GABRIOLA ISLAND

The aim of our visit to Gabriola Island was to swim, go clam hunting and kayaking in the hope of seeing a killer whale or two, unfortunately plans don’t always work out the way they are supposed to.


The advertisement for the beach cabin we booked stated that the cabin was located on the beach. Well that wasn’t quite correct as we had a road separating us from the beach which was rocky rather than sandy.


Never mind, Tammie and I went for a swim in the late afternoon. The water was refreshingly cool. The cabin was basic but had all we needed to enjoy our stay. We had a quiet night at the cabin and made our plans for the next day.

During the night Mother Nature decided to intervene by sending a might north-westerly wind to whip up the waves and blow the tops off the trees. The sound of the wind awoke me at dawn and I walked or should I say was blown down to the beach to see long lines of whitecaps and waves pounding the shore. I knew that there would be no water activities that day.


So kayaking and the beach was out, perhaps we could still go clam hunting. No that was quickly ruled out when the landlord informed us that you needed a permit to hunt clams. Damn!


All that was left was to explore the island by Jeep. The drive around the island took around half an hour. There was minimal traffic on the road so it was a leisurely drive. We decided to check out the petroglyphs that Gabriola is famous for.


Petroglyphs are basically carvings that are carved into rock. It is believed that the petroglyphs on Gabriola were carved around the 15th century or earlier but this is open to conjecture.

Most of the petroglyphs were discovered in the 1970’s. Casts were taken of the originals and those casts are now displayed at the Gabriola Museum. The originals are kept hidden away for safe keeping. There are some originals that are available for viewing and they are located in a bushy area behind a church on the island. We were lucky enough to see both sets.

The images appear to be both mythical and factual. Whales, birds, people and fish share space with winged creatures and serpents. Experts believe that some of the petroglyphs were used in ceremonies whilst others were used to record day to day events.

We had an early start the next day to catch the early ferry back to Vancouver Island. As it usually turns out the wind had stopped blowing and the ocean was calm. We thought that we had left early enough to get a good place in the ferry line up and we were dismayed when we turned up to find a long line of cars already waiting.

We were more forlorn as the line started to move and we spied a sign posted to a pole stating that this point marked the last car to board the ferry. But the line kept moving and soon only a few cars from boarding the ferry. Surely we wouldn’t be the last car to be stopped. Our luck held and we made it aboard with two cars to spare. We were on our way back to Okanagan Falls, via Harrison Hot Springs.
We needed fuel when we landed in Vancouver Island so I pulled into a gas station. Whilst there two young girls approached the car and asked if we had a doobie to sell. Now I must admit to my ignorance and having no idea of what a doobie was but from the guffaws of my son’s in the back of the Jeep I quickly gathered that it was drug-related.

I said to the girls, somewhat harshly do I look like someone who would be selling a doobie? They just smiled at me sweetly, thanked me and walked away.
I wasn’t sure if I should have been angry or happy at their request. I chose to be perplexed.