Author Topic: Salt Spring Island  (Read 1907 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline THE EDJ

  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • *****
  • Posts: 4328
    • THE EDJ on Flickr
  • Location: The Promised Land
  • Ride: Explorer
Salt Spring Island
« on: June 28, 2011, 01:03:53 pm »
A few members must have been there.

We plan to do a couple nights in a B&B (already booked), and a few nights camping. I'm wondering if there are any must-see attractions, shops, etc. Would love to know of any great places to grab some tasty food or a good drink.

Cheers!
"Experiencing the world through endless second hand information isn't enough. If we want authenticity, we have to initiate it." ~ Travis Rice
THE EDJ on flickr

Offline THE EDJ

  • Rivaling ZZ-TOP
  • *****
  • Posts: 4328
    • THE EDJ on Flickr
  • Location: The Promised Land
  • Ride: Explorer
Re: Salt Spring Island
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2011, 10:40:12 am »
Some photo's from our trip: http://www.westernsubaruclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=23612.0

I thought I would update this thread with some info for anyone else who might be interested in going to Salt Spring. I'm only going to highlight the places we went to or the things we did.


Stay

There are many, many, many B&B's, vacation rental properties, hotels, as well as a few camp grounds. The prices are really good, averaging around $185/night on the high end of the spectrum for a B&B.

We split up our stay between Skipping Stone Beach and Ruckle Provincial Park. Skipping Stone was a great B&B with an amazing view looking west (great sun sets!), a tasty low key breakfast made of fresh local ingredients, and a well furnished room. Definitely check them out!

P1050082 by THE EDJ, on Flickr

Ruckle Park is an awesome campground with 6 RV sites and 70+ walk in (tent) sites. The walk is no longer than a few minutes and there are wheelbarrows available to cart your gear out to your site. The place is packed on the weekends, but is really quiet during the week. They have communal fire pits which really encourages "community"; we had some great conversation with people from Oregon, Germany, and locals as well. The views are awesome and you can either camp in the grass right near the water, or back in the trees. We saw sea otters, killer whales, as well a lot of little creatures in the tidal pools. There are several kilometers of coastline to explore and some good hiking right in the park.

P1040921 by THE EDJ, on Flickr



Eat

Market Place Cafe: We went there for our "splurge" meal. Good wine list, really great food, and a modern, relaxing atmosphere. The kitchen is right in the middle of the dining area, enticing your senses from the moment you walk in the door. Our meals took a little longer to prepare than I would have liked, but in the end it was worth the wait. There are plenty of "spendy" (not that Market Place is spendy, we just made it that way) places to eat on Salt Spring, but I think this is the one to go to, and it's not as hard on the wallet either.

Salt Spring Inn: An establishment with a pub feel, a good menu, and some tasty craft brew on tap. This is the ONLY place in the world you can get Salt Sring Island Ales delicious IPA.

Bruce's Kitchen: We stopped in for lunch before jumping on the ferry back to the mainland. This was probably the best dining experience we had on the island. You have to go there. Fresh, delicious, locally grown food. You sit down at a table in the kitchen and watch Bruce prepare your meal right before your eyes. Doesn't get much better than Bruce's Kitchen in my opinion.

P1050144 by THE EDJ, on Flickr

Cook for Yourself: If you want to make your own food, any of the local supermarkets are good, and there are plenty of farm stands along the side of road offering fresh produce. If you are looking for fresh seafood, stop by The Fishery, we found some great Halibut:

P1050029 by THE EDJ, on Flickr


Drink

Coffee: There is a lot of great coffee on Salt Spring Island. For cafe's check out TJ Beans, Cafe Talia, and Morningside Organic Bakery Cafe, and of course Salt Spring Coffee (this is the stuff we stock at home, very good!).

Beer/Wine/Liquor: Salt Spring has a few wineries, but wine isn't really my thing so I can't offer much advice on that front. That said, there are several good liquor stores that seemed to have a really good selection of wine and spirits, as well as (my personal favorite) a good selection of craft brewed beer. There is also a great little brewery called Gulf Islands Brewery, which brew up a fine selection of ales. We stopped by for a tour and chatted for a bit with their brewmaster, Murray. He knows his stuff and it was really cool to get an in depth look of how they make beer. You can get their Golden Ale, Pale Ale, and Porter in most of the local liquor stores, while the other brews are available at local establishments across the island. It's a good excuse to explore, eat some good food, and drink some good beer.


Do

Hike: There are several great places to "get lost".

Ruckle Park has 10+ kilometers of trail, and 7+ kilometers of shoreline to explore.

P1040970 by THE EDJ, on Flickr

Mt. Maxwell offers great views of the south end of the island.
[PHOTO PLACE HOLDER]

Mt. Erskine is a fun hike with "fairy doors" scattered along the trail and some stunning views looking west and north towards Vancouver Island and Vesuvius Bay.

P1050123 by THE EDJ, on Flickr


P1050115 by THE EDJ, on Flickr

Shop: For shopping, take some time to explore the streets of Ganges. They have a public market on Saturdays and there are many cool shops (typical touristy ones and some legitimately cool shops as well). Salt Spring is also home a very, very large number of artists and galleries. It's worth the time to drive around and visit some of the locals to see what they have. You can find some good deals on cool stuff if you take a little time to talk to the artists.

More: There are a lot of other things to do that we didn't really know about or plan for. There are a number of spa's, numerous tours (airplane, kayak, etc.), art classes, wine tasting, rock climbing, cycling, and much, much more. There is definitely no shortage of things to do.
"Experiencing the world through endless second hand information isn't enough. If we want authenticity, we have to initiate it." ~ Travis Rice
THE EDJ on flickr