Hey there!

Friday was my last full day here on the island. This weekend was ‘Tour des îles’, so some things were going on like a festival and sailings to all the different islands. I was lucky to experience one day of this before I left: I could participate in a kayak trip with a few ecologists/scientists: they were paddling for three days and doing animal counting and diving alongside the route. I had the chance to participate in the paddle trip for a few hours. It was great! The weather was perfect and with two boats and a group of kayakers we paddled 5 hours next to the coast of Galiano. On the way back, we tied the kayak behind Christian’s boat and we sailed back together.

When we arrived at the house, we had dinner at a cute Thai place on Galiano. After that Lili and I went rollerskating in the school's gym. It was so much fun: we had the whole building for ourselves and we stayed for a long time.

The last weeks here were just as awesome!

The weather was getting better every day (I finally had some days above 20 degrees!) Because of the good weather, it was fun to go to the different beaches to read a book, play with Snoopy, or go paddle boarding (in the sunset!!).

I went a few times to the community garden to do some weeding or to water the plants. Every day I did some small jobs like the dishes, walking Snoopy for a few hours, sorting recycling, etc. But it was definitely not hard work.

One time I helped scrape Lili's sailboat. First, Lili and I sailed to the ramp, where Christian pulled the boat out with the car. When the boat was lifted out of the water, we scraped the whole bottom that was covered with mussels, big worms, bugs and all weird kinds of other sea-animals; (”a whole sea-fruit salad!”, like a passerby said). And of course, the sailing back was way faster :)

Lili introduced me to her friend group. It’s cool to have people my age around to hang out with! We played ping-pong at Paz’s house, and one day I went with Lili to the ‘secret beach’. It was really hard to get there ‘cause it was super steep, but there were ropes down the rock. The beach was beautiful; it was a small sand beach and there was no one at all! Later that night we went back there with four of Lili’s friends and we played American football. We also had a fire where we roasted fish, potatoes, marshmallows and other food. It was so much fun!!

Furthermore, we went hiking together on mount Galiano (once we were at the top, we had an amazing view over the islands.) It was awesome! And we went to Montague park to go bouldering. Most of the rocks were not really suitable for climbing cause of all the moss, but I did some cool routes and I really enjoyed bouldering outside: I hadn't done it in such a long time!! After that, we watched the sunset on the beach.

I spend a lot of time at the Montegue Harbour; on Friday night, Christian took me to the taco restaurant, where he played the guitar. I got to play a song for the people too! I played blackbird, I’m glad I did it :) Another time we went to Zeus’s boat where I watched the sunset on the deck while reading my book because Christian had a meeting with a few friends. I also slept one more night on the Mystic (the sailboat).

During all the trips on the water, I saw a lot of wildlife like seals, vultures and bald eagles (one time I sat in the garden and there flew an eagle 10 m away!).

Last week I also went to the Saturday market. It was really cute with many stalls with local products. Christian played music, and I went hiking in Bluffs Park and to the beach. It was a long hike uphill, but there was a beautiful lookout and old sights like an old coal pit or memorial stones.

As I said, I went to many places, but I also spent a lot of time at the house with writing, reading in the hammock, making music (Christian teaches me some cool songs on the guitar!), playing with Snoopy and playing games like Loot/Christian’s self-made pirate game. Some days were even a bit boring because I didn't really go somewhere but that was fine: I can't be busy all the time ;)

I've been to two other islands during the time I was on Galiano: One time Christian took me to Mayne island (we had to go there to the vet for Snoopy). We drove around and went to the lighthouse, a Japanese garden and a restaurant where I ate a delicious salmon burger :) While Christian was at the vet, I walked for a bit on the trails. It was really pretty in the forest with a lot of old-growth trees. Also, the Japanese garden was surprisingly pretty. The moments I had to wait, I played the guitar in the back of the car. There were actually a lot of things to do on such a small island!

Last week Lili’s dad, Thomas, came over from France. He stayed for a few nights at Lili’s boat. A day later we went to Saltspring for Lili’s graduation. We took the sailboat with 5 people and Snoopy, it was a lot of people for such a little boat but it was fun! When we arrived we still had a lot of time before the ceremony so Thomas, Laura (Lili’s friend) and I hitchhiked to ‘Ganges’: the ‘centre’ of Saltspring. First, we drank hot chocolate at a cute cafe, and after that, I went to the big Saturday market while the rest stayed at the library. I had a tasty crèpe with chocolate :). A few hours later, it was time to go to the school. It was kinda cool to see the big North-American schools with the school buses and all the students in their grad-outfits. When they all went to Lili’s ceremony, I took Snoopy for a walk.

I decided to go to Mount Erskine, but it was further than I thought, and the shortcuts that I took were most of the time not such a good idea… I just didn't want to walk all the time on the road. But it was definitely worth it: there were some great lookouts over Saltspring and the rest of the islands! I was exhausted (just like Snoopy ;) I practically walked the whole day, so I ended up with 30.000 steps (which is more than 23 kilometres!)

When I came back, Christian and Martine took me and Thomas out for fish and chips at a small restaurant near the water. After that, I went to Olive's house with Laura (Lili had a party) where I spend the night. It's cool that I met so many of her friends!

The next day we had to take the ferry with a huge detour to Victoria and the other islands, so it took about 5 hours to get back! But I'm glad I went to Saltspring.

During the time Thomas was here, I also spent a night at Louis's house, a friend from Thomas's. They were visiting him and asked me to come with them. Louis lives right in the middle of Bluffs Park and he has one of the most beautiful houses I've ever seen! He's a carpenter and builds almost everything by himself! Not only the outside was pretty, but especially the inside was beautiful, with a lot of wood, glass and so many plants that all grew along the ceiling and over the balcony that led to the room upstairs. There was even a swing in the middle of the room and a lot of stuff from all around around the world. The interior was exactly how I want to do it myself later! We had a campfire outside, and although they mostly spoke French (I understood a bit) it was fun.

Friday morning I left Galiano after going to the beach with Martine and Snoopy. We also bought a guest book; I was the first person to write in it :) I said goodbye to the family and Snoopy, and then I got on the ferry. It’s hard to say goodbye to this place: I’ve had such a great time there! I really hope I can come back one day.

Yesterday I picked my dad up from the airport; We’re going on a road trip together for a bit more than two weeks. So my Canada adventure is definitely not over: I’m gonna see a lot of BC in those weeks. I’m really seeing forward to my road trip!

I’ll post some more pictures of my last weeks on Galiano tomorrow.

Good night!