The aim of this project is to showcase the craft beers and the stories of the breweries in the Pacific Northwest, my homeland.

In starting this series, and speaking with people and learning more about the industry, a number of twists and turns to the project have come up, a few of which i’ll be sharing with you later on, but the biggest one of all is this blog post; it was completely unplanned!

A long weekend was approaching here in Vancouver, BC so my girlfriend and I decided to plan a trip fairly locally to escape the city for a few days. We decided to head to the southern Gulf Islands and this led us to the gem that is Galiano Island. We didn’t know much about the island or what to do there, but the main aim was to enjoy the peace and quiet, sleep in, hike and enjoy the change of pace that island life seems to demand. We enjoyed our time there so much I wanted to share it with a wider audience, hence this blog post.

So right off the bat, if you are expecting me to talk about some brewery on the island, well, there isn’t one. That doesn’t mean that this place isn’t a good one to go visit.

Galiano Island is the first stop aboard the Queen of Nanaimo, from Tsawwassen. Located in the Strait of Georgia, Galiano is one of the larger islands at 27.5 km long. Home to just over a thousand residents, this is a small, quiet community. It’s a great spot for hikers and wildlife observers at any point on the island, but especially the east side at ‘Active Pass’ where you can watch the main ferry routes, and, if you’re lucky, pods of both resident and transient Orca (killer whales) and the occasional grey whale.

There are some great eating spots on the island, we really enjoyed the newly opened Crane & Robin in Montague Harbour.

Only open a few weeks when we visited, their menu is short and sweet, with clean simple dishes that hit the spot. Non-fussy, delivering a great depth of flavour and freshness, friendly truly welcoming staff (who notice when there’s a bit too much air in your glass!) it was a very pleasant surprise.

Getting around the island without a car, we came over as foot passengers, wasn’t a problem. We managed to rent mopeds from Ralph of Galiano Moped & Boat Rentals in Montague Harbour

Ralph was excellent and gave us great tips, local knowledge and a detailed map. It was a lot of fun and a good way to see the island.

There are no taxis or bus service on the island, but the ‘Pub Bus’ provided by The Hummingbird Pub runs the 7kms between the pub, Montague Bay and the main campground. Lots of fun with tambourines for everyone!

For more info on Galiano Island, check out the tourism website, or Facebook page.