A Bean Tent

Carly had an idea to make a bean tent for the babies to play in while we are working in the garden. She bought long bamboo sticks to form the shape of the tent and planted a particularly vigorous purple pole bean in a circle leaving an opening. Add a small stool to sit on and you have a fun place for a child to play.

Bathtub Races

We have lived on Gabriola for 30 years and almost every July we have stood on the north shores of the island to watch the Nanaimo Bathtub races. The first race was in 1967 and was Nanaimo's centennial event back when the pirate black Frank was the mayor of Nanaimo. At that time it was a grueling 36 mile course that crossed the Strait and ended in Vancouver. Now the tubs leave Nanaimo Harbour, pass by Gabriola, circle around Entrance and Winchelsea Island and finish in Departure Bay. This year the festivities started earlier in the week, with a parade and fireworks on Saturday and the 1&1/2 hour race at 11:00 on Sunday.

Visiting Owls

In the evenings we are visited by owls. We hear them in the trees hooting to each other. We can't always spot them because they blend in well with the trees.

Entrance Island Lighthouse

I think this must be the most often photographed scene on (or from) Gabriola. The construction of the lighthouse was put out to tender in late 1874, the construction was plagued with problems, but was finally declared completed in Aril of 1876, established as a BC lighthouse on June 8, 1876 and first lit up on June 10. The first lighthouse keeper was John Kenny who lasted less than 6 months followed by Robert Gray who stayed on the job for 30 years.

(source - gabriolamuseum.org)

The Brickyard

Brickyard Beach across from Mudge Island is a park. In the past it was the site of a very productive brickyard. In 1911 the first company to run the brickyard was incorporated, it and subsequent companies ran the brickyard until the early 50's, but there is evidence that bricks were being made at this site possibly prior to the 1900's. The brickyard was near the water line at brickyard beach, the drying and firing kilns were located where Ferne and South Road now converge and up the hillside was the shale clay quarry and assorted buildings. The output was high - in 1912 the average was 75-80 thousand bricks a day, in 1920 more than 3.5 million good quality red bricks were produced. Scows brought coal to fire the kilns and took away bricks to Vancouver and Victoria. Chinese workers did much of the hard labour, housed in shacks near the brickyard site. Many locals also worked in the brickyard. The wage was about $3.50 per day in the 1930's. By the 50's coal was depleted and construction had changed from brick to concrete. The buildings were removed from the brickyard site and few traces are left. In 1974 the patch of land between the beach and South Road was designated Crown Land, locals were allowed to dig bricks out and then the area was bulldozed flat, the hillside above grew over in trees and blackberry bushes. Today this is a good beach access where many bits of broken bricks can be seen along the shore. On a visit to any older Gabriola residence you may see some of these bricks being used in fireplaces, garden retaining walls and pathways.

source - article by Jenni Gehlbach in Shale journal of the Gabriola Historical & Museum Society

Faces in the Sandstone

The exposed sandstone on Gabriola has been weathered into various weird and wonderful shapes. At my last visit to Descanso Bay Regional Park I found these interesting rock outcroppings. A hike to the base of the cliff below McConvey Road brought me face to face so to speak with these massive faces. I then followed the trail down to an oyster bay and found this marvelous sea horse!

Wine Tasting

We entered through the gates of the Gabriola Island Winery and followed a winding road up to the wine making facility and tasting room. We were greeted by Chris and Fenix who poured us samples of their Pinot Gris, Merlot and a Port style fortified wine made from Blackberries and Blueberries, we sipped their lovely wine and enjoyed the spectacular views of the Strait of Georgia from their 45 acre fledgling vineyard high up on Gabriola's north end. We were also treated to a bit of a tour of their wine making vats and the portugese copper and bronze still which they intend to use to make a brandy. We browsed their gift wares and I purchased a nifty picnic blanket. This was a fun excursion and promises to be quite the attraction in years to come as they develop their offerings.

A Gabriola Adventure

We were deciding where to spend our two days off this week and thought about the Gabriola Campground. We have never camped there before, but with gas prices so high and only two days to play what better way to make the best of our time. We packed up and in less than 1/2 hour we were lounging around in a beautiful forest campsite with a pretty view of the bay. We sunned on the rocks at the water's edge, hiked the parkland trails, cooked our dinner over an open campfire and fell asleep to the sound of lapping waves and a light ocean breeze. The next day, after a hearty breakfast we decided to head out on an adventure. We walked the hiking trail which brought us up to River Place, hiked down Spruce Avenue and over to Balsam Street where we found our selves at the Gabriola Island Winery. We had an interesting tour of the facility, tasted some wine, bought a gift and continued on our way. Down the hillside to Berry Point Road, with a stop at the local Bakery for a hearty soup and sandwich, we were back at the campgound in time for an afternoon swim. What an excellent adventure!

The Village

Gabriola Island's main shopping complex is called Folklife Village Shopping Center. This is a beautiful timber frame building with high ceilings and big beams and we are so lucky that its owner had the vision to bring it here from the Vancouver Expo 86 site. Housing in style a delightful assortment of food, clothing, gifts, library books, videos, hardware, pharmacy, real estate and liquor, it is a focal point of our community.

An Old Farmhouse

This old and abandoned farm house can be easily seen while driving down South Road on Gabriola, and is not far from Gossip Corner where the mail used to come. According to the book 'The People of Gabriola' the old homestead was built by James and Jessie Gray in 1896. Here they raised cattle, sheep, poultry and farm produce. This farm still raises sheep and hay and is a very pretty setting stretching to the sea at Degnen Bay.

Canada Day Celebrations

We walked down to the Village this morning for coffee and found ContraBand, a great little swing band, set up in the parking lot along with face painting and hot dogs and Canada Day balloons. In the afternoon at the brickyard there was the potato cannon competion (Gabriolans shooting at the Mudgekins across the Narrows) which is lots of fun to watch, plus there was a community pot luck dinner at Twin Beaches. And later in the evening Jazz and a BBQ at Raspberries Cafe. Gabriola loves to celebrate and there is always lots to do!