Phil Moore's Travel Adventures...

Gabriola Island

A short 20 minute ferry ride from Nanaimo and British Columbia's Queen of the Gulf Islands Gabriola Island can be yours to enjoy. Situated in the Sound between Vancouver Island and mainland British Coumbia, the island is a pleasant rural setting of forested parks and serene beaches and coves littered with driftwood.

The island's name is derived from Punta de Gaviota (Cape Seagull), the name given by the Spanish to the southeastern part of the island in 1791. Prior the Spanish 'discovering' the island, Native American peoples lived on the island for an unknown number of years, as testified by the wealth of ancient native stone carvings called petroglyphs. Also referred to by some as Granola Island (as inscribed on the wall of the washroom wall on the BC Ferry), it is now haven for approximately 4,000 residents consisting of workers commuting to Nanaimo, hippies, retirees and draft dodgers, it is truly an island paradise BC style.

My visit confirmed for me British Columbia as a true unspoilt wilderness. I know Alaska claims this title more so for the extreme mountainous terrain and total isolation - Gabriola Island is infinitely more accessible and much easier to explore given the temperate climate, and that you can circumnavigate the entire island on bike in under 4 hours.

My hosts for my stay were my Aunty Joy and Uncle Peter who recently moved to the island after a 27 year stint in the city of Calgary, seeking the dream of the peace and serinity (or is that senility) that island life brings. Like many people on the island, they have embarked on a project to build their own house, starting from picking a plot in the middle of the forest, clearing the trees and scrubland and building the property from the ground up (silly phrase that is, how else would you do it?). By the time I had arrived, development was in full swing with the ground cleared, foundations layed and timberframe and housing in place. Patrick, an eccentric big-bearded French man with a gorgeous wife had been doing an sterling job of leading the project, and a top guy and good friend he became.

Unbeknowst to me and highlighting my lehman knowledge in such matters, tonnes more work has gone into it as this house as many other on the island has no running water and no connected swerage so must be entirely self-sufficient. An incredibly complex septic system which drains into the front lawn, and a rain water capture/filter system to provide clean flowing water all year round is hidden behind the scenes - very impressive! I was to assist with work here utilising what skills I have, namely clearing up the site and building huge mansize fires hot enough to liquify metal - what fun that was.

For the now, they live in a rented property, pretty basic in their eyes but ideal to me after my ex-prison dwellings in Golden. In the garden lies one of Gabriola's secret attractions, a 20 metre plus tree that has somehow grown out of a huge rock, or straddled at some point in it's life, no roots can be seen tunneling through the rock and this is no work of a handy gardener. After much deliberation, I couldn't figure out a plausible explanation. Go figure.

The real draw for me on the island was the sheer abudance of wildlife. Each night, we would head out to enjoy the sunset at one of many spots, the favourite being The Lighthouse which looks out across the Sound to Vancouver Island, focusing on a small rock outcrop with, would you believe it, a lighthouse on top. Scores of elephant & harbour seals and sea lions were setting up shop for their annual mating ritual. Sitting on the shore you could listen to the males barking out their superioty and females cooing with glee at machoistic displays, which echoed across the Sound. Occasionally you would be lucky enough to catch a few seals en route to the island that passed close by the shore. Most passed by unpreturbed but occasionally you would be caught in a face to face encounter with a displeased seal - what they were saying I could not be sure but I think it was roughly along the lines of 'get orf my laaand'.

The bay was arife with crustacean life, and when the tide was out you could brave a treacherous walk to the water's edge along the rock outcrops. Colourful amemonies litter the rock pools, including this rather alien-like Aggregate Anemone (the green markings a result of the algae it feeds upon). My cousin also tells me it's highly enjoyable to poke a stick into their mouth and watch them close, a little cruel perhaps.

Brightly coloured Ochre Star Fish that can span over - 1 foot across are seen all over the island, attaching themselves to marina jettys and basking in rock pools. The beauty of this specimen is somewhat spoilt in this picture, a beauty and the beast compositon I'd guess.

This which brings enmass a proliferal of bird waders. The favourite with their almost luminescent orange bills and gangly legs were the Black Oyster Catchers.

