Island Market

This was another one of those places I had visited before, fell in love with, and knew I had to share with the girls. Salt Spring Island was one of the Gulf Islands just off the east coast of Vancouver Island. Salt Spring Island had the highest number of artists per capita; higher than any other place in Canada. The best time to visit was market day, in the village of Ganges, when the artisans and farmers of the island came together to share their wares with the public.

Interestingly, the only vendors who could sell their products at this market were the inhabitants of the island. Not only that, but all their products must be made, baked or grown on the island. It was a true Salt Spring Island experience to visit the market.

We thoroughly enjoyed our day on this quaint island. We visited each vendor at the market and talked to most of them about their work. We heard so many wonderful stories about how pieces were made and what was special about each one. Some artists shared stories about where they were from and how they came to the island. I was surprised to see little tables in the aisles with kids selling their arts and crafts. I laughed when I saw one unattended table with the note saying, “Be back soon. Gone to watch the puppet show.” The girls and I had so many favourites, but, with our limited budgets, we had to select our purchases very carefully. I found a beautiful amber and turquoise necklace, Sadie chose a special moonstone crystal pendant, Brie picked a delicate copper ring, and Lily found a whimsical shoulder bag. I know what we bought would always be special.

I think our favourite memory of the island, and probably our favourite meal of the whole trip, was from a pizza and pasta vendor. They had selections of hand-made wood-oven pizzas and organic, fresh-made pastas at their stand outside of their restaurant. We had to stop and try each of the pastas and couldn’t resist ordering a plate. For $10 we got a huge plate of pasta with half gnocchi bolognese and half pesto pasta. Brie, Sadie, and I shared the plate of pasta, and Lily ordered cheese pizza. We could barely finish the mountain of pasta,

but it was so good we practically licked the plate! When I think of how good this food was, I want to go online and find them to see if they deliver to Ontario!!

We finished off our day with coffee and dessert from The Treehouse Café. This was a restaurant built around a tree! I had the best drink called The Funky Monkey – a banana mocha frappuccino, mmmmm. With filled bellies and almost empty wallets we headed back to the ferry from Vesuvius to Crofton. Lily and I enjoyed the top deck of the ferry for this quick trip across the water. It was a beautiful day in many ways, and for me it will be remembered as one of the best experiences of the whole trip.