For those of you readers who don't know me, I drive a 25 year old VW hippie van with flowers lovingly spray painted on the sides. A relatively normal (although always awesome) vehicle to drive on Vancouver Island….not really designed to take on the 40 odd kilometres of dirt logging roads and private driveway in post-winter break-up conditions that was my only way of getting to the ranch. But we made it (my boyfriend, Ryan, dropped me off because he is currently living in the van and needed his home back) on an unexpectedly snowy morning in late April after a comically slow slog in 2nd gear. Ryan helped me with my bags, set off on his return journey and I was left to check out my new 160acre home for the summer.
Here's the basic run-down: Each staff member has their own canvas, ranger style tent (unless they're a couple) in an area we call "tent city". We have nice washrooms and a staff house which has the lounge area, dining room and kitchen, as well as a couple more bedrooms. It's lovely and private and just far enough away from the guest areas--it's fantastic. Then there is the main ranch house which is a classically beautiful, South facing, timber framed home with several guest suites, the owners living space, spacious dining room, great room and gourmet kitchen. It is on the edge of a small blue lake; home to water birds, drinking hole to local deer, moose, ranch horses and cows and sporting a dock for swimming in warmer weather. Up on a hill overlooking the lake and with a view of the Marble Mountain range in the other direction are 3 totally decked out glamping tents for more guest accommodation. I know all that sounds pretty great but the real kicker for me are the barn and corrals--where the fun comes from! The barn is another timber structure, this time filled to capacity with all manner of tack, feed and other ranchy odds and ends that I am still putting names to(it also houses guests in a suite above the action). Attached to the barn are the three large corrals where the horses who aren't out on the trails spend their days relaxing. Also on the ranch are 7 cows, 3 adorable pigs who I absolutely cannot get attached to for obvious reasons, and countless chickens. Watching and meeting the animals has been endlessly entertaining for me!
Some of the horses grazing in front of the staff tents
When I first arrived the horses were out at pasture, where they spend the majority of their time. I should mention that out here 'pasture' seems to mean fencing in the things you don't want the animals to get into rather than fencing the animals in, so the first few mornings I woke up to the sound of horses grazing outside my tent. I had to push them out of the way to get to the bathroom and watched them milling outside the window as I ate my cereal…awesome! The 12 year old horse-crazy girl inside of me was going nuts! She still is except that now, after a couple weeks of actual work, she has been joined by the 24 year old who really likes her new job! This is horse and hospitality paradise rolled into one.
Some of the horses grazing near the ranch house
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