We left Saturday afternoon, after Colin finished work. We caught a very tiny, and rather old ferry from Victoria to Galiano Island. I read a sign saying the ferry was 41 years old and told Colin I hoped it wouldn't sink. He joked, "What? BC ferries *never* sink!" (A BC ferry sunk a few months ago) But, we arrived at our destination safely.
Galiano Island is a haven for artists, actors, and musicians. There is a film and television school there. About 1100 people live on the island and in summer, on weekends, that number swells to about 4400. Our friends, Paul and Heidi Teel, were kind enough to let us use their cottage (which they co-own with a couple other families) for free, so all we had to bring was food, and our own towels and linens. The cottage is on a sheep farm. There are two families who live there year-round, and then there are about 5-7 holiday cottages that sit on a bluff, overlooking the water. In the distance, you can see Saltspring Island, and another island, the name escaping me at the moment. This is the entrance to the farm.
Our first evening was spent settling in and enjoying the gorgeous view and setting. The cottage itself was perfectly well-kept and so cozy and home-like. And huge! Well, anything's huge when you're living in 800 square feet.
The second day, we wandered through the trails and bush a little bit and, of course, went and looked at the sheep. Ethan enjoyed that tremendously and wanted us to take lots of pictures of them. We didn't though. We have so many New Zealand sheep pictures, and really, how many sheep pictures can one accumulate in a lifetime? ;)
We also went hunting for a beach. Not as easy as you'd think, being on a tiny island. We drove and drove, to both sides of the island, and just couldn't find one. Oh, and the saddest thing. While driving, (at a pretty good pace), we saw some ducks crossing the road. The mother duck was off to the side and one little baby was still in the lane. Colin slowed, but did not stop and tried to aim so the duck would go between our tires. Well, I turned around and we had hit that poor wee baby duck. I gasped and tears filled my eyes. I thought I was going to bawl. Colin felt terrible. Now, I don't know how a duck's brain works, but that mother duck just watched her baby get smushed under a car. She must have been distressed. I could not stop thinking about it. It still just makes me ill.
We never did find a beach, but we did find some cool sandstone caves. Here's Ethan, enjoying his "new house", as he put it.
All in all, it was a perfect day. Oh, but I have to mention the numerous tantrums Ethan threw, over every little thing. I know, I know, the pictures are deceiving, showing our smiling son. We think his horrible attitude all day Sunday was actually due to a little "trauma" he experienced Saturday night. Colin was cooking supper, and I was organizing our stuff, and Ethan had found what he thought was a toy tennis racket and was pretending to bat it around. I saw him doing this, and also thought he had a tennis racket. Suddenly, we hear a blood-curdling scream, and Ethan is holding his hand up, and shaking. Colin says, "That's not a tennis racket! It's a bug zapper!" Our poor baby electrocuted half of the palm of his hand. It was awful! He was inconsolable, his hand was all red and almost blistery. Poor kidlet. His hand was much better the next day, but we think it must have affected his brain, since our child seemed to be taken over by some tantrumy force from who knows where!! It was far beyond his normal willfulness. Really, we don't know why he was acting that way, but blaming it on burning flesh seems reasonable. :)
The last pic there is Ethan looking off our deck, and I suddenly had a bit of a blast from the past looking at him, as my parents have a picture of me, looking off our deck when I was about his age, in almost the same position. We just had to get a picture. I wish I could post the one of me next to it. Uncanny.
To be continued...
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