Gabriola Island Adventures
For as long as I can remember, the beach has been my paradise — a place to rise with the sun and tide, unwind with the wind, and ride the waves of the ocean and existence. One of my earliest memories was listening to the sound of my mother’s voice crash against the water’s rush. I can still hear that beautiful sound in my head, without even so much as lifting a seashell to my ear.
The last time I visited the ocean was nearing the end of Summer, and the last time I had been on a Ferry to experience it furthermore, I was with my mother, during my teen years. So, when a family friend of my husband, recently invited us out to the Island, you could imagine my excitement.
Our adventure took place on a crisp and delicate November weekend. We got on the Ferry at the Horseshoe Bay terminal and watched the sun rise as we travelled along. It was my daughters’ first time on a Ferry, which immediately brought me back to my childhood and all the Ferry trips my parents would take us on.
The gift shop was almost exactly how I had remembered it. The breakfasts… Not so much. I tried to be “adventurous” and order eggs benny from White Spot on the Ferry. Let me tell you, it tasted nothing like the White Spot eggs benny on land. It was like White Spot on a budget during rush hour. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on it… The service was great and I didn’t expect anything extravagant (it’s still just White Spot). However, I wouldn’t recommend ordering that particular item. To put it (not so) lightly, there was more butter than English muffin, and more hollandaise sauce than eggs (and anything else on the plate). You’re definitely much better off getting a simpler breakfast from there or hitting up Bread Garden.
Okay, the coffee though… Not at all what I expected. I reluctantly ordered a decaf latte from one of those “do it yourself” machines and to my surprise, it was actually kind of life changing (in a good way). At first, I feared it would be like one of those 7-11 watered down, bitter, artificially flavoured, disgustingly sugary messes. It was not anything like that, thank effing goodness. Whatever beans that machine was carrying were strong in flavour, not at all bitter, no sugar or weird artificial bs, and it contained the perfect amount of cream with a beautiful layer of foam on top. I later found out they use Island Farms cream, which (IMO) is the best diary cream you can get in BC. My husband even made fun of me because I had to take a photo of it (which will never do it justice). Oh and not photographed was the last half I spilled all over the place. Why is it only ever the good cups of coffee this happens to?
Okay, back to the ocean… Our first Ferry ride went by so quickly, we barely made it to the sun deck. We arrived on Vancouver Island (Nanaimo) after approximately and hour and 10 minutes, then drove 5 minutes to catch the second Ferry to Gabriola Island. The second Ferry ride was even quicker (approx 20 mins), and it was the smallest Ferry I’ve ever been on. There was no “inside” space or cafes / restaurants on this one, so if you’re wanting a cup of coffee, prepare to get one on the first Ferry or go to Madrona’s when you get to Gab. Yes, I decided to give the Island a cute nickname… I also sometimes call her “Gabri”. Anyway, because this Ferry ride was so quick, most people just stayed in their vehicles. As you can see (below), I did not — to the sun deck I went.
Once we got to Gab, we admired the cozy cafe and home / garden store on our way in. Further down the road, our host welcomed us and not long after, we began our tour of Sandwell beach.
The first thing that caught my eye was this leaning tree, I immediately fell in love with. I still don’t know what kind of tree it is and I can’t quite decifer what it is about it that I loved so much, but I know I’ll look forward to seeing it on our next visit.
The next eye catching thing was everything, really. This beach was the definition of tranquil, and our timing was immaculate. It was just after 2pm when the sun lit up the entire beach, which made it even more desirable. We even saw a Ferry in the distance, which was to be expected, but I just thought it looked so cool, because I hadn’t seen one quite like the way I saw it gliding across the ocean that day.
As I watched the waves roll in, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much my mom would have loved to travel to this place. She continued to circle my thoughts as my girls and I walked along the shore. We got our hands on all the shells and rocks, while my husband skipped as many as he could across the ocean. And of course, a collection started not long after. These are some of what we came across (photographed below).
Something else we came across was sea asparagus, and if it weren’t for our host, we wouldn’t have had any idea what it was or that you can, in fact, cook with it (recipe coming soon). We decided to gather some, and our host prepared it to go with our dinner later that evening. After washing and boiling it, he cooked it down in a small pot with some oil and spices. No salt needed, because it was naturally already salty and so very delicious. Photographed (below) is what it looks like before and after boiling.
Once we finished our sea asparagus and homemade pizza (not photographed, because I clearly couldn’t wait to eat it), we spent the rest of the evening winding down to prepare for the next (and last) day of Island adventures.
Our Ferry was booked for the early evening the next day, so we decided to explore another beach before making our departure. This beach was on the South end of the Gabriola Island and I can’t remember for the life of me what it was called, but it was the beach captured at the very beginning of this post (also photographed below).
While you may not be able to tell from here, this beach was quite different from the last. While Sandwell had a rocky beach, this one had little pools of water between large slabs of rock, and a shore made of tiny broken down seashells.
There was also a large meadow and walking path by this beach, which we stopped to admire and learn about Restoration in the area.
Not long after our visit to the South end, we packed up and headed to the first beach, one last time, to collect some more sea asparagus to bring home.
Once we got off of Gabriola, we had a little bit of a drive, because we decided to take the larger Ferry back to Tsawwssen before driving back to Vancouver. It was the only Ferry that wasn’t completely booked, but it was well worth the extra time. Plus, the layout was a lot nicer and the food was much better this time around. I was SO hungry when we got on, but I decided to order simple and got a burger from their White Spot. Let me tell you, it certainly hit the spot and I would definitely order it again. By the way, if you’re ever looking for a time killer on the Ferry, go to the restaurant and it will literally float on by.
Before we knew it, we arrived in Tsawwssen and were on our way home to which we would begin reminiscing.
Next time we go back, I hope to be swimming in the ocean and picking more sea asparagus. In the meantime, guess what I made with the bundle I brought home? More details on the next blog post.
Xoxo