Timing of the visit was impeccable as luck would have it, the Herrings were running en mass in enormous shoals. I'm not sure if this was simply a coincidence that the seals mating season is at the same time or another beautiful medley of nature, certainly they enjoyed the easy pickings. Whilst at The Lighthouse one night you could see a dark shadow of the herrings gathering under the surface of the water, a huge flock of Harlequin Ducks were fishing gathering on the surface in one group and diving simultaneously, remaining under the water for 30 seconds or so then returning to the surface as one, forming a neat line and leading to the next dive spot. I have never seen anything like this and was totally bizarre/awe inspiring.

Probably the best way to see the island is to hire a sea kayak and paddle out to the smaller islands off the coast. Setting off from Silva Bay on the south side of the island, within 20 minutes we were away from the hustle bustle (ha ha). Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife on the shore and the rewards will be yours - a small speck of movement on a beach in a small cove turned out to be two racoons washing their food in the gently lapping waves, a real treat given that they are primarily nocturnal creatures and quite timid, this little fella seemed fascinated with my kayak.

Around the headland, we stumbled across a rocky island that hundreds of harbour seals had set up home upon. The startled seals took to the water and I was surrounded by over 50 seals bobbing in the turbulent water, all staring intently at the strange visitors that disturbed their afternoon rest. Using the currents to repeatedly float past the island backwards (seals find this less threatening), we got closer and closer to the seals as they became accustomed to our presence. Some great shots of one seal who perhaps was just too fat to move.

My favourite place on the island was an area on the far southern tip called Drumbeg Provincial Park, a memorable place where I saw my first elephant seal (only 2 metres from the shore), with stunning views across the bay from serene beaches with twisted driftwood littered about. Truly magical. It was here that was probably the best spot to observe Bald Eagles going about their business, hanging around in trees waiting for the opportune moment to go check out the fish menu, or when the thermals were right for a little scout around the bay.

If you waited long enough, the eagle would put on a display for you and swoop and soar with effortless grace, and maybe catch a fish and return to it's perch but to show off it's style and grace in the air.

An another visit to Drumbeg, I met with an ex-Vancouver resident who too found this spot to be his favourite. It was a sunny day and whilst chatting about the island and his experiences, a River Otter climbed from what I found out to be his nesting site and sat on a rock no more than 20 feet from us to sun bathe. We watched the little chap enjoy the sun and it was only as it strutted away to the waters edge did I think to to snap the moment on camera. Sometimes the moment is more important than the picture.

If that's not enough, I decided to explore yet another aspect of the island by venturing into the 2 degree waters and checking out the sub-aquatic world to see if it lives up to it's promise of being 'Rated as one of the "Best" cold water destinations in the world'. Over the past 10 years, the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia, along with the Provincial and Federal government's, Dive Shop Owners and many volunteers have joined forces to create arguably one of the best regions in the world for the establishment of artificial reefs through strategically sinking WW2 war ships, fishing vessels or other such craft they can get their hands, probably the most famous of which is the HMCS Saskatchewan.

Through Sundown Divers in Nanaimo, I joined a group of experienced divers visiting for the weekend from Vancouver. Unfortunately weather did not permit a dive to the exposed and current ridden HMCS Saskatchewan so this was off the cards. The first dive of the day was the wall of Snake Island which starts in 20 metres of water and you can descend to over 200 metres.

Wearing a 7mm wetsuit complete with feet, gloves, hood that left no skin exposed, I plunged into the freezing water for my first dive experience after the Red Sea in November 2004. What a shock - not only was it freezing cold causing my chest cavity to shrink to the size of a pea, on looking under the water visibility was down to less than 2 metres - I began to regret my decision and figured that my chips were up. With gentle encouragement I took the plunge and followed the guide line down into the murky waters.

To my suprise, the waters cleared at a depth of meters with greater than 20 metres visibility, and now that I could breath comfortably-ish I began to relax. Descending down the wall I was amazed at the amount of life down here - crustaceans, anemomies and urchins dominated life down here in stark contrast to the countless varities of fish that swarm around coral reefs. Huge white Plumose Anemomies dominated the rocky overhangs, with bright Dahlia Anemomies (pictured) adding splashes of colour.

