Ruckle Beach Anniversary Trip

Hello everyone!

It's Labour Day already! We are still negotiating with the government for a fair deal but it doesn't look promising that we will be back to work tomorrow.  My Nana called me this morning to inform me that the public is starting to side with the Premier!! Oi Vai! This labour dispute is at it's core a fight for public education.  Our provincial government wants a two-tiered system: private vs. public.  They already increased funding for private school last year and will continue to increase funding whereas decrease spending for public schools.  What a travesty for the future of BC children to not be given a fair and equal opportunity to be educated.  I could go on at length about this ideological educational warfare but I've come here today to show you some lovely photos of our anniversary bike trip to Ruckle Beach, Saltspring Island.  

Our anniversary kiss captured by a fellow cyclist

We started the trip from our doorstep and cycled 34 km to the ferry in back burning heat.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours to cycle there since I had to stop a lot to navigate with my map.  Little did we know, but my hubby was slowly being cooked! He forgot his sunscreen...silly man.  

Cycling over the Alex Fraser Bridge...frightening for me!

Once we arrived at the ferry terminal, we cooked a little more sitting in the sun for almost two hours waiting for our ferry.  There were no places for us to hide from the sun, and think this is where we got a bit of heat exhaustion from!

Our bikes with heavy gear

Finally the ferry arrived and with glee we boarded and were taken away to our destination.

One of the Gulf Islands, not sure which one

Excited hearts rapidly beating!!

When we arrived onto the island, little did we know we took the painfully LONG way to Ruckle Beach--Thanks Google Maps!!-- we noticed how many sharp and steep hills there were.  Great.  We were at this point exhausted from the sun and waiting so we took our time getting to the main town, Ganges.  After getting a few supplies, we decided to truck on and came across one of the steepest hills imaginable.  I walked my bike up.  No way I was riding it with all of our gear! At one point I felt as though I would die and looked to the idyllic places to the left and right of me for a good spot to wilt.  But we kept going on after many stops and checking the map a hundred times and many exclamations of "When will these hills stop? Are we there yet? I could die right now!!" we saw the Ruckle Park sign and we shouted at the top of our lungs with happiness.  It was downhill from there on!! Yahooooooo!!

Before the park is the Ruckle farm and here we stopped and took a few photos of the sheep and pastoral landscape. 

Tired us

We cycled into the park and was met with the most beautiful site of camps along the water.  What a perfect place to camp for a week! With renewed energy, we set up camp just before the sun went down.  That night we were given the light of the moon shining over the water, illuminating everything.  It was so bright it was as though the heavens were shining a spotlight on us all.

BC ferry crossing

My photos don't do it justice but you get the picture. 

The next day we languidly explored the area and pretty much lounged about.  

Our view from our campsite

Beautiful golden grass everywhere

We planned on going to a wee village the following day to sit down and eat a proper lunch and explore the island a bit.  We found out from the locals there that there is a ferry that takes you to Swartz Bay (on Vancouver Island) which then takes you back to Tsawwassen Ferry. Really? So we took the extra hard, break your back way to Ruckle? The trip from Ruckle to Fulford Village was an hour compared to the 4 hours of torture we endured the other way.  Well good.  Now we know a short cut!! I was enchanted with this little village and sat down to the most amazing, local around the bend, mussels I've ever ate! If you know me at all, I am a fiend when it comes to shellfish and have eaten a LOT in my lifetime.  So these were the best!!

Happy to drink real coffee and eat real food

Saved that large guy for last

When we got back to camp, we noticed that the weather had changed quite a bit and rain was on the horizon.  Uh oh.  So we put a tarp over our tent and went to bed.  In the middle of the night it began to pour and we realized we left our shoes outside!!!! URGGHHH Wet shoes are the worst things in the world! So the next day we stayed mostly in our tent then at some point, we needed to stretch our legs and we walked around the farm with wet feet.  Oh well.  It was neat visiting the Ruckle Farm house and reading the information about the family.  We also bought some yummy organic apples from the fruit/vegetable stand at the farm.  Oh, these fruit/vegetable stands are everywhere on the island.  Lots of people put their produce along the roadside to purchase and it's based on the honor system.  Cool isn't it?!!

Deer are EVERYWHERE on the island.  One even tried to get into our tent!!

Beautiful misty Arbutus trees

A foggy farmland

Ruckle farm apples

The original Ruckle Farm house

Love this bedframe!

An old singer in a sewing room

See that catnip sign? We bought some for Titus and he LOOOOVES it!! It's the best catnip ever!! Plus we bought some cookies and gobbled them up like the turkeys on the farm.  

With more rain forecast for the next few days, we decided to pack up and go home.  The fact that our shoes were still damp and stinky, made us both a wee bit grumpy.  So we left on a Thursday and took a "shortcut" trail to the farm.  That day, let me tell you, the fog had rolled in and we looked up and saw millions of tent spiderwebs all over the forest and the ground.  That and regular webs.  Pretty creepy let me tell you.  Well on the way through the path, my foot got caught on a branch sticking out and I lost balance and fell over, along with my bike falling on me.  I bashed both my knees VERY badly and my bike pedal smashed my left knee.  My hubby threw down his bike into the spider infested bush, and got my bike up.  It was a very painful return home.  Even the turkeys were curious about me and pecked my bike while I was given first aid.  

We decided to bus it to the skytrain since I could barely walk and today, my left knee is still in pain.  I probably should've gone to the doctor's. Oh well!

Total amount cycled on our way there: 100km!!

We enjoyed our adventure to Saltspring Island and we will be back, the shorter way of course!!

Thank you for bearing with me to this point.  I know it is a lengthy post.  Next post will be all about stitching and my upcoming blogaversary!

Hugs to all

Anne