Saltspring Island B.C. Went there yesterday in search of campgrounds to take my bus to

Salt Spring is the largest of the Gulf Islands that lie between Vancouver Island and the mainland. I took a few pictures along the way.

It takes about half an hour on the ferry to get to Saltspring from the Schwartz Bay terminal which lies 15 miles NE of Victoria. This makes it an ideal spot for me to take tourists on day trips. Total travel time for a round trip is under 4 hours including ferry line ups and both terminals are in picturesque spots with shops and eateries. A trip should be about the location and not a long boring drive.

Small ferries don't have much in the way of services so I expect that passengers will choose to wander the deck or they could sit right on the bus on blustery days. Most of the other vehicles are cars, so we would have a bird's eye view over them to the scenery beyond. This ferry gets many walk on passengers and cyclists. All will be exposed to the idea of carpooling with me in the future since I'm getting some good signage for the bus soon. Whenever I'm not totally full, I'll offer walk ons a free ride to the main town of Ganges. Most of my promotional plans involve giving free rides to community volunteers, winners of good citizen contests and to those in the hospitality industry. I can't bear to look at an empty seat.

1. The boat basin in Ganges, the largest town on Salt Spring. One of the ferry terminals is in Vesuvious. Not sure if the names were chosen out of humour or lack of creativity.

2. The mud flats at low tide.

3. The water is much cleaner in BC's Ganges than it is in India. Swans eating and not one floating corpse.

1. The most prominent tree visible from town is the giant dead one. It towers over lots of big firs near it.

2. Arbutus also known as Pacific Madrona, sheds parasites by loosing bark. They make great climbing trees. This one has been pruned a little so that kids don't climb out over the rocky beach.

3. Southern Coastal B.C. is the northern limit for palms in North America. People grow them just because they can. The back of this store has an almost tropical look.

Then it was time to go home. The ferry ride home was just as pleasant as the morning trip.

Somehow I forgot to photograph any of the campgrounds that I came to see. : Luckily, I have a goood picture of each in my brain. Two of them are great with plenty of trees, easy access, hot showers etc.

There are two crappy campgrounds, one is in a field by big power lines and one has sites far too small for the bus and roads so rough that I wouldn't go there anyway. Both of these were poorly marked and there was nobody readily available to talk to. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Not bad photos for an android phone. Soon I will buy a decent camera.

2. Sea creatures grow on every available surface.

3. The island's tallest point is to the left in this shot. It's a popular hiking location. On my next trip I will scale this easy to climb little mountain. Eventually I will take others on excursions to this and other points of interest. You can drive 3/4 of the way to the top.

Beautiful!

The move to the new business means a change of address for me. I currently live nomadically at jobsites and around the city. I park and sleep in any convenient spot when there is no job site. A Plymouth Voyager filled with tools, blankets and everything else I need to live is a pretty small house.

1. This is the mini van on cleaning day which happens every couple months whether it needs it or not.

2. and 3. This is my new part time home. Sometimes I will sleep on the bus after the campers have gone to their tents. There may be times when I leave the van at campgrounds and I will sleep in that but without all of the demolition tools and most of my posessions piled in. Most important will be the change of scenery. Rather than waking at a demolition site, I'll be under the trees at campgrounds or staying in complimentary motel rooms at ski resorts, hot springs, festivals and other attractions. I plan to wolf down many free meals. Restaurants feed the driver for free when large numbers of customers are delivered to their doors. I'm ready for this change.