops at the beaches, I rode to ‘Sandwell Provincial Park’, in the northwest corner of the island. But the trails to the beach went down very steep, and I didn't think about the fact that the back brake was broken, and the front one didn't work properly. So on a narrow, way too steep path on a hillside, I crashed pretty hard with my bike: I landed about 2 meters beneath the path on the hill and hurt my leg badly. But I’m glad my backpack kind of broke the fall and I didn't hit the tree next to me... After a few minutes, it went better and decided to continue my trip. Sandwell was stunning too, especially in combination with the old trees and big rocks next to the beach. I saw five bigbirds of prey (probably ‘cause of the dead sealion): two of them were white-head eagles, and the others were vultures. On my way back to the main road, I walked across a pond with a lot of other bird species with bright colours I had never seen before.

It was a really small distance to the main road, but according tothe map, there wasn’t a trail so that would mean I had to ride all the way back. That's why I bet there must be a tiny path to the main road. Well, there was a small trail but it was terrible having a bike with me at this point: there was a huge area covered with dead stumps so at some points I even needed to carry the bike while balancing over the trees... It must have looked ridiculous if I think back to it :)

When I was finally back on the main road, I needed to ride back more than an hour uphill to get home!

In the afternoon Tanne and I went out for a walk through ‘Elder Ceder Park’: here are the biggest and eldest trees on the whole island and it was a really beautiful walk over thewooden deckings! The trees and the light made the area look mysterious. Although I really liked it, I shouldn't have gone for a walk that day: in the end, my leg hurt badly, and when I came home I couldn't even walk on it because it was so stiff!

After a night of rest, my leg felt mostlybetter. That was nice: now I couldcontinue my plan of going to ‘Romper Room’, an indoor climbing centre in Nanaimo. (I knew it was better to give my leg a bit more rest, but I really wanted to climb on my day off!) Todd had told me there was a community bus (the Gertie) that rode around the island three times a day. So I hopped on after a walk to the main road and got to the ferry. Unfortunately, it had a delay, so I needed to wait for almost 40 minutes! After the ferry, I took the bus to the climbing centre.

I needed to call my parents to sign a risk form that permitted me to climb. It's pretty annoying not being 19 yet here. Although I needed to call my parents out of bed (sorry for that mom ;), the boulder area was cool and it was really nice to climb again. The guy at the desk even offered to build some harder projects for when I got back!

On the way back I did some grocery shopping and could immediately get back on the ferry when I came to the harbour. I chose to walk the shortest way to the house (via the trials) but it was almost 8 pm and I didn't realize how dark the forest already was! Luckily I had a flashlight, but I was happy when I got home after a 1.5-hour walk in the dark.

In the last days, we did a lot of various work: we did a lot of planting, set up a fence for the peas, worked with the firewood and tidy up the house, chicken coop and the barn. I'm still really enjoying my time here with the different tasks, the nice people and the animals (we got a puppy from a friend staying here for the weekend, so now we have three dogs in the house! :)) Todd even helped fix the bikes, what makes us having four working mountain bikes! I just tested one out (that fitted with my size), and it's riding so good! Thanks, Todd!!

I’m staying here ‘till the end of April so there will probably be another blog in between and otherwise, you will hear from me at that time. I posted a few new pictures on the map ‘photos of Gabriola island’ and ‘photos of the first adress’ if you’re interested ;)

See ya!

~Sophie

Boat trips: fishing for prawns

Hi! This blog will be about the boat trips:

Will got us on a boat trip twice now. He has a little red boat with a big motor that goes “superfasttt” (just what Ophelia calls out when she’s running across the room:)

With the kids and the girls we went out fishing for prawns: there are a lot of them in the ocean between the islands. In the morning, Will put some traps out, so in the afternoon we went with him on the boat to get the prawns out of the traps.

Once we found the marked buoys from Will, we had to pull up the traps. They were so heavy ‘cause of the water pressure: the lines were 100 ft long! After we got the prawns out of the traps, we needed to search them for pregnant ones: the prawns with eggs needed to get back in the water so they can reproduce. The prawn fishing culture around Gabriola is a good example of sustainable fishing: the government designates fishing areas and there are rules about how to fish (like the amount per fishing license).

We ended up with three full buckets of prawns (with a value of 250 dollars!). At home we had to prepare them: we needed to squeeze their heads off and cook them after that. I helped Will with the job, but some of the prawns were still alive so it was a bit nasty to do that… But otherwise, Will would do it still, so I got over it ;)

That evening we ate a lot of prawns and some salmon. The seafood tastes so much stronger than at home!! But it was delicious.

The next day we got on the water again with a friend of Will and the rest. Just like the day before, Will had put the traps out in the morning, so we only had to pull them up. After we finished all the traps, we put some new ones in, and we went to Ruxton Island (the island next to Gabriola Island where Ruxton is named after), to get some oysters from the beach. The island was really small but it was beautiful out there! There were a lot of flowers and some small sandstone caves which looked a bit like the Malaspina Galleries. After that, we pulled the traps again. We had two full buckets of prawns this time, so Will decided to freeze some at home. On our way back there was another guy on the water who blamed us for stealing his trap. That was a bit weird, but Will told me that sometimes traps are stolen or cut by ‘pirates’ to indicate ‘their territory’.

