Gabriola Island: Sandstone at Drumbeg Park

Norbi and I headed out in early June to visit some beaches on Gabriola Island, have a beer at Silva Bay, and generally just tour about the island. The day started off looking cloudy and threatening to rain. Thankfully, in the end, the sun graced us with her presence. Around noonish, just before we'd promised ourselves lunch at the pub in Silva Bay, we explored the sandstone shelves that make up the bulk of the beach at Drumbeg Provincial Park. In Theo Dombrowski's excellent book, "Secret Beaches of the Salish Sea: The Northern Gulf Islands", this is Secret Beach number 19 (page 67).

 Sandstone at Drumbeg Park on
Gabriola Island (2013-06-01)

Nanaimo: Hidden Sea Star at Neck Point Park

We find that Neck Point Park in Nanaimo is a great place to take visitors, to introduce them to the east coast of Vancouver Island. Exploring the "neck" portion of the park with Marco and Angela, we noticed quite a few partially hidden sea stars at a fairly low tide.

Spot the Sea Star...  (2013-08-17)

Sidney Spit: Historical Pilings

For years I've been promising myself s trip for Sidney Island. This past June I finally made it. Clearly, there are postcard shots to be had here. Unfortunately, Barb and I had chosen a rainy day that cut our visit short. Obviously an excuse to return at a later date.

Sidney Spit historical pilings (2013-06-23)

Nanaimo: Beach Estates Park to Departure Bay

There are at least two ways to visit Departure Bay beach. The most obvious is by car via Departure Bay Road. Less obvious and less known is via a short - 20 minutes - hike through Beach Estates Park. This path opens out to the beach at what was, historically, a coal loading wharf. The finger of rocks, visible at low tide, is just a little of what remains as evidence of these times. 

Beach Estates Park to 
Departure Bay (2013-03-25)

China Beach: Creative Beach Structure

On this day in May, we had to get Barb to Victoria. The usual route over the Malahat was getting old. We decided to take an alternate - albeit longer - route via Lake Cowichan, Port Renfrew, and Sooke. The idea was to visit Botanical Beach enroute. After exploring Botanical Beach, our journey to Victoria took us past China Beach. The fifteen minute walk down the trail from parking lot to beach was worth it for the postcard views. 

China Beach Structure (2013-05-16)

Tofino: Incinerator Beach

One of the best ways to see Incinerator Beach (the northern section of Long Beach, near Tofino) is by climbing up the hill located near the parking lot. In the distance, in the water, Lovekin Rock. 

Incinerator Beach (2013-07-12)