This year has been unusual because I have done so little hitchhiking. As noted earlier, it only took one ride for me to get from Jasper to Horseshoe Bay. I was therefore looking forward to going to Salt Spring Island in part because traditionally the hitchin' is easy. Everybody does it, or at least that is the popular perception.
However the fact is that hitchhiking has, in the past 10 years, been harder and harder to manage on the island. This may be in part because there are a lot more cars on the road and things are busier. But I think it is because those cars are being driven by people who while wanting to be on SSI because of its traditions of acceptance of various life styles and the sense of being a neighbourhood are not willing to participate in those activities (such as picking up up hitchhikers) to maintain those traditions.
Getting a ride off of almost any ferry has always been a challenge for me. While many hitchers are quite comfortable asking for a ride on a ferry, I am not. All ferries let their passengers off first but generally I can not get to a good (safe) spot until most, if not all of the cars have left the ferry. In a location such as Vesuvius which is almost at the tip of the island, once the ferry traffic has left the area there frequently is little traffic.
This occasion was no different. By the time I had climbed the rather steep but thankfully short hill up from the harbour to a safe spot all of the cars had left the area. I think I had to wait 15 or so minutes before a car did stop and I was offered a drive. It is only a short drive from the harbour to the Country Market Plaza where I need to get off. Perhaps what was most interesting about my driver was the fact that his wife was visiting her family who had a cottage on Stoney Lake which is the nearest lake to Peterborough. I am always surprised at how many people know where Peterborough is. Later that week the owner of the restaurant that I ate in had got his first job after immigrating to Canada at Trent University in Peterborough.
On my way back to the ferry a week later it took three rides and over an hour to complete what should be a 15-20 minute journey. However the last of those rides was a great one as they took me all of the way into Duncan.
The driver was a former Australian. We had a lot in common with each other including the fact that he had been on the dissertation committee of one of my professors at Trent University. Because we had so much time together we had lots of time to talk about the difference in politics between his former country and Canada, gay politics, aboriginal treatment, economics, compulsory voting (it does not work very well), how difficult the job market is for people like him ( he was, I think, quite envious of my position) and the price of gas.
So while hitching is harder on SSI than it use to be, it still works (although I did miss a ferry because it took so long to get a ride) and perhaps most importantly the conversations are still interesting and fun.
However the fact is that hitchhiking has, in the past 10 years, been harder and harder to manage on the island. This may be in part because there are a lot more cars on the road and things are busier. But I think it is because those cars are being driven by people who while wanting to be on SSI because of its traditions of acceptance of various life styles and the sense of being a neighbourhood are not willing to participate in those activities (such as picking up up hitchhikers) to maintain those traditions.
Getting a ride off of almost any ferry has always been a challenge for me. While many hitchers are quite comfortable asking for a ride on a ferry, I am not. All ferries let their passengers off first but generally I can not get to a good (safe) spot until most, if not all of the cars have left the ferry. In a location such as Vesuvius which is almost at the tip of the island, once the ferry traffic has left the area there frequently is little traffic.
This occasion was no different. By the time I had climbed the rather steep but thankfully short hill up from the harbour to a safe spot all of the cars had left the area. I think I had to wait 15 or so minutes before a car did stop and I was offered a drive. It is only a short drive from the harbour to the Country Market Plaza where I need to get off. Perhaps what was most interesting about my driver was the fact that his wife was visiting her family who had a cottage on Stoney Lake which is the nearest lake to Peterborough. I am always surprised at how many people know where Peterborough is. Later that week the owner of the restaurant that I ate in had got his first job after immigrating to Canada at Trent University in Peterborough.
On my way back to the ferry a week later it took three rides and over an hour to complete what should be a 15-20 minute journey. However the last of those rides was a great one as they took me all of the way into Duncan.
The driver was a former Australian. We had a lot in common with each other including the fact that he had been on the dissertation committee of one of my professors at Trent University. Because we had so much time together we had lots of time to talk about the difference in politics between his former country and Canada, gay politics, aboriginal treatment, economics, compulsory voting (it does not work very well), how difficult the job market is for people like him ( he was, I think, quite envious of my position) and the price of gas.
So while hitching is harder on SSI than it use to be, it still works (although I did miss a ferry because it took so long to get a ride) and perhaps most importantly the conversations are still interesting and fun.
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