At home, we made a campfire next to the house on which we roasted the oysters. I have never had oysters before, and I actually expected I wouldn’t like them, but they were better than I thought and they were super fresh. Jenn made a really tasty pasta with prawns and salmon.

It was cold but really nice to be on the water: it was such a nice view with the islands, the forest, and the mountains in the background. We even saw a few seals! You should take a look at the boat trip picturesso you can enjoy the view too :)

I would love to go again!

Bye!

~ Sophie

The first address: Gabriola Island

Hi there! Sorry to keep you waiting; I’m just really busy around here :)

I’m exactly one week at the first address now, and I really like it here! When I arrived at this place, the two other girls (from Germany) were ready to show me around the place. Sarah (18) and Miriam (19) told me they arrived three weeks ago and that they stay about two weeks more.

First, they showed me the house. It’s pretty big, but it doesn’t have any stairs; there is just the ground floor. After that, we walked around the family’s property. It’s a large 5 acre terrain with a lot of cars, a bus, two trailers and some buildings on it.

The girls showed me the chickens, the garlic field, the wood workshop, the horse pasture- and stable, the greenhouse and the trailer I will sleep in. The trailer looked old from the outside but the inside was really clean and cozy: it’s nice to have your own place, separated from the house.

After that, we got inside ‘till the kids got back from daycare with Jenn. Ruxton (4) and Ophelia (3) were shy at first, but after less than 5 minutes they already wanted to play. The kids are super energetic and running around all the time, but they are adorable!

On the farm, they’ve got four horses, a lot of chickens, two roosters, and two dogs. One of the dogs, called Cholla is really old. (She’s blind and deaf.) The other dog, Bodie, is only three years old and is always willing to play, cuddle and go for a walk. They’re so cute!!

A normal working day is roughly like this: at 8 am we wake up in our trailers and we go feed the chickens and put them outside. After that, we go to the barn. We prepare the food and the hay for the horses and we put them in the meadow. After that, we go back to the house where we can have breakfast. That’s where Will or Jenn will tell you the tasks for that day. The tasks you get are very varied: some days it’s ‘light’ work or general maintenance, like cleaning the house, babysitting, or doing the dishes. One day I needed to help Jenn with the accountancy for example. Other days it’s mostly working at the farm, like planting or watering seeds, cleaning the barn, or working in the gardens. Sometimes it’s heavy, like the time we had to remove a large fence and couldn’t find the right tools, or when I had to dig up a large field with the rake like today. But most of the time the work is doable. Between the tasks, I have lunch with the other girls and after that, we finish our tasks. Around 3 or 4 pm we put the horses inside and prepare the food, and then our ‘working day’ is over.

After I finished my tasks from that day, the kids are home most of the time: They go to daycare about 3 times a week when the parents are ‘on call’: Will is the chief of the fire department and Jenn also works at the ambulance here on Gabriola Island. On the days they are working they need to be available for calls 24 hours a day, so someone has to be ready for the kids when they both need to go. Mostly that’s Todd, a distant relative of Will who helps the family with babysitting the kids. But when he’s not around,one of us needs to be home (last night I had to sleep at the house because Todd is on vacation and the parents were on call).

When the parents aren’t on call and we’re done with our tasks, we can help them with babysitting. But we’re not obligated so we can mostly go wherever we want. We’ve been to the beach, went on a walk with the kids and Bodie, stayed at the house for a movie night, and did a bunch of other things. (I found out they have guitars here!!) I’ve been on a bike ride a few times now: they’ve got a yellow bike which I can use. (It’s really old and way too small for me but it’s nice to have a bike :).
So I’ve been to the Malaspina Galleries, a beautiful cave at the beach, and I made some cool pictures here. I sat there for almost an hour and then I rode back to the house (in the middle of the island). It already got dark so I saw a lot of wildlife, there are a lot of deers here on the island: they just walk along the road or eat the grass from people's gardens. Yesterday I’ve been to ‘the village’, a bunch of stores (the only stores here) on the west side of the island. Todd told me there were a lot of walking and biking trails on the island so I tried them to get to the village. I got all dirty ‘cause of the mud and the water: it rains A LOT here, but most of the time the sun decides to come through in the midday. But it was fun to ride through the woods!

Will even took us out on a boat trip twice. I can tell you a lot about the trip but the blog is getting long so I tell you about that in the next blog.

Well, altogether, I really like it here: the tasks are very diverse, the people here are nice and there are a lot of things to do on the island.

Thank you for reading my blog! And don’t forget to check out the photos I posted!

