The Quest Quotient: Island in the Sun

Hear ye, hear ye! Nancy and Steff are now WWOOFers!

On the 18th of May, following our stay in White Rock, BC, we left for Tsawwassen (the "s" is silent.* Don't ask us, we haven't mastered the pronunciation of any Salish place names yet! We now forgive our friends from overseas for mispronouncing "Whangaparaoa".)

*Correction, we have been re-informed by Claire that it is a common misconception that the "s" is silent. In fact in the original Salish pronunciation the "t" is silent. Our pronunciation impulse was correct this time!

Here we are, straddling the border!

The sign behind Nancy reads as follows: "WARNING! If you are entering the United States without presenting yourself to an Immigration Officer, YOU MAY BE ARRESTED AND PROSECUTED for violating US Immigration and Customs Laws."

Steff surfs the border.

Here we are on the Tsawwassen-Nanaimo, Vancouver Island ferry.

Nancy freezes out on the deck.

We were treated to a dramatic light show...

...during the 5am sunrise. Note Steff's morning face.

The woods of Gabriola Island, BC. And the windows of the BC Ferry.

We stayed for 10 days with Claire and Jan (and their two poodles, Gemma and Simon) and Claire's 88-year-old mother, Jackie (an excellent roommate). Here are some of our adventures as WWOOFers at Praxis Permaculture!

View from the cottage we shared with Jackie overlooking the property (and Willie).

A great deal of the property is managed forest, and Claire was happy to give us a tour of the types of trees, including cedars, yews, Douglas-firs, balsam pines, and Arbutus (nature's naturist, shedding its bark to reveal the beautiful reddish brown wood underneath).

We spent our first few days planting trees, mulching trails, and shoveling poo, in between treks through the woods with Claire and the dogs. On our third or fourth day, we were invited to help at a boat-turning. A neighbour was building a Wharram catamaran in his backyard and needed help flipping the first hull. We showed up, along with everyone else on Gabriola:

Waiting for the crowd to assemble.

All lined up and ready to go!

Nancy and Jackie surveying the scene

We became good friends with Jackie. She regaled us with tales of her solo backpacking adventures (which she was sad to have given up at the age of 85) and of her time as a radar operator for the British RAF in WWII. Here she is, beating us all (the dogs included) up a steep hike to Sandwell Beach:

Our discoveries at Sandwell:

Purple starfish

Roasted starfish

An ex-crab

Some interesting metallic stuff that washed in with the last storm

A garter snake!

The beach itself (and some traveling bums)

This is Gemma. She was a tremendously lovable goofball.

In her designated seat in the truck

This is Simon, Gemma's more dignified older brother:

More of our explorations outside of working hours:

First Nations totem poles are, as we understand it, traditionally carved from red cedar with ornate human and animal forms. These forms represent the ancestry of family or individuals.

Another day, another beach!

We discovered one day that inside one of Claire's compost piles was a nest of garter snakes. After some deliberation and coercion, we decided to pick them up.

"Hurry up, take the photooooooo!"

Steff was brave and handled the snake with her bare hands. This proved to be a bad idea, because it secreted something nasty onto Steff's fingers. After this photo was taken, Steff dropped the snake, and ran, gagging, into the house.

On one of our last days, we constructed a massive burnpile. The little pyromaniac inside Steff rejoiced.

Fire in the morning

Fire in the evening, fire at suppertime...Bonfires and singalongs--does it get any better?

A disgusting great honker of a slug!

Our last day at Claire and Jan's was our most physically demanding by far. We were forced to put long-unused and reluctant muscles into action as we felled (small) trees, lugged wood all over the show, and split trunks by hand. A lot of these trunks were from a black willow that had fallen into a muddy bog. Steff gave Gemma a run for her money in overall muddiness at the end of the day.

This is what "stacking functions" are, right, Steff? No? I'll get it one day...*

*From stackingfunctions.org: "Stacking Functions is a basic permaculture concept defined as obtaining many yields from a single element in a system."

Steff trudging through the bog with some tree trunk. As you do.

We bid our farewells to Claire and Jan, and came away with fond memories. We were very grateful to them for their consistent hospitality, and for introducing us to and integrating us into the community of Gabriola Island.

We spent our night in between farms at a small campsite in Descanso Bay.