Vancouver Island and Northern Gulf Islands Vacation - Part Two

On our third day in the Northern Gulf Islands, we headed north, up through Dodd Narrows and into Nanaimo Harbour. It was a calm, gray morning.

 The Dodd Narrows can be a tricky passage if the tide is trying to push a bunch of water through its 150 ft. wide opening, but calm at slack water.

 Newcastle Island lies in Nanaimo Harbor and is a lovely marine park, very much like Blake Island off of West Seattle. There is a campground, pavillion with museum and restaurant, a marina, playground, hiking trails, and more. We kept our eyes out for the "champagne raccoons" (a genetic mutation makes them all beige), but didn't see any.

 

The shore formations are interesting and the water is very clear.

 There are heritage sites for the indigenous people who lived here seasonally.

 It was a really cool island to explore - next time we'll save a whole day for the trails.

 We had lunch right across the harbour at Dinghy Dock Pub - a "boat in only" restaurant off of Protection Island.

 The kids had fun in the "fishing hole" - trying to catch fish with corn kernels in this opening on the dock covered with plexi-glass.

 After lunch we traveled across the Northumberland Channel to the northwest end of Gabriola Island. These stunning sandstone formations are collectively known as the Malaspina Galleries and they were fascinating.

 Then we boated over to Gabriola Sands Park which includes Taylor and Pilot Bays connected by an isthmus.

 We set up for an afternoon on the beach at Taylor Bay. It is very shallow, flat and sandy at low tide. The kids built this sandcastle that was as tall as Charlotte's belly button.

 We concluded the day with a swim in the pool back at the condo - a perfect way to end the day.

 Day four: Reed is getting comfortable on the boat and likes to look out over the water at slow speed.

 Charlotte is learning how to drive the boat.

 Today, we went south, first stopping at town of Ladysmith for some groceries, before heading east through the "cut" between Thetis and Penelakut Islands. It ends up being about 30 feet wide at its narrowest and was only about 7 feet deep when we went through which wasn't too far off of high tide.

 From there, we kept heading east through Porlier Pass which separates Valdes and Galiano Islands and accesses the Strait of Georgia. We stopped on the east side of the pass at Dionisio Point Marine Park on the north tip of Galiano Island. It was a beautiful park and one of our favorites for the whole trip.

 Up on Dionisio Point looking back down at the beaches - Coon Bay (which ends up being like a lagoon at low water) is farther away and 1st Beach is closer.

 Looking out across the Strait of Georgia towards Vancouver from Dionisio Point.

 Reed has finally gotten over his fear of playing in the sand and water and is enjoying the beach with his siblings - yay!