Living on the water, I find these storms extremely humbling.  Watching the wave explode against the rocks as you hear the wind howling through the trees really makes you realize that we don’t own this planet, it owns us.

Driving along the roads, I’m reminded of footage I’ve seen on TV post-natural-disaster.  The roads are littered with tree branches and bits of greenery, and every now and then you’ll come upon a tree that somebody has dragged off the road, or cut a path through.

A lot of people find winter depressing on Canada’s West Coast.  It’s cloudy for months on end, and it rains a heck of a lot.  Personally, I love this time of year.  Sure, nothing beats going for your first hike in the spring sunshine, but there’s something wonderfully intimate about spending time indoors with the ones you love.

Photo by ecstaticist – http://flic.kr/p/5VKPpj

Wouldn’t you like to get away?

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

I grew up in the 80s, and watched entirely too many reruns of Cheers as a teenager.  There’s something warm and comforting about the theme song, isn’t there?  What a nice idea, going somewhere where everybody knows your name.  That’s sort of what living on Mayne has been like for me.

I don’t claim to know all one thousand residents personally.  I probably couldn’t even name one quarter of them.  I’m better with faces though, and it’s hard to step foot outside my door without seeing somebody I recognize from around town.  My wife worked at the local bakery for a couple of years, so she knows a good deal more people than I do.  In fact, some people only know me as “Rachel’s husband” or “Reilly and Parker’s dad”.

That’s happening less and less these days, but the point is that there’s rarely ever more than a couple degrees of separation between people on this island.  Everyone talks about everybody else as if you should know who they are.  ”You know, Jake who works with Pete…”

Knock knock knock… Trick or Treat!
<silence>
Sorry kids, they’re not over from Vancouver this weekend!

That’s exactly what I thought when we moved here.  Then I learned that everyone goes to the fire hall for Halloween, the kids dress up in costumes, and we all relax by a big fire.  Sure, I’ve got fond memories of sprinting door-to-door on the Canadian prairies, while trying to avoid sliding on black ice when I was a kid.  This version just seems so much more civilized.

Every year, the fire department lights up a bonfire, roasts hot dogs and brews up a big batch of hot chocolate.  The community gets together and has a great time; the kids play, and then they put on a pretty nice fireworks display.  We’re into year 3 of living here, so now we’ve definitely got a wide range of friends in the community, and I’ve moved from being a paranoid city parent, to being a laid-back island parent (it probably has something to do with Rei being in school now too).

I’ve attached a short video from the night.  Some of it is filmed Blair Witch style, so if you’re likely to get motion sickness, might give it a miss (you’ve been warned!)

A number of changes & new features

You might have noticed the new look.  It’s still a work in progress.  It’s a little too sterile for the purpose of DiscoverGulfIslands, but I think it has nice bones and will make for a good starting point.  There are a few new categories that have been added, most notably the video one, so hopefully we’ll be adding some content to fill out those areas soon.

We’ve also added in the ability to share/bookmark posts easily with others.  If you like something we’ve written, why not send it on to some others?

Last but not least, you can sign up to receive e-mail updates, so that anytime we post something new, you’ll receive a message from us.

Hope you like what you see, and that we’re headed in the right direction here.  We’re still looking for folks that want to contribute, so if you live on Galiano, Mayne, Pender, Saltspring or Saturna and feel like writing the occasional post, please get in touch.

Having moved here from Alberta where multiple days of -30 degree weather are a given, winters on Mayne Island are a dream come true. It rains quite a bit, rarely snows (although last year was an exception) and the temperature only drops below freezing for a few days. The population of Mayne drops to about a thousand people, and some of those people rarely leave their houses.

If you’ve planned ahead in the spring or summer, you’ll have a good stock of firewood built up. Last winter, we found that we had a fire burning most days, and it really helped to cut down on the electric heating costs.

