Surf Pub, Gabriola Island

The eagles have all flown from Gabriola Island now and are probably on their way to the Fraser River to feast on salmon there.  It seems like it is the end of the season for tourists, too.
We finally got over to the Surf Pub on Berry Point Road for supper.  This week-end is the end of their season and they will be closed till next spring.  They are a British style pub and have good food.  We enjoyed our supper and then we enjoyed walking down the beach taking in the beautiful sunset.

Surf Pub, Gabriola Island, B.C.

A Built-in Bench on the Beach on Berry Point Road

Bigleaf Maple, Gabriola Island

West Coast Big Leaf Maple

We have several of these West Coast Big Leaf Maples growing in our yard here on Gabriola Island and so I have decided to take some time, photograph them and study them so that I can paint pictures of them soon.

This magnificent hardwood species can grow up to 40 m tall.  Older trees are often seen draped in moss and even have ferns growing on them.  This tree lives an average of 200 years, with 300+ not unheard of.

The bark on older trees is grey-brown, ridged and often is covered with moss, lichens and ferns. 

It has 5 lopes on it's leaves which can be up to 30cm across.  These big leaves turn yellow in the autumn.  This Western Maple tree has the largest leaf of any maple tree.  The largest Maple leaf currently on record measures 20.86" wide and 20.55" long off of a tree in Richmound, B.C.

The Maple tree will have greenish-white flowers, about 3mm across and hang in numerous amounts in clusters .  The tree will have golden-brown paired, winged, seeds, 3-6cm long.  These seeds are in the shape of wings and look like little bats.

The stumps will sprout vigorously after cutting and these sprouts can grow over 3m tall in a single year.

The Eastern variety of maple produces higher quality maple syrup.

West Coast Big Leaf Maple
 

Red Cedar and Yellow Cedar Trees, Gabriola Island

Yellow Cedar is the oldest tree in the B.C. area and is commonly 1,000 to 1,500 years old.

The Yellow Cedar Tree can grow up to 50m tall, with a trunk that is often slightly twisted.  The flattened branches tend to hang vertically and appear limp.  The leaves of the Yellow Cedar are often distinctly darker green than leaves of Red Cedar.  The leaves are bluish-green with sharp pointed spreading tips.   Crushed leaves of the Yellow Cedar have an unpleasant, mildew smell, quite unlike the pleasing odour of Red Cedar foliage.

Another way to tell the difference between the two species is to stroke the branch away from the tip, going against the grain, the Yellow Cedar will be very prickly and the Red Cedar is not.

Yellow Cedar

The bark is dirty brown to grayish-white and has vertical strips similar to that found on the Red Cedar.  The Yellow Cedar's bark does not come off in very long strips.

The tough, straight grain wood from the Yellow Cedar was used to make paddles and bows by northwest coast peoples. 

Western Red Cedar

The branches on the Red Cedar tend to spread or droop slightly and the turn upward in a J-shape.  The branches are spray like and are flattened horizontally.  The bark is grey to reddish brown and will tear off in long fibrous strips.  The wood is very aromatic.  Western Red Cedar is B.C.'s provincial tree.

Red Cedar

 

 

The Rocks of Gabriola Island

The main rocks exposed on Gabriola Island are sandstone and shale. 

In the 1890's and early twentieth century sandstone blocks were cut from a quarry near Descanso Bay and shipped for architectural use in public buildings in Vancouver and Victoria.

In the early to mid 1930's millstones were also cut from the sandstones. A special saw was used to cut millstones that were 3.3 feet or more in diameter.  Each stone weighed several tonnes and was said to be worth $600.00 at that time.  These were used in the pulp and paper industry in the mills on the West Coast.

A few of these types of cut millstones can still be seen on the island today.  One section of the quarry with it's rows of circular holes is protected as a nature reserve now. 

Sandstone Mill Stone and Blade used to cut it

Starfish, Gabriola Island

We keep going back to look at the purple starfish on the beaches.  They just simply amaze me!  Today, we find plenty of them in the tide pools and crevices between the rocks.

 

 

Shades of Green, Gabriola Island

green   1. of the color of growing grass  2. overspread with green plants or foliage   
3. inexperienced or naive  4. not dried or seasoned 

At this time of year the eye can see more shades of green than any other color.  It seems that everything is green in nature right now.  Emerald green, forest green, grass green, moss green, pine-green, hunter-green, sage, sea green, jade green.  Then we have aquamarine, bottle-green, apple-green, Beryl, Bronze-green, celery, chartreuse, kelly, lime, malachite, olive green, pea green, spinach green, verdant, and verdigris.

We are told that it is the season to make sure that we have got in enough firewood to last the coming colder season.  The trees that we have cut down from our lot are too green to burn this year and so Geo loosely piles the pieces so that they will season.


We need to purchase seasoned wood to burn this year.  George has stacked two chords of wood now that is seasoned.