Not to give the impression that this was a still life, far from it - huge armies of urchins migrating to shallower waters, orange coloured sponges that make great ping-pong balls, and a suprisingly broad variety of fish (though quite alusive) including Lingcod (pictured) and Rockfish.

To complete the dive we surfaced close to the island to watch the Harbour Seals at play, back in the < 1 meter visibility water, none were around until I realised that a layful fella was tugging at my flipper, and another 10 surrounded me in amusement.

The afternoon dive was to the wreck of HMS Prudent which whilst not as spectacular as the first was enjoyable none the less as my first real wreck dive. I tried my hand at underwater filming too and whilst the images were total rubbish, by sheer accident I captured the song of a group of whales that was only spotted on playback at home that night. I hope you can hear it on this video too.

What I intended to be only 3 day stay turned into a week long orgy of wildlife spotting beyond my wildest dreams, some quality time getting to know my Aunt and Uncle and becoming one (again) with another part of the amazing British Columbia. I hope to visit again next year, hmm that list keeps growing.

To close the Gabriola account, I leave you with a stunning sunset view from close to The Lighthouse.

Victoria

Now on my last legs in the country, I made the journey across to Victoria on Vancouver Island where I'd catch my connecting flight back to Calgary and beyond. Billed as more English than England, Victoria's apparent tea-and-scones-at-eleven-and-three Englishness was lost on me as I didn't seem to get that impression at all, I guess I saw the wrong places. Hooking up with an Aussie dude, we explored the city and it's sights including the BC Parliament as a highlight. The best part of this short visit was meeting the bass player of The 88's who were playing in town that night, unable to help in his quest for some pot we still had a good banter after which we were invited as VIPs to their gig that night. To be honest I'd never heard of them, apparently they were used on The OC tv hell show. The evening began with a night at the town's Irish bar where we celebrated Tartan Day (no idea what that was about but lots of Irish performers, jiggers etc) and met the mayor if Hollyrood, New Foundland who was an idiot and didn't know who Tony Blair was, after discovering he and his friend were RCMP in town for a conference with 400+ other enforcers we scarpered quick sharp and on the the gig. The venue was awesome, small intimare bar with friendly locals, The 88's were awesome and absolutely loved it - cheers dudes!

Calgary

Quick exit from Victoria the next day, and flew back to Calgary with WestJet (top airline and no lost bags) and just had time for one last night of hedonism before leaving for the USA. Hooked up with Megz (on special visit to the town), cousins and their football team and headed to the quality establishment Ranchmans (as seen in Brokeback Mountain) which is a cowboy styled bar. Made a fool of myself on the mechanical bull, I mockingly stroked it's hide on the warm up run which was all the lesbianator machine operator needed and she whipped it up into breakback mode. Ouch, the bruises have just about faded after 10 days. Anyhow, a good night all in all tho I felt inadequate in two-step dancing skills to the Cowboy who whipped Megz off her feet tho thankfully he was an inbred idiot with the brain capacity of a flea and looks to match (ha ha, how bitter I am ;o)

Just a single day in Rodeo city and time to head off already. Sob sob, I'll miss Canada soo much, I'll be back next year.

Next stop sunny (ha ha) California and the City of San Francisco.

Arriving in Vancouver, I brushed with the crystal-meth charged homeless that congregate around the bus station, managing to avoid any unpleasant confrontations. The city has a real problem here and little evidence of any community projects to address the problem which is a shame for such a liberal place. Continuing en-route to my accommodation - the HI Vancouver Downtown - I met some interesting folks who again displayed the open and helpful Canadian welcome with bus route banter. Hostel was basic but friendly and clean which is all you can ask, I hear much nicer/safer than the HI Central. A little culture shocked as I re-established contact with 1) the real world and city life; and 2) the backpacker fraternity who at times I find a little self-indulgent for want of a better word, especially when you discover the extent of their ‘travels’ is living in the hostel for the past 3 months. Cynicism aside I met some really nice people, notably one chap from Cornwall who invited me to experience surfing English style. Unfortunately, none would join me for a beer so I headed out alone, only to venture unwittingly into a gay bar, the super-camp waiters and 6 foot paintings of naked men on the walls should have been a giveaway - I guess I was too tired to notice, no problem with gay bars at all but perhaps a single young male drinking alone might send out the wrong message, pint down the neck, quick exit and early to bed.

