Paradise Found...

Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words... Guess who was late for work today, after driving by Degnen Bay to stumble across the Sunrise over Valdez Island??? Of course, I couldn't stop myself from pulling into the Gray Road boat launch to be mesmorized by this amazing January Sunrise. It's hard to beat island living!

Snow Day on Gabriola

We enjoy a temperate climate on Gabriola, rarely does the thermometer dip below freezing on our rural Island. Occasionally we do get some snow, and I would say that most Islanders welcome the change in landscape that they know will soon disappear. You may wonder how we weather during the time, I'd say quite a few people take the opportunity to stay home if they can as many don't have winter tires. If residents do need to venture out of their driveways they often end up on a road that has already been cleared, we have a great crew that often works around the clock when there is a chance of snow.

Good Morning Gabriola!

This is a picture of the beautiful sunrise I woke up to this morning before heading to work. We're having an amazing winter on Gabriola this year, some gorgeous days of sunshine. It's so easy to get out for a walk, run or bike ride when the weather is this nice. Enjoy your day, mine sure started off right, I hope yours did too!

submitted by:Tina Lynch

It's picking time on the Island.

I was down to take a listing of a beautiful acreage on the weekend and while I was there I couldn't help but notice all the blackberries. The owner said I could come and pick blackberries, so I took my son,my dad and a few empty containers and headed over. The picking was great, there was lots of large berries, it was overcast and there weren't any wasps to speak of. We may have ended up with a few scratches, but nothing compared to the taste of our fresh sweet handpicked berries. I've frozen a few so that we can be reminded of the local summer harvests all year long. You'll find lots of blackberry bushes on the sides of the roads on Gabriola, or if you want your own patch you may just want to take a look at the acreage we just listed. Submitted by: Tina Lynch,

A view of the Island.

If you'd like to keep an eye on Gabriola, the Island has a few web cams that you may want to check out. One of the web cams has views of the Straight of Georgia, with Entrance Island as the focal point, it gives you a good indication of the current weather, on the website you'll also find videos of community events, Gabriola Georgia Strait Cam. The other website that is very useful when you are trying to determine what the ferry traffic conditions leaving the Island are like is the ferry cam website which has three different vantage points of the line up. Take a minute and enjoy the view from here.

Launching Gabriola's Newest Website...

With over 90% of Buyers starting their home search online, we have made a commitment to provide service to our clients that is beyond expectation, and constantly work to grow & improve our technologies. Complimenting our existing websites, we recognized the need for a buyer-centric dedicated website.

For the past year we’ve been working with web designers & leaders to create a new state of the art website, to make house hunting on Gabriola even easier…

The new site:

This new website compliments our current http://www.discovergabriola.com/ website, as well as our Gabriola Waterfront & Ocean View website: http://www.gabriolaislandwaterfront.ca/ . We would like to thank all of our current and past clientele for their continued support, and look forward to continuing to serve you in the future.

If you have any ideas on ways to make your experience online further enhanced, please email us, as we are constantly looking to enhance the experience…

School Closure for Gabriola Nov.25

Good Morning!

Just got up to see if we needed to start getting ready for school, as fore casted more snow has accumulated over night. I checked the Nanaimo School District 68 home page, and here's their message:

"Thursday, November 25, 2010 - Schools are CLOSED today due to snow and dangerous driving conditions in many parts of the district."

We're going to go and try out Tina's new ice rink, her husband flooded a tarp in their yard this week and it may just be ready for skating ! Enjoy your day and don't drive if you don't need to.

No FIRES on Gabriola

The "no fire" signs went up around Gabriola Island Last night (July 9th), I'm not surprised with the hot weather we've been having the past week. I just checked and the current temperature is at 31'c.
A reminder that Gabriola is now in 'Early shift', no fires and a shut down of powered equipment at 1:00 (yes, a good time to hit the beach and a good excuse if you didn't get your lawn mowed).

Boating adventure from Gabriola Island

We were lucky to have our friends lend us their Zodiac this summer. On Sunday night, we decided to cook dinner over a campfire. My husband, kids and myself loaded up the small Zodiac and headed to Black Berry Point on Valdez Island, it was about a 15 minute boat trip from Degnen Bay on Gabriola. Surrounded by clouds, the shells on this beach glistened in the sun. There was a beautiful fire pit already made, so we brought out the European Hot Dogs and Bannock Batter and had our best summer night yet. Inspired, we've decided to head there again tonight with some new Islanders - hope they like small boats and outdoor cooking.

Gabriola's waterfront parks

Gabriola is a great Island for many reasons, one of the important ones is the numerous access points that you have to the beach. We've had some great weather in the last week, which led me to one of the waterfront parks in the Whalebone area. These "neighborhood" parks were well thought out, there are 5 located in this area, each have two pathway allowances into the park and have at least 6 homes bordering onto them, I think it was a great way to share the waterfront properties. The waterfront parks, have nice cleared areas, gorgeous north facing views, and some have benches so that you can sit down and enjoy the view.

Sunshine in the end of September

We’ve been lucky to have such gorgeous weather this past week, what a nice way to celebrate the arrival of fall. We went to the Gabriola Sands Provincial Park, commonly referred to as “Twin Beaches” on the Northwest side of Gabriola. The kids kept busy in a big pool of water and along the seashore, a great place to enjoy the 27 degree weather. Sumbitted by: Tina LYNCH

"Just one more run ?"

This is a common phrase heard by the parents on Gabriola as the current snow conditions are perfect for getting in some sleigh rides. The kids have been busy at work making runs through the yard to find the perfect place to go down with a little extra speed. After a good time in the snow, it's a great feeling to warm up by the woodstove and sip on a cup of hot chocolate. It's not just the kids that are having fun, parents are on sleds, neighbors are out for walks and a few are out making tracks for cross country skis. With people choosing to stay at home and enjoy the winter activities, the spirit around is joyful.

Gabriola Elementary School Christmas Concert

In the midst of a winter snow storm, the show still went on. There were a few changes as the rehearsal quickly turned into the real show as snow accumulated outside of the school doors. In less than 2 hours the school contacted enough parents to notify them of the time change to fill the school gym. It was an impressive display of young talent that included all the children, mice, reindeer & villagers set against a beautiful hand painted back drop. The school’s music teacher Rose Topp was to thank for the heartwarming production that set all in the Christmas spirit !