For me, it’s an ideal time to buckle down and get work done. The outdoors aren’t really calling to me, so I can stay indoors and focus my efforts on computer work. I’m a big fan of staying in and watching movies, as opposed to going to the theatre, so that works fine.

The other bonus is that there is rarely an endless block of nothing but rain. It will break several times a week, and then the kids can get outside to burn off some energy. When we lived in Alberta, the temperature/wind just wouldn’t allow that for long stretches of time.

Winters are quiet and cozy. I actually prefer them to the hectic pace of the summer months.

I think that funk is fun, but I wasn’t expecting to actually recognize any of the songs (beyond maybe a James Brown tribute or two), but I have to say that I was familiar with 80% of their song list that night.  GUtGD played a number of songs that I wouldn’t with an awesome bass line, a beefy horns section, and really great percussion.  Combine great music with another one of chef Steve’s great buffet dinners, and I was left a happy customer.

I love that moving to Mayne Island hasn’t led to having nowhere to go/nothing to do.  Aside from all of the parties with friends during the summer (and there’s a fair amount), events like this make living on Mayne a really great place to be.  My sister and nieces are in town from Alberta, and they had a great time too.  While there’s the inconvenience of not being able to find sugar after 5:00 PM (my wife was baking for the farmer’s market one night and ran out), I’m still a firm believer that the benefits vastly outweigh the drawbacks.

What a great night!  Thanks again Peter and Leslie, and of course Get Up to Get Down for a really fun time.

Mufaro Marimba @ the Wild Fennel

Question: what do you do on a Sunday night on Mayne Island?

Answer: go watch a live Marimba Band and eat delicious food (slight disclaimer: doesn’t happen EVERY Sunday).

For the second year in a row, we went to see Mufaro live at the Wild Fennel.  It’s a really great time, the music is amazing, and the kids love it because they get to dance and play various instruments that the band brings with them to shows.  Instead of running their usual menu, the Wild Fennel offers up a buffet of chef Steve’s (always) delicious food.

I’m far from being a Marimba aficionado, but you just can’t help but love listening to Mufaro play.  Their music is so energetic and upbeat that if the food doesn’t put a smile on your face, the music is sure to.

On the menu last night: ribs, tuna, vegetarian lasagna, pasta salad, tossed salad, and a raspberry chocolate cake that co-owner Peter undoubtedly had a hand in making.  I hope Mufaro is back again next year; seeing them is definitely a tradition I’m willing to repeat.  If they do return, book your seats early, the event always sells out.

I was pretty excited about paddling the north shore of Mayne Island.  Not only would I be paddling past my house, but also I’d get to see Edith Point, which I’ve hiked countless times, from the water and get to check out the other houses along my street.  I thought that it would probably be fairly relaxing with somewhat interesting scenery.

We started out leaving Bennett Bay as the tide was coming in.  There wasn’t a lot of beach left when we headed out, and there was absolutely no beach to land on when we returned.  I managed to get in and out without going for a swim surprisingly.  Crossing the opening to Campbell Bay, I was really concentrating on my technique, and had a really good rhythm going.  We rounded the corner and started paddling along Edith Point.

There’s not much else I can say about the trip.  Turns out it was my least favorite paddle so far.  I don’t know if it was just my mood that day, but I didn’t enjoy the coastline as much as I was expecting and paddling felt like a chore.  When I got back to shore, I was tired, sore and didn’t really feel like I had accomplished much.  The tide was incredibly high, and the wind picked up half way through our paddle;  we were mostly paddling without any sort of currents (at slack), so if you stopped paddling, you would just stop in the water.  I’m willing to bet that this trip would be a completely different experience at low tide.

We made it to Oyster Bay and then turned around and headed back to Bennett.  Again, nothing remarkable on the return trip.  I had an interesting moment when I realized that between Active Pass the week before, and this trip, I had paddled around approximately half of the island.  I guess, in reality I’ve managed to do the entire shoreline now, but the consecutive week realization was kind of neat.

