I needed some downtime and that's just what I got yesterday when steve, monika, charles and myself all piled into monika's car (I suppose I could go into the details of how we each got picked up, but you gotta start somewhere). the plan had been laid to travel to saltspring island and we were on our way. we arrived at the ferries slightly late (we were aiming for the 6 and ended up on the 8), so we had to wait for an hour while the ferry made it's return trip. it was time to get a bite to eat we all agreed.
we walked out of the abandoned flea market, being late in the day there were only one or two people left packing up, and into the food area. this was under heavy construction, yet somehow the new parts seemed old. perhaps it was just that unfinished feeling, or perhaps it was the fact that the new flooring was a checkered linoleum. disheveled appearance aside, monika made note that the sandwiches were quite good and they did appear to be made with fairly high quality ingredients, but then I noticed a mango-curry-vegetable-wrap that had my name on it. I grabbed it from the fridge and a bottle of water to wet the palate, then proceeded to the till. The girl at the till gave a nice smile, which always bodes well, when even your regular i-it interactions take on an i-you quality. we figured there would be a need for utensils, as one of the reasons we had been a bit late was our liquor and food run in Sydney, where we acquired not only the aforementioned items, but also a fire log. I'm very glad we eventually found that fire log. it took some searching, well actually it took steve asking where it was after everyone else had given up. so, as I mentioned before, we arrived at around seven pm, all raring and ready to go.
It wasn't so bad except for the 20 000 chickens parked, waiting in the lane adjacent to ours, for the ferry to vancouver. luckily charles had brought his frisbee to distract us from the heinous odor. we played for a bit and all was going pretty well until the breeze kicked up for the first time and we really got a good whiff of the horrendously, disgustingly foul fowl. I could hear an older woman, perhaps in her late forties, early fifties, mumbling, attempting to be audible, but at the same time not wanting to be heard, saying to herself, "if I was ripped i'd be tearing those cages apart." All I could do was chuckle to myself and remember it for later to tell my compatriots. eventually monika joined charles and I, not after taking a few pictures (which I hope I can get my hands on soon). not long after steve got in on the action and we all had a good time hucking the disc around. The ferry arrived and we piled in ready for saltspring. the trip over was pretty uneventful, other than a few good stories and awesome scenery, as is always the case in good company and living in this locale.
it was dusk and we were almost to the island, coming from the Island. monika drove off the ferry and onto saltspring. with a sense of assuredness as to her destination we drove through the winding roads, which for the most part, had been freshly paved. When we arrived at the campsite it quickly became apparent we were going to be carrying everything to the site. This wasn't too big a deal since there were four of us, as we could each carry our own and what needed to be shared was easily divided.
at this point is was starting to get dark and we wanted to find a spot for the tents. monika felt a spot near the water would be nice and we all agreed, but the trick was finding the perfect one. we almost gave up and went for one I had originally pointed out, as we were entering the camping area, which was a bit more private, with some forest around it, but much farther from the ocean. in the end we pitched tent in the spot monika had originally picked out and a good spot it was. main reason being that we were close to rocks and could place our fire out of harms way. we didn't plan on cooking over the fire till later, in fact we had brought a Coleman stove to cook some kraft dinner, as monika started to put it together, while steve and charles were raising the tents, she realized that we were missing one important element... the part that connects the propane to the stove. this was a snag, but thank god for our fire log, it made cooking over the fire that much quicker, no need to wait for coals, or search for drift wood, although, we did take turns foraging for wood to keep the flames up. we cracked open the wine and hotdogs, stuck em on the fire (hotdogs that is) and charles took the reigns. we were in luck, as charles has some cooking experience and began cooking the dogs in some beer, then a bit later he added some wine. suffice it to say they turned out fantastic. once we had our fill of the hotdogs the sun had gone down and stars were starting to peek out. it was time to get our drink on.
we weren't going nuts with the alcohol, but we all had a fair amount. monika was probably the lush of the group that night, but even that is an overstatement. as it got darker I began seeing satellites and pointed a couple out to the others. it's amazingly hard to point out a point of light in a sea of points of light. We kept trying to figure out which direction the milky way would be traveling across the sky and it wasn't till the light from the setting sun was completely gone that we could begin to really make it out. of course, around this time of night Australia is awake and functioning, so steve had to take a couple calls during the night with people wanting assurances about this and that. the job of a salesrep for cisco systems is never done. while we were at it, I felt the need to ponder some big questions like; can it even be postulated that we are the only life in the universe knowing the sheer vastness of space and the fantastic number of galaxies, let alone stars in each. after I annoyed them with my musings, we got chatting about this and that. I managed to spot a couple shooting stars, which are something I never tire of seeing and then a voice from the ocean. it was charles and he had discovered the phosphorescence in the waters around here. it's cathartic to watch the water glow green from the lapping up against the rocks and great fun to make it glow yourself by throwing various objects, or splashing around in the water.
