A long ride on day two

Day two was another beautiful sunny day and we set off on our bikes in the morning, heading west and then north towards Henderson Park.  The road ended at the park, but we thought we could probably cycle through to the road on the other side on the hiking trails marked on our map.

An old barn in a field just before Henderson Park

The road ended, and the trail was like a lane heading uphill, so things were looking good.  But at the top of the hill the lane ended.  There was a picnic table, some signage, and a tiny trail heading down the other side of the hill.  Hmmm... things were about to get difficult!

Captain Henderson was buried on Mayne Island

At first the trail (or goat track) wound through a forested area, but then there was a rocky twisty part - walking my heavy e-bike downhill, alternately braking and letting it roll, moving the pedal back so it wouldn't scape my leg, was rather tricky.  We went through salal, then huge ferns, across a boardwalk, and down some stairs.  We stopped to watch a big red headed woodpecker on a tree.  Finally we reached a lane called Punch's Alley, which took us to the road on the other side of the park.  Whew!

We arrived at Dinner Bay and rode down to the Japanese Garden; it was created by volunteers to commemorate the Japanese families who settled on the island and were an important part of the community between 1900 and 1942, when they were interned.  They had made up a third of the total population, fishing and growing tomatoes and other crops in greenhouses.

The bridge to the island in the Japanese Garden

We headed south, and came to a bucolic farm, with longhorn cattle in the field, and a sign announcing that Fernhollow Farm had fresh farm goods for sale, and was open.  Who could resist?  The narrow lane up to the buildings had deep gravel on each tire track, so I was careful to ride on the strip of grass in the middle.  But about half way up the grass ended, and in the gravel my bike swerved this way and that and soon I toppled over.  Luckily I came away with only scrapes and sore spots.  I knew I'd soon have bruises on my right hip and elbow.  We had a good chat with the farmer, and came away with eggs, blackberry jam and frozen apple juice.

Brad at the entrance to the farm