Wednesday, August 15th dawns sunny and beautiful. After breakfast in the Breakfast Room of our motel (continental breakfast included in our room cost), we set out to explore more of the island. (You may notice that our two stops today are of interest to those of us of a certain age—yes indeed, saved especially for my Tuesday seniors post.)
Fulford Harbour
We wander down to Fulford Harbour (one of the islands three ferry terminals). Ferries from Fulford go to and from Victoria on Vancouver Island.
The map, above, describes Fulford: "Colourful, bohemian Fulford has a spirit all its own. Its eclectic architecture and funky shops and cafes are well worth a visit..."
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| Written on the wall (bottom): "Why are bees so important to our planet?" |
Ruckle Farm
From Fulford we take Beaver Point Road and head toward Ruckle Provincial Park.A historic map we buy at the Fulford General Store (where the old Underwood is on display) tells us that the park came into being when Gordon Ruckle sold his family's 1200-acre farm to the B.C. government in 1972. The land was declared a provincial park in 1975. However, there is still an old farm site to explore, complete with buildings set up in the pioneer way (though you have to peek in the windows to see the interiors).
Here are some of the farm buildings. (Turkeys are the farm's main inhabitants now. We overhear a little girl whining to her mom, "Too much poo!" In other words, watch your step!)
When it comes to the farmhouse, I get so carried away with photographing the interior through the windows, I forget about the outside of the house. Here are a couple of exterior views I found online:
take 1
take 2 (a panorama)
I feel like a peeping Tom as I go around poking my lens into every window I can find! I love the way the house is set up—as if the family has left and simply not come home, but could at any minute.
That's the end of our trip down nostalgia lane but not the end of Ruckle Park. We'll see more of this pretty spot in the days ahead.
3 comments:
I could do Fulford harbour shops but definitely not the farm!! not a farm girl but I know how much it would have been my grandparents world... I enjoy your posts - especially of the boats in Ganges Harbour - so colourful:)
Funny, I was talking with one of our young women [about 30] today and she identified herself as a sort of 'hippie' - natural foods, midwife delivery, etc...:)
Loving more of the trip, Violet, especially that shop "Knotty Threads". One of my sets of grandparents did the full farming as you've shown. It was paradise to me when I visited. This farm you visited was such a big operation, wasn't it? Thanks.
CallingForth - I didn't know you were so citified! And yes, there are hippie types today. But we lived through the real thing didn't we? (Sort of...)
Linda, yes, that farm was quite the operation, especially when you consider how isolated it was. In order to get to the big city (Victoria) you had to go by boat or ferry, which was a much bigger undertaking then than it is now! Plus the island still is, and was much more then, very treed. The effort it must have taken to clear the land boggles my imagination.
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