On Gabriola, ferry weirdness is when they switch ferries on us, giving us the Bowen Queen instead of the Quinsam for a while. Or when BC Ferries institutes another policy that makes ferry-taking more inconvenient. Just a bit north of Gabriola on Denman Island, ferry weirdness might soon take on a whole new meaning. The [...]
Filed in ferries 4 Comments so far
There was no path, but then it seemed as if a path appeared. Who could resist? Not me: I often hike off-trail, and find all manner of things in the Gabriola forest. So off I went to explore the path. This is part of what I found. I think it says Arvid – what do [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,trails 7 Comments so far
Crimestoppers has hired people to go door-to-door on Gabriola, selling coupon books. The Nanaimo News Bulletin explains: Rocky Mountain Marketing representatives in bright yellow jackets will go door-to-door in Nanaimo, Gabriola Island and Ladysmith selling coupon books packed with savings on products and services from local businesses. Well, there you go. Coming soon to a [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island 2 Comments so far
I’m careful near Gabriola’s Lion’s Mane jellyfish because they sting. I love to watch them from a safe distance, but I don’t want to bump into one while swimming, you know? It is alarming to look down into the water at the Malaspina Galleries and see more jellyfish than I can count. (It’s a seasonal [...]
Filed in sea creatures One Response so far
This morning I figured out how we can save an extra litre or two of water every day in our household. Considering the summer water shortages on Gabriola, saving water makes sense, right? Whatever I don’t use will remain in the aquifer for somebody else, and if we all conserve…. Then I happened across this [...]
Filed in environment Comments Off
(No, this post is not about a certain grumpy Gabriola resident.) When I was a kid we had a crab trap, and my dad would haul it up every day to see what we’d caught. (Best catch: bottles of beer, left by somebody who had raided our trap and stolen our crabs.) These days on [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,sea creatures Comments Off
At Drumbeg, Gabriola’s battle against invasive Scotch broom continues: Gabriola Land and Trails Trust organizes broom-pulling work-parties, and volunteers yank broom from the ground so that native plants can re-establish themselves. The progress this year is amazing. Next time you’re at Drumbeg, wander out to the place where the most broom grows, and take a [...]
You live on Gabriola, and don’t need a car all the time. Would sharing a car work for you? Imagine this scenario: You need a car for 2 hours on Wednesday morning, just so that you can take a load of stuff to GIRO and then go do your laundry at Silva Bay. You visit [...]
Filed in environment,Gabriola Island,lifestyles 3 Comments so far
Here’s today’s press release from BC Ferries: BC Ferries is pleased to announce that the fleet is now using 5 per cent, or B5 biodiesel to fuel its vessels, making the company one of the largest consumers of biodiesel in British Columbia. BC Ferries is now burning a B5 fuel blend in all service areas [...]
Filed in environment,ferries 3 Comments so far
Queens usually stay on the job until the end. The exceptions are the queens of the Netherlands, who usually pack it in around age 65 and revert to the title of Princess and the queens of the BC Ferries fleet, which are sold off or left to linger in the Fraser River as a source [...]
From the Gabriolan.ca mailbox: I was born on Gabriola and lived in the little house on a big rock, across from the quarry and behind the Coats’ house….. I love the island. My mother was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night in Mr Coats’ boat and I was born shortly after. [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,Gabriola people,history 4 Comments so far
Casting about for something to read? Go find a copy of The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet. Here’s the back-of-book blurb: After her husband died in 1927, leaving her with five small children, everyone expected the struggles of single motherhood on a remote island to overcome M. Wylie Blanchet. Instead, this courageous woman [...]
Filed in books,history 2 Comments so far
Not a bad way to travel, this: no waiting for the ferry, no line-ups, no fares.
Filed in birds,Gabriola Island Comments Off
Soaps, toothpastes, clothing, bedding, and more, all with special germ-killing properties. Oh Gabriola, where will it end, and how is it affecting us and our island? It’s the sort of thing that sounds good at first, I suppose: kills germs, keep you safer! But, as the Globe and Mail noted, the Canadian Medical Association called [...]
Filed in environment,Gabriola Island Comments Off
This is Vanilla Leaf, another of Gabriola’s beautiful native plants. It’s a perfect ground-cover plant, and only grows to –oh, what? — a foot tall at most. I’ll tell you more about this plant and why I love it so much another time, but for now, notice the pot. This Vanilla Leaf is growing in [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,gardening,native plants 2 Comments so far
This was the scene at Whalebone on Saturday: several tents, two dogs, one campfire, and a bunch of people. Happy campers, I suppose — apparently the first of the season at Whalebone. I’m at Whalebone quite a lot, and I must admit that my heart sinks when I see people camping on the beach. Every [...]
Filed in environment,Gabriola Island 3 Comments so far
[Let me begin by thanking Gabriolan for the invitation to contribute to this blog. I expect any future contributions will likely follow the model of this one: infrequent but fairly lengthy coverage of a specific topic related to some human cultural aspect of Gabriola and nearby areas. I claim no expertise in most of these [...]
Filed in First Nations,Gabriola Island,Nanaimo 4 Comments so far
Now this seems like too much fun to resist: starting a country in the middle of an Irish university. Great article. Of course it does lead one to think that, well, if they can do that there, why can’t we set up our own country here? Just think, we could have the Republic of Gabriola. [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,politics One Response so far