Bennett Bay, Mayne Island

The beach is such an integral part of summers in the Gulf Islands.  Mayne’s definitely got it’s share of beautiful places to worship the sun.  Bennett Bay is hands down the biggest and most popular.  We’re not talking wall to wall people, but you’ll definitely find a couple of dozen people there on a sunny afternoon.

Bennett Bay

Bennett Bay offers a great combination of sand and warm waters as well as natural beauty; it overlooks a part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, and you can even see as far as Mt. Baker in the States on a clear day.  When I’m out and about with the kids, Bennett is definitely the beach of choice.  It’s generally sunny all day long (southeast exposure).

Campbell Bay

Campbell Bay early morning

Campbell Bay is extremely sheltered and has a smallish beach.  It’s mostly gravel, but does have some sand.  It gets a ton of sun in the morning, and is a great swimming spot in the afternoons as the sun warms the surrounding sandstone throughout the day.  There is a sign indicating the presence of a clothing-optional beach (Boulder Beach) at Campbell Bay, but it doesn’t seem to see a lot of use.

Campbell is a great choice if you’re looking for a quiet spot for a picnic.

Piggott Bay

On the south side of the island, you can find Piggott Bay.  It’s one of my personal favorites for scenery, but in all honesty, the beach isn’t the greatest.  There is usually a ton of driftwood washed up on shore, and there’s a quite a bit of seaweed.  It gets great afternoon exposure, so it can be nice for an afternoon swim.

Miner’s Bay

Marine life from one of the many tide pools

Not a bad spot to sit and watch ferries go by.  It borders on Active Pass which can have some crazy currents, so if you’re swimming with children, keep on eye on them.  The beach isn’t very sandy, but is mostly small gravel, so it’s still not a bad place to lie around.  It’s close to town (just down from the library), so if you’re making a day of it, it’s really convenient to be able to run up to the grocery store/bakery for supplies.

This is by no means an exhaustive list.  In addition to those listed here, there are a great deal of rocky beaches with great tide pools for a leisurely stroll and some fun exploration.  There are a ton of “hidden” beaches too, but what fun would it be if I gave away all of their locations? (okay, maybe in a later article)

Surrounded by acres of land, 3 of which need to be mowed (I’ll get to that soon – I’m enjoying the wildness for now) I realise that true peace can be pleasantly quiet or talkative. Either way, it’s happy and so am I.

Non-human creatures on Pender Island seem to be peaceful too. For example, Pender has more deer than people – there are no predators to keep the deer population down.

I asked a Penderite, “How often do people get injured by hitting deer with their car?” “Less often than you would think,” was the reply.

Penderites are watchful on the roads and know that if you see one deer crossing the road, there are bound to be others that follow right after. A good thing to remember! So far, I haven’t experienced any truly close calls.

The deer like this property. I don’t have a garden, which is just as well because I don’t want to bother putting up high fences to keep them out. There is plenty of space for them to roam and munch here. They seem to like the heads of flowers that naturally grow here the most. But they avoid the foxgloves which are poisonous.

I often see a doe with up to 2 fawns in the early hours. The fawns sometimes race each other around the trees in the craziest way! It’s fun to watch. If they catch sight of me, they stop. Their vision is amazing and they’re very cautious. They bolt off if you get too close.

The droppings they leave are annoying, but not as annoying as I would have thought. They don’t really smell. Before I moved here I thought that I’d have to wear thick boots as I wandered the land – boots I would need to leave outside because they would be so encrusted. Instead, I’ve been fine in light sneakers or sandals.

Will I ever come to have a love/hate feeling about the deer, as some people here do? They are pests if you have a garden, I understand. I guess tics can be a problem sometimes. And if they run out in front of your car, yikes. But I can’t see myself hating them, ever, because they’re peaceful, and I’m peaceful, so there is some kinship perhaps.

~ Lillea Woodlyns

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