Gabriola Island

Gabriola Island is located three miles east of Nanaimo and reached via ferry from the downtown ferry terminal. The island’s name derives from Punta de Gaviota (Cape Seagull), the name given by the Spanish to the south-eastern part of the island in 1791. Because of mispronunciation and corruption this name became Gaviola and later Gabriola. There are other reminders of the Spanish exploration of the Strait of Georgia in the names Descanso Bay (where the ferry arrives on Gabriola) and the Malaspina Galleries, the biggest tourist attraction on the island. 

I caught the ferry from Nanaimo to Gabriola. The ferry shuttles between the two terminals all day, almost every day of the year. It was the only ferry that ran late during my entire trip. This is a normal occurrence. This ferry takes vehicles and there are not too many seats for foot passengers. At Descanso Bay, the road heading up the hill is North Road. After about two hundred yards, North Road turns to the left but another road continues straight on as South Road. This is the area where most of the amenities are on Gabriola. Luckily, I was staying on South Road, about three hundred yards from the Folklife Village, with its pharmacy, grocery, restaurant, and liquor store. On the opposite side of the road to the village is a restaurant, a petrol station, a clothing shop, a newspaper office, and a pizza restaurant, all within three hundred yards of each other. Deer roam around Gabriola without fear of any predators, and there are signs on the trees to watch out for fawns crossing the road.

At the Folklife Village is a bus stop where the GERTIE bus arrives / departs many times a day. GERTIE stands for Gabriola Environmentally Responsible Trans-Island Express. This community-based bus zips around the island early in the morning and picks up all the people who commute to Nanaimo and takes them to the ferry terminal. In the evening, the bus waits for the late-afternoon ferry, regardless of how late it is, and takes the people back home. I used this bus each day I was on Gabriola. The fare was $2.50 irrespective of the length of the journey.

The first time I used GERTIE was to visit the Malaspina Galleries, a long section of eroded sandstone on the north-west coast. This eroded coastal feature is named after Alessandro Malaspina, a Tuscan explorer who spent most of his life as an officer in the Spanish navy. On behalf of the Spanish monarch, Malaspina undertook a voyage around the world from 1786 to 1788. From 1789 to 1794, Malaspina conducted a scientific expedition through the Pacific Ocean, exploring and mapping much of the west coast of the Americas from Cape Horn to the Gulf of Alaska. In 1789, the Spanish were giving serious thought to colonizing the area around Nootka Sound on Vancouver Island, and they commandeered some British ships in the harbour. This led to the Nootka Crisis and the possibility of war between Britain and Spain. Both countries mobilised their navies, but they never met in combat. In 1793, the two countries became allies against France. Both countries sought a diplomatic solution as the issues of the Nootka Crisis had become less important. They signed an agreement on January 11, 1794, under which both nations agreed to abandon Nootka Sound and not to establish any permanent base there, but ships from either nation could visit. The two nations also agreed to prevent any other nation from establishing sovereignty.

I asked the GERTIE driver where the best place was to get off the bus for the galleries. She said she would drop me off at the end of Malaspina Drive from where I could walk to the site. After about 25 minutes of whizzing around the roads of the northern part of the island, we arrived at the place, and I alighted. After 15 minutes of walking, I reached the coast and found the site. Walking along the galleries creates the illusion of being underneath a frozen wave for about one hundred yards. Real waves and frost have caused most of the erosion.