A bit of wind

I wanted a few grey weather photos. It was raining again, so I took a couple through the open window of the car. Then I walked down to the water's edge, just a half step above the level of the highest waves, hunkered down for a low shot, and a freak wave pounded in, soaked me to the knees, and almost bowled me over. End of session.

Wet and windy. (Fresh breeze, 33 km/h.) Near the 50th parallel. The only boat out there is the Quadra Island ferry.

I'll try again another day.

Green and white

Swirling water as the ferry settles into the landing.

Foam mixed into the water makes it milky and green. Before the ferry arrived, it was a clear dark blue.

Detail

I took a quick dash over to the island for an afternoon and evening. A beautiful trip; the sun shone all day. Photos tomorrow, and then I have an old mystery, explained, for the next day.

Oh, for an island of mine own!

And back before computers existed, too.

I am fighting a sulking, stubborn, unreasonable hard drive that wants to hog all my yummy photo files for itself and not share. I'm not giving up, but the island is tempting . . .

Somewhere in mid-channel, from the Tsawwassen-Schwartz Bay ferry.

These days, of course they have computers there, too. And internet access. No refuge anywhere!

Well-lighted passage

The water in Georgia Strait this weekend was flat, even glassy in spots. The ferry skimmed along smoothly, almost imperceptibly, except for the wash streaming straight out behind us. And wonder of wonders, someone had recently washed the windows on the first ferry! I was able to stay inside, in the warmth, and still see the coasts of the islands our route passed.

First half of the trip across the Strait. Our route marked in red. Google maps.

Saltspring Island

Light beacon on point. I notice that a lot of them now are solar powered.

Just a gull playing in the ship's air stream.

Hole in the wall. These little, usually unvisited, creek openings have always intrigued me. I want to row over, go and clamber over the rocks, see what's living in there.

Another inviting spot. A sun-warmed mossy rock, with light beacon.

Huge winch and chain.

Ferry and two beacon lights, one on the point, and one out in the channel. Plus a little marker buoy (with a light) beside the ferry. The end of a dock on the far right holds a row of cormorants.

Lighthouse on the shady side. Georgina Point, Mayne Island, at the eastern end of Active Pass.

It's a tricky route. The ferry track passes barely a stone's throw from several rocky reefs. The gap between Clive and Knapp Islands, just out of Schwartz Bay is just over 300 yards wide; Active Pass is double that, but ferries pass each other along here. I'm glad there are so many markers.

The two colours of the Sunshine Coast

Green:

Leaving Saltery Bay

And blue:

And heading south.

I've been busy, and I have an early morning ahead. Tomorrow, I'll post the details about the Rock Flipping Day.

Sunset over Malaspina Strait

Sunshine Coast trip, Day One, continued:

The last 20 kilometres or so of the highway to the Earl's Cove ferry gives my arms a good workout. It snakes its way north and east, following the line of the coastal slopes, never deciding on any one direction for more than a few metres. We swing left, right, left again, right and right and right until it seems that we'll be tailgating ourselves, then left again at the last minute. Laurie mentioned seasickness. I like it; it keeps me alert.

Every so often, there's a sign; a twisty arrow, just in case we hadn't noticed the curves. Or a bent arrow, with a speed limit, usually about the speed I'm going already.

It always takes longer to travel these 20 km. than I planned.

On the ferry, the Island Sky, the windows were sparkling clean. We got a front seat with a good view over the bow, I got out the camera, and promptly fell asleep. Laurie woke me as we arrived in Saltery Bay. So much for enjoying the view!

But the view we came for was waiting for us in Powell River, at our motel, the Westview Centre. It is pasted onto the side of a steep hill; the driveway is a bit scary, and I always feel that we need chocks for our wheels when we park. I'm almost surprised to find the car still at our door in the morning. The drawing card is the sunset; this is the best place I know to see it.

I was awake for this, at least.

Looking straight down the driveway. The North Island Princess, arriving from Blubber Bay.

Straight overhead, blue sky and baby-pink clouds.

Looking over Malaspina Strait. Georgia Strait is just beyond Texada Island, directly ahead.

Turning our back on the view; the sunset in a motel window.

Next: The wharf!

An hour to kill

I'm still sorting our vacation pictures, in no particular order. My whim of the moment; that's the deciding factor.

The mouse landed on Saltery Bay today.

A destination arrived at.

From Saltery Bay, the ferry would take us to Earl's Cove. But we had over an hour to wait.

Nobody in the ferry lineup

So we walked into town. What there is of it: on Google maps, I counted 20 houses, on two streets. We covered half of one of those.

Cliff on the first corner. There's a house on top. Great view!

A patch of lichen growing on the rock.

It's a leaf lichen, with brown fruiting bodies.

More rock dwellers, with a polka-dotted leaf visitor.

Hawk-weed on the lip of the cliff.

Red stems, green leaves, white flowers of salal.

Lamb's ear. I love these furry leaves. The whole plant smells like bubblegum.

Crow and long shadow.

In front of the road-side burger-and-breakfast stand. The people were friendly, the crow hungry. But we'd already breakfasted, so he got no scraps from us. Next time, maybe.

Mock orange intertwined with blackberry canes, in an abandoned garden.

Reflections in a log-cabin window.

Near the landing, this tiny spider caught the light just right. It was too small for the naked eye: all I could see was the web and a dot in the centre.

Araneus sp.?

The centre of the web has an unusual bubble pattern. And the camera sees four eyes, and the "owl" pattern (or is it a cactus?) on the back. Sometimes my camera surprises me.

Ferry line-up. Time to go back to the car.

And here's the ferry, comin' for to carry us home. (Homeward, anyhow.)

Already planning the next one

We're home, and exhausted. I think we need another vacation.

Aboard the MV Island Sky, the ferry from Saltery Bay to Earl's Cove.

Halfway home. One more ferry to go.

Tonight, I must sleep. But tomorrow, I can start going through my Encyclopedia, trying to identify a squirm of worms. Oh, joy!

Anticipation

Two more days, and we'll be on our way north.

View, muted and cooled through a ferry window. Near Horseshoe Bay. 2009.

Sailboat, off Earl's Cove.

Arriving in Powell River.

I can hardly wait.

We hurried; now we wait.

Sunshine Coast, Day two, Leg one: Earl's Cove ferry landing.

The Lower Sunshine Coast is connected to the mainland by two ferries, at the north and south ends. We pay to get there, about $35 for the car, but leaving is free. (If people had to pay to leave, maybe they'd just stay put, move in and put down roots.)

Our route to Vancouver Island included three ferry trips: from Horseshoe Bay to the Lower Sunshine Coast, at Langdale, off again at Earl's Cove, connecting to Saltery Bay on the Powell River peninsula, and then from the town of Powell River to Comox on Vancouver Island. We spent a lot of time at ferry landings.

We took the second sailing at Earl's Cove, getting to the landing at 9:30 AM, and loading at 10:30. An hour to kill, but the morning was cool and there was plenty to see.

Morning shadows, on the way to the ferry.

Earl's Cove.

Waiting for the ferry.

Squiggles on the water.

Unidentified weed.

Hawkweed.

A flowery bush.

Barnacles and reflections.

A handy map.

With mermaid and octopus.

Good to know.

And a saucy robin.

Finally, here she comes!

Our ferry here was the Island Sky, a smallish boat, carrying only 125 cars. (BC Ferries fleet, for comparison.) The trip takes just under an hour.

Next: water, rocks, and lichen.

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