Sandwell Provincial Park on Gabriola Island

Norbi's fate, had he stayed home, was shopping. And, likely, more shopping! Fortunatlely I came to his rescue.

My alternative to shopping was a day checking out as many beaches - with lunch and beer in between - as possible on Gabriola Island. After stops at Brickyard Beach, Degnen Bay, Drumbeg Park, and the pub at Silva Bay, we made our way to Sandwell Provincial Park. The rains of the previous evening had created a bit of a slick path to the beach (it should be mentioned, that this path is 650 meters long and quite steep) but we were down at sea level in no time at all.

Dombrowski: "...more than a kilometre long... mostly composed 
of a band of beach logs and fine pebbles leading, at low tide, 
to a wide stretch of fine, firm sand and tidal pools."(2013-06-01)

The beach, #15 (page 57) in Theo Drombowski's "Secret Beaches of the Salish Sea" is, to quote Dombrowski, "...more than a kilometre long... mostly composed of a band of beach logs and fine pebbles leading, at low tide, to a wide stretch of fine, firm sand and tidal pools."

 The south end of Sandwell Beach is rocky (2013-06-01)

This beach truly is a gem. But for the rather long and steep path leading to and from it, Sandwell Park beach is close to perfect!

South end of Sandwell Beach (2013-06-01)

Amidst the large boulders at the south end of the 
beach at Sandwell Park; fine sand (2013-06-01)

Looking south along the beach at Sandwell Park (2013-06-01)

Sandstone Beach along Jack Point

In Theo Dombrowski's excellent, must-have, book on "secret beaches", the Biggs and Jack Point Park beach is listed as #62 on page 165 (Secret Beaches of Southern Vancouver Island). To cite Dombrowski, "there are plenty of options for curling up in a sandstone basin, perching atop a sandstone couch or peering into tidal pools."

In a word, this beach is all about sandstone. Although there are plenty of examples of sandstone beaches on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, this one at Jack Point has perhaps the biggest concretions I've seen in the area. Of course, there are plenty of examples of the tripe-like erosions here as well.

 Large concretions on a sandstone beach (2012-10-17)

Trip-like sandstone erosions (2012-10-17)

 A continuation of the sandstone formations on the other side of the little bay (2012-10-17)

Sandstone beach details  (2012-10-17)

Departure Bay Details: a Stroll in October

Around mid-October, with a reasonably low tide (after having been turned back by high water in the past, I have learned to check this out), I thought I'd take a stroll along the Departure Bay beach, from the access point near the end of White Eagle Terrace, to the Kin Hut. The foliage showed off bright autumn colours. What struck me on this walk, was the amount of stuff, rusty and otherwise, I encountered. What follows are some impressions. Enjoy!

Autumn colours liven up a rocky Departure Bay beach (2012-10-14) 

Oh Canada! Maple leaf on a rocky beach (2012-10-14) 

Might this have been part of a float in earlier days? (2012-10-14) 

Rusty remnants of another era (2012-10-14) 

Autumn foliage covers the beach around the high water mark (2012-10-14) 

Rusty stuff; a reminder of bygone eras (2012-10-14) 

Too many colours to resist taking a picture (2012-10-14) 

In the distance, the Nanaimo oceanographic research facility (2012-10-14)

More rusty stuff. Mining? Logging? Marine? Who knows? (2012-10-14)