Goat Cheese Delight!

Doreen with Alan and Alice, the Donkey, taken back in 2015

One benefit of having good friends who follow our travels, is that they often recommend a place of interest to us, when they are aware of where we are staying. Such is the case with one of the first friends I made when I came to Canada, back in 1989. I first met Doreen on a school trip to Ottawa at the end of my first year of teaching in Ontario. We soon realized that we were kindred spirits, and have been firm friends ever since. She is an avid traveler, herself, and never goes anywhere without sending a postcard to Mark and me - a habit which we will always treasure.

When Doreen found out that we were going to be staying on Salt Spring Island, she soon pointed out that no visit to the Island would be complete without a visit to the Salt Spring Island Cheese Farm. We are so glad that we took her advice.

The venue is at the other end of the island, a short 25 minute drive through beautiful countryside.

When we reached the destination road, we chuckled to see this sign at a farm stand, next to our destination.

The GPS told us that we had arrived at our destination, right outside this building, so we're guessing that these people put up this sign to prevent continual requests for cheese products!!

Finally, we arrived at the correct place!

The entrance driveway was a delight in, and of, itself.

Loved the snail on the 'Slowly Please' sign!

There were several cars in the parking lot, but we found a spot in the shade, and made our way up to the main venue.

The first thing we noticed was the welcome sign, inviting us to enter the paddocks where some of the goats were feeding. They were so cute, and were tucking in to the hay that had been left there for them.

Apparently, the cheese is actually made from milk of the main goatherd in the Fraser Valley, on the mainland. These goats are probably just for visitors to see. There was plenty of pasture land for them to roam, too.

After oohing and aahing over these cute animals, we followed the sign that took us through the process of making the cheese, including window views of some of the people working there.

Strategically placed placards explained the process, which can be seen here:

A visit to the shop was a must and we were delighted to see the variety of flavours of goat cheese on offer, as well as other goodies to feast one's eyes upon.

Mark bought a hot chilli cheese for himself, and a green and black peppercorn cheese for me. Our eyes were also drawn to some tempting scones on display.

Our purchases

Out of the three flavours on sale, we opted for one of the herb and cheese scones to share between us, took our wares to the outside eating area and, together with a drink we had brought with us, enjoyed the ambience of the delightful taste and peaceful surroundings.

There were plenty to see around the shop area, including a pizza stall, a vat, an old barn, and a chicken run (with some chickens roaming freely outside of the run).

(Today, a couple of days later, we decided to have a low-carb, mid-afternoon snack, comprised of a slice of toast (using our special bread), and a goat cheese topping. It tasted wonderful. I found the cheese very smooth and mild, with a slight heat from the peppercorns; Mark felt the same, though his hot chilli did leave a delightful tang on his taste buds for quite a while, afterwards!)

Mark's Hot Chilli Cheese

Alan's Peppercorn Cheese

On the way back, we stopped at Ruckle Provincial Park, and made a note to return with Rocky (our chocolate lab ward) for a hike sometime over the next few days.

These two chickens were just strutting around the whole area. They approached the car, which was a sure sign that they were used to being fed by tourists!