Setting aside only a single day to explore Vancouver having stayed in the city for 7 days on my previous trip in 1996, a whistle stop tour ensued and admittedly Lonely Planet was my guide verbatim. I was impressed - they do quite a good job if you haven’t got the time or inclination to think and explore for yourself.

Walking downtown from the hostel on Granville Avenue, I was overhauled by diversity of the people that live in this city - office workers supping on their soya-lattes, punks and layabouts hanging out (one begging for change under the slogan 'any spare change for weed, too lazy to work'), and tourists gazing skyward or eyes buried in their streetmaps. Neon signs advertising DRUGS and evening soirees amblazoned in 6 foot high hoardings created a neo-Tokyo style feel, intermingled with chrome-plated office blocks in a modern inside-out arcitectural style.

Arriving at Canada Place Way, I take in the remnants of the EXPO '86
exhibition that I was fortunate to visit as a kid, which has now been converted for use as a convention centre, on this day hosting an IT conference with the likes of Oracle and IBM representing. I am reminded of the 'real world' of laptop powerpoint presentations and business jargon speak as I eavesdrop on conversations.

I pass by a curious statue, a plastic looking bear that has been painted with a colourful depiction of Vancouver's sights.

Entitled 'Bears in the City', this is a British Columbia charity fund-raising initiative where 6,000 life size (approx. 7ft) custom formed fiberglass Spirit Bears are distributed across BC to local artists who create a unique design and apply it to the surface. The Bear becomes the artist's canvas. Once the work is complete, the Spirit Bear will be displayed in prominent public spaces around the participating cities.

The bear is actually the rare "Spirit Bear" or "Kermode Bear". A First Nation legend states that the Raven, their creator, made these bears white as a reminder of the time when the world was pure and clean and covered with snowdrifts and ice blue glaciers. Raven promised that these bears would live in peace and harmony forever.

The exhibit ends with the great 'Spirit Bear Auction', a gala event where the Spirit Bears will be put on the block and auctioned to the highest bidder. Spirit Bear auction proceeds will benefit the BC Lions Society's Easter Seal Operations and the Canucks for Kids Fund. read more here. Very nice.

Moving on I take in the view from the Sea Bus terminal looking over the bay, North Vancouver and up and beyond to Grouse (where they do flood-lit) night skiing) and Seymour Mountains and feel a aching in my belly to return to mothership. Around the corner, I stumble across the home of computer game legends Electronic Arts. The developers outside enjoying their morning smoke break quite the contrast to the business folks.

To get a better view of the city on this splendid blue sky day, I head to the Harbour Centre Tower opened in 1977 and at an impressive 177 metres, it certainly fit the bill, tho thankfully there was a convenient glass fronted elevator to save my poor whittling lungs. The view from the top was amazing and I attempted my first panoramic construction to re-create the view.

Next on the Lonely Planet's guide to life was Dr Sun Yat-Sen’s Classical Chinese Garden, which whilst not being an entirely Canadian affair, has some local significance given that Vancouver's Chinatown is the 2nd largest in North America, and Mandarin and Cantonese are the mother tongues in 30 per cent of Vancouver homes.A freebie was to be had next door to the real mccoy which was impressive, and provided a sneak glimpse of the real thing which won me over despite the hefty $9 entry fee.

Once inside you are whisked away to a magical Chinese wonderland with ornate summer houses, naturally-created limestone features in the shapes of dragons or depicting scenes, and the ebb and flow of Chee (?) passing on an invisible spiritual plane.

Amazingly the garden is constructed entirely of materials imported from China from the tiles on the mosaiced floor to the beams of. There are four major elements in the Garden: water, rock, plants and architecture, the relationship of which reflect the Taoist belief in Yin and Yang--opposites that must be in balance to create harmony, depicting all elements of the natural landscape--mountains, rivers, lakes, trees, valleys, hills--and, by bringing them together in a small space, to concentrate the life force, the qi, that animates them, or so they say. I was even inspired to take pictures of some pretty flowers such was the power of the energy flow.

