Vancouver Island Revisited

I was going through the slide film scan archive and came across a few images from my first trip to Vancouver Island, when I visited Tofino, Victoria, and Port Renfrew in September, 2000.  

Looking back, it's hard to believe I had never ventured west of West Vancouver in the twenty-some years I lived in BC; in fact I had been to Europe, Asia, and made at least half a dozen trips to Nova Scotia before I ever made it over to Vancouver Island.  Now, I'm trying to make up for lost time...

Botany Bay, Vancouver Island

Long Beach Waves, Vancouver Island

Long Beach Sunset, Vancouver Island

Red Rock Coulee, Alberta

Living on Gabriola is great, and there are a lot of new landscapes for a photographer to explore here on the west coast, but one thing I do miss from living in Alberta was the ability to get up and go somewhere without having to catch a ferry...

Here's a photo from the archives, circa 2005, taken at the Red Rock Coulee Natural Area in southern Alberta.  We had camped there overnight, so we could take advantage of the great light at sunset and again the following morning.  Thinking about this makes me wish we still had our VW Westfalia camper...

Red Rock Coulee at Sunset

Petroglyph Island

Gabriola is sometimes referred to as "Petroglyph Island", perhaps because of the book of the same title by Mary and Ted Bently, but certainly because of the large number of ancient petroglyphs carved into the exposed sandstone in various locations around the island.

The best place to view the petroglyphs is at the Gabriola Museum at 505 South Road, where concrete casts have been made of the most prominent petroglyphs on the island; this way visitors can see and enjoy the First Nations rock art without damaging the fragile originals.

Most of the original petroglyph sites are located on private land, but one of the best sites, near the United Church, is still accessible to the public.  If you do visit this site, take care not to disturb or damage the petroglyphs; even walking on them will eventually destroy them.

Church Site Petroglyph, Gabriola Island

Church Site Petroglyph, Gabriola Island

Malaspina Galleries, Gabriola

I finally managed to get over to the Malaspina Galleries one day last week to do some exploring.  I don't know why I waited so long to check out this site - it really is amazing.  I had great afternoon light for the photographs, but there were also a lot of other people there which greatly limited my choices for composition.  Here are some of the photos - I hope you like them!

Malaspina Galleries, Gabriola Island 

Malaspina Galleries, Gabriola Island

Malaspina Galleries, Gabriola Island

Humpback Whales at Green Wharf

A humpback whale and her calf have been spending some time in False Narrows this week, and yesterday I managed to get a few photos of them near Green Wharf.  The lighting conditions weren't exactly ideal for photography, but it was a wonderful experience nonetheless - these were the first whales I've ever seen in the wild!  Very cool to have them come this close and seemingly not pay any attention to the human activity around them.

Humpback Whale Approaching

Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale Up Close

Humpback Whale in False Narrows

Humpback Whale Near Green Wharf, Gabriola

Here's a short video clip of the whales exhaling as they float near the wharf:

Humpback Whales at Green Wharf, Gabriola on YouTube