I’ve seen all kinds of trailmarkers in the Gabriola woods – some fun and interesting, some not so much – but there’s only one I really, really hate. It’s this one. Some bright spark decided to scratch a large and ugly arrow into an otherwise attractive boulder. It points down a perfectly obvious road, so [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,trails 2 Comments so far
You probably heard about the Gabriola teen who drank past the tipsy stage and then all the way into alcohol poisoning. If you happen to know any young binge drinkers on Gabriola, here’s something you might mention: Drunken monkeys reveal how binge-drinking harms the adolescent brain. Everybody wants to know about drunken monkeys. Skip to [...]
Filed in assorted One Response so far
You probably know that Gabriola had a millstone quarry, and perhaps you’ve climbed the hill near the Descanso ferry terminal to see all those round holes in the rock, now filled with water. Did you know that Gabriola had a a dimension-stone quarry as well, and that several Vancouver buildings used sandstone from Gabriola? Jenni [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,history,photos 2 Comments so far
Ah! Here’s why the ferry was late yesterday morning. From the Nanaimo Daily News: Gabriola ferry hits shoreline during early Saturday run. B.C. Ferries will launch an investigation into why the MV Quinsam slammed into the rocky shoreline as it came into the Nanaimo harbour during its first sailing early Saturday. There were no reports [...]
Filed in ferries,Gabriola Island 4 Comments so far
Inspired by the potato box plans posted by Gabriolan, I set about building one, have planted the bottom level with Désirée potatoes, and am eagerly awaiting the first green shoots to push through. As the photos show, however, I’ve added to the original design after discussing potato boxes with someone who has tried this method [...]
Filed in gardening 6 Comments so far
You’d rather sleep in than take the ferry to or from Gabriola early tomorrow morning, right? Good. Because BC Ferries has just cancelled two sailings. They say: Please be advised that the MV Quinsam will be canceling the following sailings on Sunday May 30, 2010 to facilitate the RAD replacement on the vessel: 5:25 AM [...]
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A family on the Sunshine Coast (which is not far from Gabriola at all, really, although it does take us two or three separate ferry-rides to get there!) has started a milling business. You know – making flour out of grain. A traditional occupation, but one that most kids these days have probably never heard [...]
Filed in food,Gabriola Island Comments Off
I sit at Berry Point and watch an enormous cruise ship sail past Gabriola. Where’s it going, and — more importantly — what’s it doing to the environment as it sails along? Assuming the effect to be less than positive, are the economic benefits worth the trade-off? I’ve often wondered about these things, so was [...]
Filed in environment Comments Off
Saw this crab on a Gabriola beach the other day, blowing spectacular bubbles. I’ve never seen a bubble-blowing crab before, have you? According to articles on other types of crabs, crabs blow bubbles when they’re stressed.
A Telegraph article got me thinking about old farming and land management techniques, including traditional British Hedge laying. From there I wondered what Gabriola’s pioneers and early settlers did to enclose their livestock. It’s not like they were able to wonder down to Arbutus Building Supplies and buy a bunch of wire fencing, after all. [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island,history 7 Comments so far
So, what’s up with the massive starfish on Gabriola beaches these days? Has somebody been feeding them growth hormones while nobody was looking?
This slug was waiting for me in the middle of a Gabriola trail, where she was suspended on a bracken fern. I would have stayed there for hours watching slug acrobatics, but it was pouring rain and the dog hates getting wet. So we came home and found eye-popping slug details for you on the [...]
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In a week and a half, Gabriola Co-op Radio will be broadcasting at 98.7 FM. Exciting, no? It’s only temporary, but I think it’s encouraging nonetheless. The CRTC has given Gabriola Radio permission to broadcast during the week of June 7th, as the station hosts the National Campus Community Radio Conference that week. On Twitter, [...]
Filed in Gabriola Island 2 Comments so far
From the Nanaimo News Bulletin: House fire displaces Gabriola Island family. A burning candle left unattended is to blame for a fire that has displaced a family from their home on Gabriola Island. Just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, a neighbour on Clarendon Road noticed smoke pouring from the living room of the single family dwelling. [...]
By now you’ve heard that Gabriola has a new ferry schedule for the summer. (Update, April, 2011: this ferry schedule is still in effect; BC Ferries says the Quinsam will stay on this schedule until further notice.) If you want a printable version it, you might like one of these .pdf files. Gabriola ferry schedule [...]
Filed in ferries 9 Comments so far
From Science Daily: Getting Dirty May Lift Your Mood. Bacteria found in the soil activated a group of neurons that produce the brain chemical serotonin. Treatment of mice with a ‘friendly’ bacteria, normally found in the soil, altered their behavior in a way similar to that produced by antidepressant drugs, reports research published in the [...]
Filed in environment,gardening 2 Comments so far
There are a few places in the Gabriola forest where deer skulls serve as trailmarkers. Here’s a tree that’s just been skullified in the last while.
Filed in Gabriola Island,trails Comments Off
Did you know that Gabriola’s holly trees – well, some of them, anyway – have flowers at this time of year? I hadn’t a clue, and am feeling a bit sheepish about that now. (Although it is hard to know what’s up with the holly trees, because I pass one that always seems to have [...]
Filed in insects,invasive plants,trails 7 Comments so far
