Saturday-Sunday, September 5-6
Overnight showers cleared to a gorgeous Saturday, and by 10:15 am we’d motored to a nearby dinghy dock in Coracle and puffed up a hill to Gabriola’s main road to catch the convenient electric bus (called “Gertie”) in front of a small Roman Catholic “log church.” We each bought a day-pass and spent most of the late morning and afternoon riding around the forested island, along rocky beaches to the ferry dock, and to the large and bustling “Growers’ and Creators’” open-air market near the Village, the island’s main business area.
After browsing the booths, we continued to explore the stores and art galleries in the downtown area, especially liking the Folklife Village, which was originally the Folklife Pavilion from Expo 86 in Vancouver, and which is now Gabriola Island’s main shopping and community center. After our on-foot explorations, we rode the bus to the astounding Malaspina Galleries, where people of all ages joined us in exploring that the fantastical sandstone carvings produced by eons of sculpting by wind and wave. One can walk over the wet sandstone without slipping, examine the intricate honeycomb webs beneath one’s feet and above one’s head, sit beneath the breaking waves of stone that have been frozen in time above the gurgling water, into which the more adventurous youngsters were plunging with hissing splashes after leaping off the cliffs above. Walt and I sat on warm stone “benches” in the shade of the arching “frozen waves” for quite sometime, and I loved rubbing my bare toes on the sandstone in the cool water!
Peeping through a knothole in a tree above the Malaspina Galleries, and exploring the tide pools and sandstone sculptures above and below the “caves.”
At length, we caught the bus back to Page’s Resort, where we waited in line, with a great many other hungry folks, to buy dinners at the Fire Engine Grill Woodfire Restaurant and Catering, a West-Coast -inspired food truck featuring flame-grilled meats and seafood, and to eat them at picnic tables on a sloping lawn overlooking the marina. We loved the lamb-burgers and rosemary-garlic fries —YUMM!
We returned to Braesail in Coracle after a fabulous, perfect-weather day taking in the beauties of God’s handiwork and of human creativity, chatting with at least a dozen islanders in the course of our meanderings, wishing the day didn’t have to end, but looking forward to attending worship at Christ Church, a combined Anglican-United Church congregation, on Sunday morning.
As we had done on Saturday, we motored to a nearby dinghy dock in Coracle on a spectacularly beautiful morning, climbed up to the main road, and were soon chatting with Patty, a parishioner at Christ Church with whom Walt had arranged a ride to the 10 am service. We enjoyed the worship and found the people very warm and welcoming and fun to talk with while we consumed coffee, cookies, and fresh plums after the service. Since we’d agreed to leave our space at the marina’s dock around noon, we didn’t spend much time at the Sunday Farmers’ Market near the dingy dock or at the lovely art gallery at the top of the pier, but prepared to leave for the two-hour trip to Nanaimo after a short visit to the marina’s pleasant and well-stocked general market and bookstore (Walt didn’t buy any books this time!). After Walt made a repair to the mechanism that allows the raising and lowering of Coracle in the stern, and with a little assistance from a dockhand, we motored into the wind and were soon bouncing through waves that washed the hull, bow, and decks with sparkling spray.
The anchorage near Saysutshun/Newcastle island across the water from Nanaimo was quite crowded with boats, and it took Walt some time to find a good spot in which to “drop the hook.” Once safely settled, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon and evening that included online Compline with our son and friends, a tasty dinner prepared by Walt, time for reading, photo-editing, and blog-post-writing, and yet another glorious sunset!
Braesail - A grand yacht in the Salish Sea 