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