Caves on Galiano Island
A few months ago we did a bit of travel through three of the five Gulf Islands; Salt Spring, Pender, and Galiano (the two we didn't get a chance to visit this time are Mayne Island and Saturna Island). These Islands are located in the Salish Sea between Mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island.
Exploring Salt Spring Island
Our first stop was Salt Spring Island. Salt Spring is the largest of the Gulf Islands at 180 Square kilometres (70 square miles).
While on the island we enjoyed beautiful warm weather and spent our time hiking. We camped at Ruckle Provincial Park and treated ourselves to some local beer and cider from Salt Spring Ales and Salt Spring Wild Cider House.
Bricky Beach, Pender Island
Our second stop was Pender Island. Pender Island is actually two islands, creatively named North Pender and South Pender, separated by a narrow canal originally dredged to allow for a quicker ferry route. While on the island we camped at Shingle Bay Campground. We only had one full day on the island (not by choice) and we spent it exploring the beaches and hiking. Unfortunately our van broke down on our second day here (broken fuel pump) and because we were so isolated we had to camp on the side of the road where we broke down until a tow truck could get there the next day to take us back to Vancouver Island to be fixed.
Our poor van on the tow truck
Once the van was all fixed we jumped back on the ferry and made our way back to the Gulf Islands, this time to Galiano Island. Galiano is only 27.5km (17mi) long and 6km (3.7mi) wide at its widest point. Galiano is discribed as The Gem of the Salish Sea, and we couldn't agree more. After the ordeal on Pender we ended up camping for 5 nights at Montague Harbour Provincial Park. We spent our time hiking, visiting the beautiful sandstone caves, and sitting on the beach reading and watching the harbour seals.
Ridge Trail, Galiano Island
In the future we hope we can make it back to the Gulf Islands to visit Mayne and Saturna. We'd also love to spend some more time on Pender since we missed out on a bit of time there. In the mean time we are back on the mainland and heading east. Watch this space!
All images in this post were taken by and remain the Copyright of Ryan Sault and Bree Plater unless stated otherwise. You can see more photos at:
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