Hey, Gabriola, our ferry schedule is changing on Thursday. BC Ferries says that the new Quinsam schedule will help them be on time more often, which will be a fun novelty for us. To see the new schedule, sail over to Nanaimo Harbour — Gabriola Island page at BC Ferries, and use the grey button [...]
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Do you have property on Gabriola, but no house upon it? Here’s an interesting possibility, then: Ecopods. Operating with an 80 watt solar panel and minimal electrical needs there is no need to run power lines or trench power cables to the unit, it’s ready to use minutes after setup. [continue]
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Here is my Gabriola fitness plan:
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On a post about why the Quinsam is late, posted by Gabriolan on May 20, reader Rick commented on what he thought the reason was for the slowness of the refurbished ferry: I was told (also by a reliable source) that the Dutch company that provided the propellers used the data for the Quinitsa instead [...]
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The Gabriola Farmers Market starts tomorrow. The Agi Hall parking lot is divided up for vendors’ booths, the Agriculture is for Everyone sign has been replaced by the Gabriola Farmers Market sign, and ferry-loads of visitors and summer folk are arriving – not just for the market, of course, but you can bet fair numbers [...]
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So the Quinsam, she has been late quite a bit since she returned to Gabriola. I love the way BC Ferries puts it: BC Ferries is currently experiencing challenges with the on-time performance of the Gabriola Island – Nanaimo Harbour route. Challenges with the on-time performance… hahahaha! Means ferry is late, kids. Oh man. Next [...]
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The kelp has lost its mooring, and drifted to the shore. I’m tempted to tie its roots to a rock and cast it back into the sea.
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A while ago I wondered whether Triclosan might a problem for us on Gabriola. Now Discovery News asks: are anti-bacterial soaps poisoning our water? An ingredient that is common in antibacterial soaps frequently ends up in lakes and streams, where it breaks down into a suite of potentially toxic chemicals that could harm wildlife and [...]
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These berries are ripening on Gabriola now, much to my delight.
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Dear BC Ferries, The Quinsam is back on the Gabriola route, and reports are that the seats in the passenger lounge are quite uncomfortable. So, you like that kind of thing? Then, my dears, let me offer you this for when you next go shopping for seating: Oh Sit! The World’s 13 Most Uncomfortable Chair [...]
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From USA Today.com: Non-profit Panera cafe: Take what you need, pay what you can. Imagine walking into a Panera Bread and picking out anything you wanted to eat or drink — then, at the end of the line, instead of handing your money to a cashier, you faced a donation box. What would you do [...]
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I’ve seen turkeys, peacocks, chickens, and guinea fowl wandering around on Gabriola, but these guys are new to me. They’re geese, right? And yes, of course they’re just strolling about the neighbourhood.
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Now that Gabriola’s invasive Scotch broom is starting to flower again, my mind turns to the matter of how to get rid of this troublesome plant. So far we have volunteers, mostly led by Gabriola Land and Trails Trust, going out for a few hours now and again to pull broom or cut it back. [...]
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From inhabitat: Bio-Grow Uses Electronic Waste to Make Algae for Biodiesel. Talk about sustainable multi-tasking. Not only have students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign created a device that cultivates algae for biofuel production, they’ve made it out of old computer parts! Dubbed Bio-Grow, the algae bioreactor features parts from an Apple G4 CPU [...]
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Have you been following the Gabriola birdhouse mystery? (Previous finds: first, second, third, fourth.) It’s odd: carefully decorated birdhouses appear in the forest, on the most obscure trails you can imagine. Well, here’s the latest.
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Ah, the Quinsam will be back on the Gabriola route at last, starting tomorrow. Here’s the latest press release from BC Ferries: MV Quinsam returns to service after $16 million upgrade:
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This amuses me, because it’s so typical of Gabriola. Up in the tree we see the official Government of Canada sign: No tresspassing! Next to the tree, some Gabriola resident has added a helpful TRAIL sign, which points right into the Government of Canada land. (See also: Gabriola forest sign post from December, 2009.)
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OK, kids, I dare you to circumnavigate Gabriola Island in a bouncy castle. If some Brits can float across Lake Garda in a bouncy castle, then surely we can one-up them. Yes? Yes!
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