~ Sophie

The journey to the first adress

Hi! This is going to be my first real blog! I think I’m going to do all of it in English so the people I meet here can read it too if they want to. Besides, I notice I’m getting used to speaking English (even after only a few days! )

Monday (21st March) at 8am I left my house in the Netherlands after packing my last stuff in my backpack. I’ve got 2 backpacks: one big red one (14 kilos) and one for hand luggage. With my family, I went to the airport where we searched for a parking spot and got inside.

I needed to check-in my baggage at the same place they checked my documents. It took such a long time to wait!

As a surprise, my uncle came to the airport to say goodbye, which was really nice! With the whole family, we drank something and then, unfortunately, the time came to say goodbye…

It was a bit sad to say goodbye but I was looking forward to my adventure and it was only for 3.5 months. After a hug, (and another one) I went to the douane and after that, I could finally get on the plane.

It was a really long flight (10 hours). I sat next to a Ukrainian man who was travelling with an old lady from Ukraine to Vancouver.

On the plane, I felt sick all the time but unfortunately, I couldn’t get some sleep because the sun was shining all the time. That was because we were flying back in time: I would land at 3pm local time while the flight started at 1pm in the Netherlands.

We flew a long time above Iceland which was really cool: there was ice and glaciers everywhere!

Of course, my ears hurt badly as always while landing, but the cabin crew was really nice. A few minutes later I could get off the plane. I heard there was a delay in the departure so I waited a while, but I was happy to see that my backpack arrived: sometimes they may leave baggage behind ‘cause of lack of space in the plane.

Everything was going as planned ‘till this time so I took a taxi which brought me to the B&B address that I booked at home.

But that’s where things started being complicated: when I arrived at the B&Bit didn’t look good: there was police around and guys with wigs and long hair were smoking so the whole place smelled like marijuana.

It just all made a really bad impression: the taxi driver wouldn't even let me in house. While the taxi driver waited in his car I asked one of the guys if this was the BnB. They told me they were the owners and that Amanda (my host who contacted me for the booking) wasn’t home. They said they were evicted from their home by the police and that I needed to find another place.

I’m not sure if they spoke the truth about saying they were the owners but it was pretty clear I couldn’t stay there for the night…

I got stressed out cause it took a long time to find this place where you don’t have to be 19 years old to make a booking for the night.

In the taxi, I called my parents (it was in the middle of the night there).

First, they told me that maybe it was a good idea to get to a police station but luckily they found another B&B at booking.com so we drove there.

After a few minutes of ringing and knocking, a woman opened the door. She said she didn’t run the B&B: She just lived at the house with a few others and she didn’t want to talk to my parents on the phone. So I asked her to call the host of the B&B to ask if there was a room for me for that night. She said he didn’t (even tho on the site stood there was).

That was really bad ‘cause I didn’t know what to do now.

But that was when a guy who also rent a room there came from upstairs. He was wondering what was going on and heard me struggling.

He told me that I could stay in his room and pay him while he spend the night at his girlfriend's home!

That was really, really nice because I needed a sleeping place and I was very tired. So I agreed to that plan.

So that’s how I ended up in a random student's room, in a weird old creaky house… But anything was better than nothing at this point and the guy was nice.

I locked the door and went sleeping at 6pm and woke up at 2am but spend the whole night there with just laying in my bed end sleep a bit and waking up again ‘cause of the jet-leg.

At 8am I went outside with my big backpack to the bus stop and rode to downtown where I took another bus to Nanaimo.

The public transport in and around Vancouver is really well organized: there are a lot of buses and you can just pay by cash so it’s pretty easy to get from one place to another.

After the buses, I went on the 1.5-hour ferry ride to Nanaimo. Unfortunately, it was really foggy and rainy outside so there wasn’t a great view… But it was nice to be on the ferry. I just walked a bit outside (and got all wet), listened to music, get some coffee: It didn’t take a long time ‘till I got on land at Vancouver Island.

Once I was in Nanaimo I took the bus to the Gabriola ferry which took only 20 minutes. Although it was still really grey, it stopped raining so I decided to stand outside and watch the islands while on the water: it was really beautiful even without the sun. But I can’t wait to see the view in nice weather conditions!

And there I was: finally on Gabriola island! Jenn (the woman from the first Workaway address) told me that her husband Will would pick me up in his fire truck, so that wasn’t hard to find.

While we were driving over the island it seemed like a nice place with a lot of hills and forest.

After a 10 minute ride, he dropped me off at their address, a small farm in the middle of the island

Will told me he had to go back to work, but there were 2 other Workaway girls from the age of 18 and 19 who showed me around the place.

I was really happy to be there after the long trip ‘cause I was really tired. I’ll tell you in the next blog how the family is and how it is living here.

See ya!

~Sophie

Welcome to my travel blog!

Hello and welcome to my travel blog!

This is the place to stay informed about all the adventures and experiences during this trip! From now on you will regularly find new stories and photos here, and via the map you always know exactly where I am and where I have been! More information about myself and the journey I will make can be found in the profile.

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It‘s nice you travel with me!

Cheers!

Sophie