Catching up. 1st, 2nd June

I am so behind in my posts. I guess that means I'm having fun or not enough WiFi!
After leaving Rathtrevor Provincial Park and my new found road confidence, I was in for a shock.
I hit the Trans Canadian Highway. I think even now, this was the scariest day of the whole trip. I was heading to Nanaimo for the night and nearly all of the 45kms I did was highway.

There were some interesting sights along the way and I stopped at a great fruit stall and bought so much fruit that it all wouldn't fit in my panniers. Probably a wise choice not buying the whole watermelon for $2!

Thankfully the last part of the bike ride was on a trail so I was able to calm the frazzelled nerves and munch on a marmite and cheese sandwich to make myself feel better. 

Got to Living Tree Campground and set up my home. The location was beautiful and the helpful camp host came over to help me secure my food bag to a tree.....had to make all my fruit bear proof! Unfortunately raccoons or trash pandas as they call them here, can climb trees. Or I was told they can but I'm wondering if that was a joke! Anyway food was all intact in the morning.

Above photo is my campsite, and the top two are the view from it. Not bad is it!

Next day I was off to catch another ferry, this time to Salt Spring Island. The highway wasn't so bad this time, maybe I had more confidence. I did get lost (again) and ended up adding 15 kms to my trip. I was wondering why the highway had no cars....well it was because I was heading to the wrong ferry terminal and no ferries were docking! And I did find out after there was a lovely coastal detour I could have taken!

Not a lot to see today, saw a lot of screws, all the same size scattered all along the shoulder of the highway I was riding on.

What a difference a ferry ride makes. I loved Salt Spring Island! The main town is called Ganges and my campground Garden Faire, was in walking distance of town. It was a really, cool quirky campground. I liked it! The site was small, but still private....and you got to shower under a tree. There was a bark wall around the shower thank goodness, but quite a few gaps in it.

There was a beautiful walk through the bush to town, and luckily for me I was there on a Saturday. They have a market day every Saturday with artisan stalls. Salt Spring Island is home to a lot of artists, musicians, even a few weavers! The town has a very arty  feel to it, and people come from all over to go to the markets.

Then after eating too much at the markets, it was time to head off to Fulford Harbour and onto another ferry to take me to Sidney. The ride to the ferry terminal reminded me a bit of our New Zealand countryside.

The ferry was so crowded with cars mainly due to the popularity of the markets I think, and people getting away from Vancouver Island for the day.

I like the fact that Birdy is always parked up front on the ferries with the motorbikes.

Here's a couple more photos of scenes I just liked from the last couple of days.