Hi! Monday, after a night in Vancouver, I arrived at my last Workaway address. I’m so happy to be here!! Before I tell you something about Galiano Island, I’ll tell you about Sayward and Vancouver :)

Like I told you, last week I was for two nights in Sayward. Chris was already there for a while, and Sue and Adrian wanted to visit him. Freddie and I got the chance to go there too. I’m glad I went: I totally fell in love with the northern island! When I arrived at their property after a 6-hour drive, I saw the old, white house in the field. A few meters further, a beautiful, clear river flowed through their backyard. When I looked up, I saw the big mountains behind the forest: I hadn’t seen those in the south of Vancouver Island.

When you looked out of the window in the house, or when you stood on the patio, you saw those three layers. I hope I can live in such a remote place once, so close to all those different landscapes. (I know, I said the same about living on an island near the beach ;)

When we arrived in the evening, Freddie, Adrian and me walked a bit around the property and the river: there was a campground, another barn, and a few trails in the forest. After that, we saw Chris and Bastian (the Workawayer I met in the first week here) again.

We were planning on going back to Sidney the next day, but it was so pretty here that we stayed a night longer. The next day, we worked for a while in the garden. After that, Freddie and I took the car to a few trails, so we could see a bit of the area. It was really pretty!

Unfortunately, I got bellyaches again, just like the day before, so I had to lay in bed for a few hours when we came back…

The next morning, I felt better, and we decided to go kayaking on the river. Freddie and I both had our own kayak and Adrian took the paddle board. We paddled up against the stream, which was pretty heavy in the curves of the river! After a while, we arrived at a beach. It was cloudy, and the temperature was not that high, but we were so warm ‘cause of the paddling, that we decided to jump in the river! It was freezing, but it was so much fun!!

When we came back, we got into the car and started our way back to Sidney.

On our way, we stopped at a few nice places: First, we stopped at a lookout near a lake. After that, we came across a huge waterfall. It was really funny, ‘cause we didn’t even plan it out: we just saw the signs across the road and decided to check it out. (That’s the fun part of a road trip, right? :) I’m so glad we didn’t miss it!! There was a big suspension bridge that crossed the river, and there was a nice lookout at the end of it. When we walked all the way around (through a beautiful old-growed forest), we ended up right next to the wild river.

About an hour later, we ended up in Coombs, a really cute (but crowded and touristic) village. It was known for the ‘Goats On The Roof Market’; which was really funny, and exactly appears to be like the name says.

There were a few little stores, like doughnut- ice cream- or clothing shops, and there was even a Dutch Store! They had all the different sorts of candy, spreads and brands you can find in the Netherlands. It was crazy!

Unfortunately, we were already too late to go to the big Skywalk (it closed at 5 pm), which I really wanted to check out in the time I stayed in Sidney, so our last stop was in Nanaimo. We picked up a package for Katie and I got some stuff for my stomach.

At first, I was planning to meet Sarah and Miriam in Victoria again this evening, but it was already pretty late and I needed time to pack my backpack: it was my last evening on the farm.

When I arrived at the farm, Katie gave me the package she had picked up for me in Sidney: my parents had sent me a package full of presents (like Dutch candy, jewellery, and a few funny gifts) as a surprise. It was so sweet!! There was also a letter from my sister, my parents, my grandma, and Giulia! <3

The next morning, after doing the last things like saying goodbye to Katie, packing my last stuff, or writing in the Workaway Book, I got on the ferry to Vancouver. With a few buses and the metro, I got to my hostel. I had three bags, and my big backpack was so large and heavy that it was a challenge to fit everywhere on public transport!!

After a long journey, I finally arrived at my hostel. I had a private room: because I’m not 18 I wasn’t allowed to stay in a normal room with more people, so now I had to pay for a two-person private room… It was nice to have my own room, but it was also kinda unnecessary.

A few minutes later I went downtown to meet Debbie again: I told her I was in Vancouver again, so we met up, and after a walk and some shops, we had lunch together in ‘Cactus Club’. It was really nice to see her again!

I was planning on meeting some new people in the hostel to hang out with in the city the next day, but it was really hard because I only stayed one night, alone in my room. I met some Dutch and German girls in the kitchen area downstairs, but they were all part of a group trip, so they already left the next morning… I was really tired so I decided to just go to sleep. I had a really good night!

The next morning, I rented a bike for the day and drove all the way around Stanley Park. It was cloudy, but it was not raining so that was great. It was a nice trip: I rode all the time next to the beach, I saw the suspension bridge and I paddles uphill to some nice viewpoints. After that, I got downtown, where I checked out one of the big streets and buildings, and I drank something in a cute cafe. After that it was already time to go back to the hostel to pick up my stuff: there was only one ferry going to Galiano Island at 7 pm, and it was a long travel to get to the ferry terminal.

After the ferry, Christian (my new host) picked me up from the ferry and brought me to their place. I’m only here for four days now, but I have already done so much! I’m really enjoying my time here. I’ll tell you about it later. I posted some new pictures, also in the collection ‘Photos of Vancouver”.

See ya!

~Sophie