One of the things I didn’t want to miss out during my time here is visiting Lasqueti Island. It is not far, in fact, it’s the island right in front of me when I look out from our beach front over the Straight of Georgia. Granted, Denman and Hornby Islands aren’t much furter either, but there is something about Lasqueti Island that sets it apart from the rest: it is not connected to the electric grid and has only a walk-on ferry. Consequently the only cars you will find belong to locals, and all the houses have some type of alternative energy system. Already very interesting…
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Some other stories I heard, however, had to do with the social seclusion of the Lasquetians. Being so separate in terms of utility services, the people of the island also tend to be more distant socially. “Visiting the island without knowing someone is considered trespassing,” I remember being mentioned. In any case, off-grid living, no cars (at least not from outside), and a tightly knit community already sounded exciting enough to go and check it out, no matter what anyone considers. As it turns out, my natural building and bicycle-touring friend missed out on visiting Lasqueti last year as well, so we decided to make up for it now. He doesn’t like to appear in blogs (though he’s already in my previous post), so I’ll leave him unnamed.
Serendipity – The Lasqueti Connection
Before we even set out on our journey to Lasqueti, some interesting events started unfolding, that paved the way to an exceptional welcome to the island. And it is closely linked to my second real-life encounter with another steemian: no-one less than the super inspiring @ecoknowme, who I’ve been wanting to meet in real life from the first time I started reading his blog. While I was down in Mexico last year, he was living in India, in a dream of an earth-home. For my long-time followers, it’s him that inspired me to come up with the Steem-Around-The-World-Challenge. A couple of weeks ago, he tells me that he’ll be on Vancouver Island. We invite him to our build, but the way the logistics work out, he ends up not coming… though he will be close-by: visiting his sister on Lasqueti Island. All right!
Arranging a meet-up with a set place and time? Where’s the fun in that? Instead, he assured us that we’d be welcome and that it just happens to be his birthday on the Saturday of our visit. Great! So we set out to catch the 9:45 ferry in the morning, leaving bright and early. By the time we crossed, there was no answer to my request for directions.
Do You Know Someone Who Has A Sister?
Hanging out at the ferry dock on Lasqueti we inevitably ended up talking to some locals. All of them were very welcoming, recommending us to go to Boot Point, and explore the island to our heart’s desire. “There is no camping on Lasqueti, officially, … but we aren’t that strict about that over here.” However, they had no idea who the mysterious person could be we were looking for, that may have a sister on Lasqueti Island. No kidding! So we continued on towards the “center of town” though there are neither towns nor centers on the island.
We did find a farmers’ market though, with the usual Saturday’s crowd, indulging in the numerous offers of gluten-free, organic, hand-made, free-range, whole, pure, natural, and traditional market stuffs. I was even thinking how similar this was to the Mercado Alternativo de Tlalpan, where I normally sell probiotic drinks. There we chatted to some locals, who referred us to some other locals. One of them invited us to look at his dance-studio on the top of a mountain. The other one figured out who the mysterious sister is: she lives on the southern (meaning eastern) part of the island, all the way across.
An Earthship and a Dance Studio
Before racing over to meet up with @ecoknowme, we thought it might be nice to explore a bit of the island, that is accept the invitation to the dance studio. Riding up the steep hill was not an easy exercise, but we had just arrived on Lasqueti, so we were still fresh. The studio’s neighbor is supposedly an Earthship (which you may find on one of the popular Bread & Breakfast networks). But we didn’t get to see it, as the No Trespassing signs made us turn back with a sour taste in our mouths. I guess they really don’t want you there unless you’re expected.