as the night wore on we were suddenly greeted by a man in a ranger outfit. he told us that our fire really shouldn't be where it was and that if we could he'd really appreciate it if we were to put it out in an hour or so. he was quite nice about it and I just said we would watch it and be sure to put it out. he seemed satiated by my response and our measures to keep the area from turning into a giant wild fire. as the night moved on we switched from wine to beer and just kept warm around the fire. at one point monika went to move from one spot to another and when passing me fell into the fire. at this point it wasn't spewing large flame, it had died down somewhat and was mostly coals and some small flame. she lay in it for a moment, not seeming to want to get up anytime soon as we exclaimed, "monika are you all right? you're in the fire get out!" so I grabbed her side and pulled her out, unharmed I might add. that's not to say she didn't have a few other bumps and bruises from falling a couple times throughout the night. it has a lot to do with our level of exhaustion. the time was getting on almost three in the morning, we decided to crash. joking back and forth between the tents, in a hushed tone, perhaps not whispering, but defiantly not even in a full voice and just as we were about to call it that a voice comes from behind our tent , "hey can you guys keep it down, it's three in the morning and I can still hear your talking," they said. I just replied that we would stop, as it was the case, and once again another sole was satiated.
none of us were feeling 100% the next morning, as is the nature of being drunk the night before. I wasn't sure what time it was, but I heard someone in their tent wake up and get out. I assumed it was steve, as monika had had a ruff night and would probably be out like a light still. after I tried to sleep a bit longer I realized it just wasn't going to happen, so I also got up. I went and found the washrooms (we had been using the surrounding rocks all night) and then went for a walk along the water. I really enjoyed the time with the water and myself. it was a beautiful morning, almost already too warm to be wearing the hoody I had on.
steve appeared from behind me while I was sitting relaxing on a rock near our site. I had figured it was him that had gotten up and wasn't too surprised to see him. he had taken the opposite direction for his walk and from what I gathered he also really enjoyed it. we sat and chatted for awhile then charles woke up and the three of us hung out for a bit till my thirst got the better of me and charles and I went to find the drinking water. we moseyed to the pump and filled our bottles, having a nice conversation there and back. when we got back to the site monika had awoken and still looked half asleep. she popped a couple asprin and we all started thinking about breakfast, so once we were all up we packed up the site and worked our way to the car. when we got there I realized I was missing my wallet. this wasn't cool, so I started looking around knowing I had gone to bed with it in my pocket I couldn't understand where it had disappeared to. I had folded up the tent charles and I slept in and could have swore I felt nothing, and I had missed my sleeping bags bag the first time I folded up the tent. but I wasn't very inclined to fold it again if I could get away with it. I ran back down to the site looked all over... in the garbage we had thrown up and still nothing, then I heard steve and they had found it in the folded tent. somehow my wallet and lighter had ended up in the tents inner pocket and I was just thankful to have it back. now that I had held us up we were finally on our way to get some grub and with charles at the wheel we drove off to ganges.
ganges is an interesting little spot. charles made a comment that resonated with me to a degree and that was that every person on the island was adorable. he didn't mean they were all pretty, or handsome, although many were. he was trying to convey something a bit more substantial than that. something about their air, or attitude, or perhaps it came out in the way the interacted with each other. whatever it was, I think he had something there. we went to the cafe style place and I had a tasty omelet, while steve and monika both seemed to take a distaste to theirs and I'm not even sure how charles felt about his, I might just assume he was indifferent and any food would have done at that point.
once we finished our meal we headed off and wandered around the town. we stopped in an art gallery and there was this set of pieces that were done with fabric and one in particular caught my eye. it was of two old women sitting beside each other on the front steps of a house in what looked like greece. they looked as if they were really sitting there and when art comes to life for me like that I can't help but have an appreciation for it. we ended up in saltspring brewing co and got another drink, it was quite a hot day. while sitting there we decided that it was time to head home. but what a great trip it had been. even being so laid back and relaxed we still seemed to get quite a bit in, more than I've even written here, but damn look how long this is as is.
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