Moving on, I completed my whistle-stop tour with a stroll, which quickly turned into a gentle sprint through Gas Town. Whilst it is steeped in historic charm and independence, infact being the birth place of the city back in 1867, it's back streets have deteriorated into a vibrant not-so-clean needle exchange so I'd not recommend hanging around. That said, I managed to grab a sneak peak of the statue of Gassy Jack who built the first boozer in town so is accredited with making the city, and the infamous Steam Clock that tells the time and blows steam out of many an orifice every 15 minutes - how quaint.

Time a pressing, there was only time to grab a Tim Horton's combo special before grabbing my oversized and overpacked rucksack (no snowboard bag in tow now thank the lord) and heading off to complete my Greyhound adventure - on to Horshoe Bay and ferry across to Nanaimo, Vancouver Island before I retreat once again to the wilderness that is Gabriola Island where my next over-verbatim tail will pick up.

The end of the season is nigh so it’s time to pack my bags and head off to explore the big wide world.

I have mixed feelings about leaving - very excited about all the adventures and exciting people to meet but also sad to leave Golden which has been my home for the past 83 days. I honestly feel like I belong here and found a home-from-home in a mountain paradise. Simple as life here is, it never ceases to bring new surprises each day, both on and off the hill. The locals here have been simply amazing, so welcoming and willing to go the extra mile for you unconditionally. The people take such pride in their town, Canada and pretty much anything they do - pick up an product in a super market, any TV or magazine advert and you‘ll see the word ‘proud‘. The Canadian culture seems to be defined through complex interactions of people in day-to-day life maintained with absolute pride an integrity, rather than a set of rules or overseeing control by government, corporations etc. Thinking back to my sociology A-Level I think this is actually termed ‘interactionism‘, but don’t quote me on that. I’m not disillusioned in that like anywhere there are bad seeds, but I could not think of a single incident in the past 3 months that would burst this bubble.

To celebrate the end of an epic season and wish all the best for pastures new, a slap up dinner was held at Eleven 22 - a super-nice restaurant in Golden town, with PowderTrip picking up the tab (which is nice). All the usual suspects were there, plus some honorary guests including Megz, Bruno, Christie (as seen in Backcountry Adventures Part I), Marie and Gary (owners of Alpen Rose where the rest of the PowderTrip rabble stayed), Colin, Mike, Lisa and Carrie (from the KHMR Snow School).

For pure comedy value and a bit of harmless fun, John Boyte (PowderTrip Director) organised some awards for the crew, accolades as follows:

Gnarliest tricks - Me
Best Helmet Hair & Best Attendance - Matt
Novice to Expert - John
Most Exotic & Numerous Injuries - Mike
Most Entertaining Dancing & You Pull that Sh*t Again and I’ll Cut Your Balls Off - Tom (Ice Man)

The night was completed with a trip to Taps for some obligatory shot-skis and our last dose of Altitude lager (@ only $10 a pitcher!). To finish, as it’s Monday where else is there to go apart from a last soiree at Fresh Meat Mondays @ The Roadhouse, where for a change the Dollar draft was surprisingly good quality with a hangover arriving after only 4 glasses rather than the usual 2. It was a tear-jerking farewell as I said goodbye to peeps and time to head back home. A jolly 11 hour Greyhound to Vancouver awaits in the morning, joy joy joy.

My thanks to the following people for making this the best season ever:

Matt, Olly, Travis T, Nicci, John, Tom, Mike, John B, & Neil (Powder Trip); Bruno (ski lessons); Ryan, Lisa, Trevor, Colin, Don, Carissa, Leanne, Mike, Steve, Christen, Crystal, Sarah, Ana, Lyndsey, Trisha, Jenna, Mallory, Claire & friends (KHMR); Polly, Ronnie, Annette & Marlene (11th St); Megz (dudette); Dave & Bridget (double-dudes); Kurt & Garcy (The Cabin Owners), Brady & Ryan (Ontario dudes), dude no-name & Lee (Selkirk Sports), and all other dudes I missed.

Golden - I love you and hope to be back soon. Bye for now! Next stop Vancouver.