Not so in the dance studio: we circled it with our bikes first, approaching from the rear, before entering properly through the front. By then we had chatted with a couple of the occupants, and eventually got to meet with the guy who invited us. We walked in through the kitchen / dining area, where a handful of volunteers were having lunch. The participants of one workshop had just left, and the next group was scheduled to arrive the next day. So we used the opportunity to look at the building and take some pictures. The studio features some wonderful examples of bottle-walls, integrated trees, and most of all, a large, well-lit area with a sprung wooden floor (over unpacked tires). Most of all, I liked the non-standard shape of the place: walls only where necessary, otherwise just space…
Cycling Across the Island
Once we bid goodbye to the dance studio, we rode down to the market again. This time they were packing up their stands, but one vendor came up to us excitedly: The sister’s brother is in town! They had just given him a ride to use the Internet. Of course! Now I was gonna get a reply to my e-mails. But instead of trying to track him down (by now we were certain this would be the easy way) we decided to keep riding, trying to find his sister’s house.
Just after leaving the market area, we rode by a beautiful little bay. What a place for a break, and it was time for lunch anyway. So we scooted down to the shore, and made ourselves comfortable. As we were eating, talking, smoking, and sipping on our water-bottles, two women and a little boy came by to take a swim. Their nudity was as little a problem to us as our being clothed was to them. This is Lasqueti after all. Live is good.
After lunch we kept on riding, but took a break every chance we got, usually to pick some berries or look at the unusual mailboxes. As we were observing the wonderful cob and bottle work on a cookie stand with a living roof (apparently no big deal on Lasqueti), the same lady drove past us who had given us directions previously: “Soon you’ll come by the Hall, that’s about half way.” Good to know. The cookie stand was empty (meaning closed), but as we found out, that can always change in an instant. During our weekend we did buy lots of cookies in these stands.
Serendipity at its Best
At one point we got off our bikes once again, probably to snack on the abundance of berries (same as I described here - yes, the ecosystem is very similar to the one on the "main island") we saw a pick-up approach. “That’s gotta be them, stop here,” said the guy riding in the back. “Are you @stortebeker?” “I am, and you must be @ecoknowme!” So we sat down, right there by the crossing to taste some of the delicious cider my recently met old-time friend carried in his refillable steel growler. That’s when I got my first wonderful impression of this person, who shines with love for the world, and when he opens his mouth, a cascade of wisdom and knowledge spews forth, with powerful inspirational qualities.
Not much later, another pick-up pulls up. “Do you guys know about the Bread and Jam at the Hall tonight?” How could we not? We'd heard about this public gathering of local musicians and music lovers, as well as the connoisseurs of baked and preserved goods. This island has proved to be the most ideal place for such a mini-festival. Anyway, hanging out for more than an hour on the roadside, it did feel like Lasqueti was on a perpetual Rainbow Gathering on stand-by. Soon others started arriving, all driving (barefoot) rusted-out trucks that are started with a screwdriver or a butter knife.
The best part of everything were the conversations: After living in India, @ecoknowme was excited about the availability of everything necessary to start numerous permaculture projects, from inoculating sacks of wood-chips to elaborate systems to grow spirulina and chlorela. But more than anything, he was giving advice of what any Lasquitian should do to improve their own lives while cater to the ecological well-being of the island. Not to mention create actual sustainable independence from external resources. Ingenious ideas, such as methane digesters or the Jean Paine composter would enable locals to heat their homes, produce hot water, and even power their cars!
Making Ourselves at Home
Eventually we continued on our quest to arrive on the famous property of his sister. @ecoknowme happened to get a ride just as we were saying goodbye, and we took on the remaining hills. When we arrived we treated @ecoknowme to the beer we brought, and he in turn treated us to more interesting conversations and a tour of his sister’s beautiful land. For the sunset he led us to the top of a hill, looking right into the canopies of the giant trees surrounding us.
The rest of our stay on Lasqueti Island was marked by more of the same: riding over hills and valleys, snacking on fresh berries and the cookies from the public cookie-stands, enjoying the picturesque nature around us, and engaging in yet more inspiring chit-chat about sustainability. By the time we left, we’ve been down most of the island’s roads, crossed the whole place twice, and had ridden a distance of 54 km (33 miles), with an accumulated elevation gain of 970 m (3182 feet). I only remembered to turn on Strava once we had left Squitti Bay on our way back, so it doesn't include our climb to the dance studio. We left on the ferry with a huge smile and a tear in our eye for leaving so much beauty behind. However, something tells me, Lasqueti is going to see me again at some point in the future.
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