New Saltspring Home

Last weekend I helped my parents move from Saturna island to Saltspring Island. These are both Gulf Islands but for comparison, Saturna has a population of 350 and an area of 31km squared. That's tiny. Saltspring has a population of 10,500 and an area of 183km squared. That's more normal. Delta is the same size but with 10 times more people.

So anyway, I took a lot of ferries! On Saturday I took a ferry to Long Harbour on Saltspring (it has 3 different ferry dock locations) and then a bus to my parent's new place. I had about an hour to hang out there before anyone else showed up, so I walked around the outside.

At the top of their steep driveway was a shed and a doghouse. My little sister Emily insists my parents have now promised to get them a dog. Currently all they have is a cat.

Most of the house is raised up on a rock so you have to
go up some steps to the porch to get into it.

The porch wraps around 3 sides of the house and is nice and wide. Their house is much smaller than the last place, but will get way more sun because it's up on top of the bluff it's built on. Also, they have way more land. My dad is already planning a disc golf course across it. I'm not sure how that's going to work because some of it is quite steep and it's all covered in bushes.

So next I walked down these stairs from the house.

I went down and down and down. Apparently a stream will flow down the hill under these steps in the winter and there will be a little waterfall or two.

At the bottom of the steps is a little cottage/shed that Emily will eventually move into. Right now I would call it a shed because it is a single room with no insulation. However, it does have a window and electricity. On the side of the little building is a covered outdoor shower. If it's not going to be used, she could always put a desk out there and work outside.

So eventually my parents and Farley showed up with a van load of stuff for the house. Also, my other brother Ben showed up with his new girlfriend to see the place and help unload.

Between the many windows in the living room / dining room is the wood stove.

Adjoined to the living room is the kitchen. It has much less cupboards than their old place and the stove and oven are separate. Also downstairs is my sisters' room that they will share until the cottage is fixed up. It has a skylight and Natalie, who will eventually get the room to herself is going to put her bed directly under it.

In the bathroom there is a big jacuzzi tub (jets included)
with windows right there and a skylight above it.

Upstairs and sort of overlooking the living room is my parents room and their bathroom.

It has a ton of windows like the rest of the place.

It also has glass doors that open up onto the living roof. Yes, this part of the roof is growing and so you are supposed to walk around on it by only stepping on the bricks.

So after unloading at home, some of the stuff in the van was meant for my dad's new classroom so we drove over to the middle school.

One thing going in the classroom is his very first computer from the 90's, a Macintosh Classic. I remember programming in Hypercard on that thing and playing games on it. It still works.

After the school we got some pizza and took it to Fulford ferry dock to eat. Then we took the short ferry trip (5 nautical miles) to Swartz bay, Vancouver Island.

We spent the night at my grandpa's place in Sidney, except for Ben who took the bus home to his place in Esquimalt (suburb of Victoria). The next day we got up really early to go to Saturna, but I will leave the move story for the next post.