Weblog: Spending the winter on a small island
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We're going to be spending until June on Parker Island, which is a 400-acre island near Galiano Island (Update: See location on map). Cass hooked us up as caretakers of a beautiful 19-acre property for an American doctor. We met with Ian last Sunday and started moving in today. He is only around on the weekends, somewhat infrequently during the winter, so we get lots of privacy.
It's a beautiful place, and we're living in a cute caretaker's cabin with all the amentities. There's a hot tub with an ocean view, and we're told that you can see Orcas swiming from there sometimes. There are also kayaks that we can use and a tennis court.
We would love to have visitors, so please come over and stay for as long as you want! We have a spare furnished bedroom. Think of it as a little vacation getaway/resort that's free. If you can get to Galiano Island (BC Ferries will get you there from Swartz Bay or Tsawassen) we'll pick you up.
We have to take a motor boat over from Galiano Island, so I had my first experience driving one (is "driving" at all the right terminology, or should I say "captaining"?). Everyone said "you'll have no problem, it's just like driving a car," but we couldn't figure out how to get it started (the whole throttle/gear operation was never explained). Thankfully, someone at the dock helped us out and we were on our way. It all went fine, although we hit the dock on this end a bit harder than I would've liked.
We weren't sure how Zeke (our dog, incase I haven't introduced him yet) would take being in a boat, so we rented a canoe at Elk Lake yesterday and took him out to make sure he wouldn't freak out or jump into the water. Knowing Zeke, we were expecting to get soaked, but it went much better than we had anticipated. He only thought about jumping out once, when we were close to the beach and there were a bunch of geese. He had is front paws on the edge and was very excited, but he stayed in the Canoe. A bunch of rowers were training on the lake as well. We tried to stay out of their way, but at one point they were coming directly behind us, and it was cool to be passed by about five skulls and the coaches in their Zodiaks.
It looks like I'll get a chance to put my brush clearing experience to good use. Ian's neighbors (Cass' friends, which is how we got hooked up with this job) have a big chunk of property that's covered in very established scotch broom that they would like to get rid of.
We're looking forward to Kayaking, and learning to catch crab, clams, oysters, and mussels here, and working and just enjoying the place. We think Zeke will enjoy the island immensely, since we can let him run wild to his heart's content here without fear of him getting run over, disappearing, or bothering anyone (and there are plenty of deer for him to chase). Maybe he'll even learn to stop trying to drink sea water and swimming with his mouth open
If I can find some batteries, I'll start taking some pictures of the area and posting them soon.
Posted on Fri, 15 Oct 2020 at Parker Island, BC, CA (altitude 25m) (map/google earth)
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