Beach Quest : Discovering Gabriola's Marine Life

Explore 5 of the beaches on Gabriola with STU, a Black Oystercatcher, who leads us through this beautifully illustrated book produced by the Gabriola Historical & Museum Society.  This compact book is full of information, tips and gives interesting ideas for turning your walk into a treasure hunt for local marine life.  You'll enjoy the detailed maps of Taylor Bay, Descanso Bay, Brickyard Beach, Silva Bay and Drumbeg in this book, indicating where to find the marine life when you get to the beach.  If you'd like to purchase one of these local books, you'll find them at the Gabriola Museum for $15.
We'd also like to thank the volunteers that created this stunning book: Carroll Hodge, April Vannini, Edith Krauss, Devon Featherstone, Nancy Boyes, Jeffrey James, Ken Cripps, Sandie Hankewich, Lindsay Richards, Charleen Wells, Bill Cornish & Cec Ashley.

BONUS!  We've just added a copy to our little Lynch library on the Gabriola Ferry hill today (Aug.20 2014)

Car Share : another transportation option for Gabriola residents.

There is a great transportation option for those Gabriola Island residents going to Nanaimo.  The Nanaimo Car Share has a vehicle parked within a few minutes walk from the Gabriola ferry terminal at Port Place.  You sign up and purchase a refundable share, book your reservation online and pick up the vehicle, if your on an errand and need to extend your booking time a simple update from your smart phone allows you to check if your booking can be extended.  This is a great option for those that want to walk on the ferry, reduce their costs and avoid line ups on the commuter runs. To learn if this might be an option that suits your lifestyle, visit : http://nanaimocarshare.ca/.

Specialties near by.

If you crave any of your favourite meals or snacks from abroad, you may want to make the trip to McLean's Specialty Foods on Fitzwilliam Street, downtown Nanaimo. They offer a mouth watering selection of fresh and imported delicacies as well as over 100 cheeses from all corners of the world. It's great to have a taste of your homeland for the holidays, or gather some items and make a basket for that special someone. If you go during the week, you should take the time and have your lunch there, their sandwiches are amazing and just melt in your mouth. The store is in Nanaimo's Old City Quarter and is just a short walk from the Gabriola-Nanaimo ferry terminal.

Daytrip to Newcastle Island

The Gabriola Elementary School Kindergarten and Grade 1 students headed over to Newcastle Island Marine Provincial Park for one of their year end events. The ferry to Newcastle Island leaves from Maffeo Sutton Park, near the sea wall in Downtown Nanaimo. During the summer the ferry leaves regularly between 9am and 9pm. Newcastle Island is a 10 minute ferry ride from Nanaimo, and is a beautiful park with great walking trails, camp sites, a dance hall, camp store, concession, biking and no cars.
The students went to Brownie Bay where a marine biologist met with them, had them set up a net in the eel grass and discussed the marine life they found in the net. It was a great day trip from Gabriola and all within walking distance to the Gabriola Ferry, a memorable event for the kids and a great day for the parents that were able to attend.

May long weekend on Gabriola

We’ve seen the Island kick off into summer mode this long weekend, the parking lot around the Folklife Village has been busy. There was a well attended pancake fundraiser for the Gabriola Healthcare Auxillary in the parking lot in the morning and it was also the first day of the 2010 Farmers Market (held at the AGI hall on Saturdays from 10-12). A few stores are now open in the Madrona Marketplace, we had a chance to look at Brent G Studio and A Slice Of Life.

** TRAVEL ADVISORY**
If you are traveling to Gabriola in the next few weeks, please be advised that the MV Quinsam is now back in service but is not keeping up speed. This means that there have been delays to the schedule, please accommodate for this in your plans. We expect to have a new schedule effective May 27 2010.

The Golden Shoe Hunt- Regional Parks & Trails

The Regional District of Nanaimo has organized the 4th annual Golden Shoe Hunt. There will be 6 clues, one given each week from April 16th and May 21st, leading to six shoes in six locations. The hunt is meant to include those of all ages and requires no bushwhacking, so you can stay on the Regional Parks & Trails. If your lucky enough to find a token from one of the shoes, take it in to Oceanside Place in Parksville by May 31 to receive your prize.

Gabriola Island has a regional park, the Descanso Bay Regional Park is located within walking distance to the ferry and has a beautiful picnic area next to the sandstone beaches as well as some great camp sites, I'm hoping that one of the shoes will be placed here.

Here are the clues that have been posted so far, check the RDN site tomorrow for clue three (just be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page). Happy Hunting !
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clue Number Two:For the week of April 23rd - 30th
Travel south to find this suspenseful trail and The Abyss!

Clue Number One:For the week of April 16th - 23rd
You’ve been to the bridge, now walk the trail from the other end… t’u’an to? Regional

Gabriola Island Emergency Care Facility- it gets my vote (daily)!

On June 24 2008 my husband was driving along North Road on Gabriola at just after 10pm. His vehicle was pulling a trailer and in a quick moment his instincts had him swerve for a deer, sending the SUV into a tree and across the road (yes, you should never swerve for a deer). Frequently, the roads on Gabriola at this time of night are very quiet, he was lucky to have someone on the scene quickly who called 911.
The firefighters (many of whom are first responders) had just ended practice when they got the call, which allowed them to be on the scene within minutes. We also have the fortune of having Dr. Bosman live on the Island, he also was on the scene in a short time as were the local RCMP. The advanced life support team was sent from Nanaimo, and a request was put in for a helicopter evacuation. I heard the sirens from the rental we had while we renovated, and knew that I was about to receive a dreaded phone call. While they worked on stabilizing my husband for transport, other firefighters set up the Rollo/McClay ball field for a helicopter landing. During this time, the heli-vac team also had a call to respond to on Vancouver Island and for a time that call was going to have priority, 3 hours after the crash the heli-vac team had set my husband as priority, and he was being transported with the life support team to Victoria General Hospital. At the hospital his spleen ruptured and they lost his vital signs twice, after days in the Intensive Care Unit he was considered to be in stable condition.
With broken ribs, punctured lungs and a splenectomy he began his long road of recovery. We strongly feel, that had priorities on the helicopter not been changed and if he was transported on the harbor patrol vessel, he wouldn’t be here to parent his kids today. Even on a calm night, his spleen would surely have ruptured on that vessel.
We have the resources on the Island; our Paramedics, Doctors and First Responders have outstanding knowledge, but they need somewhere to treat patients.
If you have a minute, please take the time to vote for the Gabriola Island Emergency Care Facility. You can vote daily, you only need to fill in your name and email address to register and we may just get $250,000 funding for this facility.
Voting for this round closes on Nov. 29, please ask anyone around you to take a minute to do this. (submitted by: Tina Lynch)

Festival of Trees

On Saturday night we loaded up the car and took the kids over to the Vancouver Island Univeristy in Nanaimo (a 5 minute drive from the Gabriola Ferry) for the Festival of Trees. We made a stop for a bowl of soup at a friend’s house and then a group of us headed up. There were some amazing trees, from traditional to contemporary, my daughters favourite was a pink tree with lots of silver feathers. After admiring the decorations and gingerbread houses, we ended the night with “sleepy time”, a nice collection of Christmas stories read as we sat in a circle amongst the decorated trees.
The festival runs until Nov 29 2009, for more information visit : Festival Of Trees .
(submitted by:Tina Lynch)