Gabriola Island Lifestyle Blog
Archive for the ‘Beaches’ Category
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
One of the wonderful things about living close to the ocean is seaweed. It is the best fertilizer for your garden and so easy to collect from the beach, plus it’
s free. We have a small trailer that we hook up to our car and use garbage cans to transport the seaweed from the beach. Seaweed breaks down quickly, adds trace minerals to the soil, and does not promote weed growth like horse manure does. Some of our most productive vegetable gardening years have been due in part to seaweed. This picture was taken at Pilot Bay on Gabriola.
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, Gardening on Gabriola, greener living, Healthy Living | No Comments »
Sunday, October 31st, 2010
Halloween evening for most families on Gabriola consists of joining with friends and going out trick or treating then off to the park at Twin Beaches for hot chocolate and a fabulous display of fireworks reflected in beautiful Taylor Bay, the smallest are soon exhausted and need a little nap.
Posted in Beaches, family life, Gabriola Living, Holidays and Special Events, Kids | No Comments »
Thursday, April 22nd, 2010
We had a wonderful and sunny Earth Day here on Gabriola and we celebrated in one of the best places possible, our fantastic Descanso Bay Regional Park! Both of my daughters and my niece attend the same preschool and today’s class was held at the park with a fabulous talk about the intertidal zone, forest zones and the plants and animals that exist within all. The kids were also taught not to litter, to put all critters back where they found them and not to bring home things in their pockets:) This wonderful walk was followed by much deserved snacks, hot chocolate and stories. The kids were exceptional and had a really nice time. A big thanks to everybody involved in organizing this day, we are so lucky to live in such a special community!
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, Flora and Fauna, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Holidays and Special Events, Kids | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Earth Day is coming up on April 22, this Thursday! To help celebrate my daughter’s preschool class is going to Descanso Bay Regional Park. Once there they will be lead by Natalie Godin in a nature walk and beach/foreshore exploration. Descanso Bay Park is also home to Gabriola’s fantastic campground which we use in the summer when we only have a short time to get away. The beach is sandstone and small pebble and there is both a lovely meadow and much forested area so it will be perfect for a guided walk for the preschoolers. The kids are very excited about both the field trip and Earth Day! My oldest says it is a time when we are reminded to take care of the Earth by turn off the water and lights when not using, make less garbage and eat good food:) Kids are so smart!
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, family life, Flora and Fauna, Gabriola Island, Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Kids | No Comments »
Friday, November 27th, 2009
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There are a great many public beach accesses on Gabriola, this one is at the end of Malaspina Drive where there is a little park and the point separates the beach in Taylor Bay from the rock shelf of the Malaspina Galleries. This is a great swimming spot in the summer for teens and adults, a good spot to watch the yearly bathtub races, and an attractive place to hang out on any nice day.
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, Gabriola Living | No Comments »
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
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This beach access and swim raft is located in Clark Bay. It is a bit too cold for swimming in the waters off of Gabriola now, although the hardy still do, but there are stairs down to this very pretty sandstone beach which offers pleasant walking and the view of the Strait is spectacular!
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, Gabriola Living | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
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We swam in the mid afternoon at the far end of Lock Bay and walked back to the road on the high path. We passed the salt marsh edged with the beach logs that wash in with some of the high tides that bring salt to the marsh.
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Saturday, August 1st, 2009
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Sandwell Park is on the edge of Lock Bay. There is a short and beautiful hike through cool forest and massive rocks which opens onto a sandy beach with a spectacular view of Entrance Island and the coastal mountains. We have been swimming there every evening during this heat wave. The water is very clear and warm with a sandy bottom and there is a little swimming platform made of beach logs anchored not far from shore to dive off of.
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, Gabriola Living, Healthy Living | No Comments »
Monday, July 27th, 2009
We had the luxury of getting a week off this summer and we went to Hornby Island. Many people looked at us rather oddly when we said we were going to another Gulf Island for a holiday but we so wanted to spend some time in a quiet place where we were totally anonymous. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and headed to the lovely cottage we had arranged to rent for a week. The property was beautiful and equipped with a zipline in the backyard much to our 4 year old daughter’s delight. Hornby is a beautiful island which you can reach by taking a ferry from Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island to Denman Island and then driving across Denman to the Hornby Island ferry. The ferry ride to both islands are a short ten minute jump and the connections are quite good.
Hornby has a wonderful shopping area called the Ringside Market where there are 2 clothing stores, a coffee/ice cream stand with the best americanos, cafe, restaurant, book store, pottery store and of course the Hornby Co-op Grocery/Everything you need Store. While there we made trips to many of the local artist studios, beautiful beaches, farms, and of course the Cardboard House Bakery which has the best almond buns and cream puffs. It is also the home of Pizza Galore which beats any pizza place I have ever been to, fantastic!!!
Hornby is also home to two wineries and a meadery which we managed to visit without our kids thanks to our wonderful friends/travel companions. Middle Mountain Mead is an artisan honey winery combining the best of ancient and modern techniques to create small lots of premium handcrafted mead. We left with 3 bottles of Mead which we are eagerly awaiting to try. Visit their website at middlemountainmead.com.
We had such a fantastic and relaxing vacation that we will definitely be back next year anxiously awaiting anonymity and almond buns:)
Posted in At the Sea, Beaches, Daytripping on Vancouver Island, Gulf Island Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Holidays and Special Events, On the Road Again, west coast, West Coast Living | No Comments »
Sunday, May 24th, 2009
It was the end of a sunny week when the idea of a camp-out struck me. Along with my husband, our kids and many friends both grown and growing we packed all our earthly belongings for one exciting night. We got in the car and drove…5 minutes to the local campground here on Gabriola! What a treat, the campground at Descanso Bay Regional Park is a beautiful and family friendly location. After hours of fun we strolled the short distance to the beach and sat to watch the sun as it set. A fantastic event to cap off a fantastic day!
Posted in Beaches, Gabriola Living, Gulf Island Lifestyle, West Coast Living | No Comments »
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s free. We have a small trailer that we hook up to our car and use garbage cans to transport the seaweed from the beach. Seaweed breaks down quickly, adds trace minerals to the soil, and does not promote weed growth like horse manure does. Some of our most productive vegetable gardening years have been due in part to seaweed. This picture was taken at Pilot Bay on Gabriola.
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Robyn & Carly McMahon and unlicensed assistant Lesley McMahon, your Gabriola Island Real Estate Sales Team