A seaside trip to Gabriola Island

Where are we going this evening? Well first I have to answer this comment I received about my pictures from up in Peace Country.
"Dear blogger,
I loved your photos. Was touched by Mennonite church. In-
teresting how German connections constantly recur in the more remote parts of Canada and the U.S.
Do you have any idea of the age, sex, and weight of that griz? Did you know that until the '30s the mighty plains grizzly was found in the Peace country.
I suppose those there now must be related; descended from those driven into outlying higher and more wooded parts, and now returning. Are they big?
I'd love to hear from you."

Thank you! Sometimes I wonder if anyone finds these pictures interesting as most people read me to find out what is going on in the British Virgin Islands and see the pretty fish there. This has been an interesting trip for me this summer to these places. All through up in that area there are "groups" of different ethnicities, they tended to stick together, ie, when they opened up these areas to homesteading, you would come over and write your family back in the old country and then they would tend to come to the same area, so they had a sense of community. After the war, many soldiers as well acquired land after being let out. There is many mennonite churches up in that area, in fact, there was an old mennonite church on my aunts property that was torn down back in 65 or so. My husband did a bit of metal detecting up on the church grounds and found a penny from 1917, and a few old brooches and buckles. When we get them cleaned up I will post a picture.
The grizzly had just come out of hibernation, I believe he was about 650 pounds, but would have been about 900 before he went into hibernation. He was not that old. He stood over 7 feet tall when he stood up!!!
We have had a busy week with my son Christopher here. We planned on taking Thursday and going up to Gabriola Island. My aunt and uncle have had a place on the water there for their trailor in the summer for 40 years. Of course we were going near water so it had to be raining! We have had the A/C on twice this summer, and I have sure enjoyed the low humidity.
This is the old dock in Nanaimo where you take the ferry over to gabriola Island. Apparently a hippy get away from it place many years ago.

We parked the Lion down by the water where we could watch the ferries go back and forth.

My aunt and uncle, it was the ones who just had their 50th anniversary that we attended in Edmonton also have an airstream there that they love and have had for many years.

Let me say that it is pouring! rain...We cuddled underneath the awning thinking it would let up, but no, so we finally had to go exploring in the rain.

Off we head to the beach, coats , umbrellas, rain hats and so on!

Bazza, always being a wuss in the cold had about three coats on!

The beach is looking cold and desolate with the tide out and the fog in....

My middle son is more ambitious then we are. She who has sat at her computer and ate is not too mountain goat at the moment!

My father took the safe route and watched us from the top of the hill. He looked like the buck in Bambi who told him "your mother can't be with us any longer son..You must learn to walk alone"

These are arbutus trees. They lose their bark instead of their leaves!

So now you are going to the seashore! And we do have beautiful seashore in Canada as well. Such a nice change to see! I love all the old logs that are up on the beach.

And all these strange rock formations. No stranger then the baths I guess!

Then we went to the tide pools to see what i could take pictures of. Bazza called this a louse, but I call it an isopod

a crab (they were all pretty tiny)

Rocks

Pretty, pretty pink and purple starfish, lots of them everywhere in the tidal pools



Apparently Gabriola was never inhabited by the Indians full time, but they did come over here to collect oysters and they sent their sick over here so they would not contaminate others in the tribe. ( I believe they claim the entire island as a sacred place now, but that seems to be about the state of all the land in BC!
They were formed millienia ago, by waves and sea and wind. The Spanish found them in 1792 and a 100 years later in the museum of Madrid a handwritten picture of them was found in an old trunk.

These are fascinating. Nice and wide and easy to walk in. I took a picture of the boys in there

and then just a couple more they are so pretty.



Picture of a Bay.

And a nice limpet

Then it was back to the airstream for some lunch that my father had made that morning.

My uncle Byrnes took us for a ride around the island to show us all the spots they have came to know and love. They have a good size marina, that apparently it is very hard to get a slip in. He has been on a waiting list for a few years.

What surprised me though was the amount of mold growning on the boats. All the sunbrella fabrics, the decks, the windowsills, (they even had moss growing out of them!) obviously a harsh environment for a boat as well. eye opener for me as I always think we have it the worst for boat maintenance down in the Caribbean!

I saw Bazza eyeing this boat and thought that maybe he was thinking that he would love that much varnish on Promenade! (Don't believe that!)

Thought of my friends the Weavers in Booth Bay Maine, as they live on the site of an old brick factory, and there was an old brick factory on gabriola Island as well. this is a short boat with a long tow (seamanship one oh one) carrying a load from the island!

If you get a chance to go here, it truly is beautiful. My uncle is talking about getting the boat out for awhile when we come back next summer!