Dragon's Lodge

Year round at Gabriola Island, you will experience a mild climate.  After your 20- minute ferry ride from Nanaimo, or your brief flight from Vancouver, you will quickly sink into the bliss of Gabriola’s warm summer, or enjoy the gentle weather that blesses this area day after day in each of the seasons.

Like the 4,500 locals, you will be able to decide between active or calm activities  – or not much activity at all – if that’s what you choose.

You can experience the variety of sandy, pebbly, or rocky beaches to play, swim, and beach comb, and you might even catch the annual Sand Sculpture competition at Gabriola Sands Provincial Park.  Your children will love to romp and splash on the safe, expansive beach at Sandwell Provincial Park; it is ideal for your little ones.

If you prefer, there are shady trails to walk, wander, and quietly enjoy the wonders of nature.  Or perhaps you would prefer to ride your bicycle or drive your vehicle out along the gently rolling roads to explore the rest of the island.

Gabriola’s many parks vary – from the protected area of old-growth forest in the 707-acre wood right at the heart of the island, to those that  lead right down to the waterfront where you can watch the many sea creatures in their natural habitat.  Drumbeg Park is a favourite swimming spot enjoyed by many locals, while also *preserving a Garry oak ecosystem.

For those who enjoy water sports, the coast around Gabriola contains many good fishing areas for the fishermen and women in your group and, with luck, the locals might just tell you about the deep trench that makes the waters off Dragon’s Lodge a prime spot for your favourite catch.

Wherever you go around Gabriola Island, the views are stunning and, if you drive or cycle on the North Road-South Road loop, you will see the mountains of the mainland across the water.   You don’t want to miss Entrance Island Lighthouse, and on most evenings, you can see the lights of Vancouver and Gibson’s Landing twinkling in the distance.  Try getting up early to watch the sunrise, or waiting until later for the sunset – and make sure to take your camera – it can be
spectacular.

To satisfy the curiosity of the explorers in your group, they can investigate the nooks and crannies of Gabriola Island from the old brick quarry to the ancient and intriguing petroglyphs and shell burial middens – thought to be thousands of years old.  Then you can visit the museums and galleries to look at pictures and artifacts from those long-ago times.

Another unique natural formation, accessible from Gabriola Sands at low tide, is the Malaspina Galleries, a sculpted, cave-like, sandstone feature.  The Galleries measure approximately 90 metres (300 feet) long by 3.5 metres (11 feet) high and are a glorious example of nature’s art.

Gabriola, this Isle of the Arts, is home to many diverse and talented artists, who produce functional and decorative pottery, wearable art, glass sculpting and mosaics, silver jewellery, acrylics, watercolours, woodcarving, metalwork and much more.   You will have a hard time choosing what to purchase from your favourite artist to take home with you.

If you are on Gabriola Island in October, try the Thanksgiving Gallery Tour.  Many island studios are open to the public and, if you are dedicated and have lots of energy, you can visit the more than 80 artists in one weekend.   There are always some gallant folks who try to do the whole tour.

Whatever your reason to visit – a wedding, a family reunion or holiday, a corporate event, or any kind of group gathering,  it won’t take you long on Gabriola Island to discover that the endless beauties and wonders of nature will rejuvenate your soul and send you home relaxed and re-energized.

F or History Fans

The earliest known archaeological record on Gabriola is a cave burial dated to about 1500 BC; other locations in this part of British Columbia date as far back as 3000 BC.  You can visit Gabriola’s famous petroglyphs, which are carved in the sandstone at the south end of the island.

Though Aboriginal settlers have inhabited the area since that time, the first recorded visit to the Island was by Spanish explorers in 1791.  About 60 years later, the first settlers arrived from Europe, and you can find graves in the cemetery dating back to the 1800s.

With the arrival of the immigrants, the population of Gabriola began to grow, and the first wooden school house (for 15 students) opened in 1872.  Regular mail service did not begin for another 12 years, though the early settlers received occasional mail when visitors sailed over to the island from Nanaimo by boat or canoe.  In 1884, the government agreed to provide mail delivery, and the first official Post Master was appointed 6 years later.

The production of clay bricks was an early major industry on Gabriola and, at its height, the brickyard produced 75,000 to 80,000 bricks a day, which were shipped over to Vancouver and Victoria.  This business is said to have been operating during the 1890s, but the first company that incorporated was in 1911 and it continued to produce millions of bricks a year until 1952.

Many of Gabriola’s homes integrate these attractive old bricks into their fireplaces and patios, and if you know where to look, you might discover some traces of what was once the busy clay quarry and brick factory.  As you explore the beach at the bottom of Brickyard Hill, you will still find lots of brick fragments scattered amongst its pebbles.

These days, Gabriola Island, popularly known as the “Isle of the Arts”, is home to about 4,500 people – a good mix of old and young, artists and entrepreneurs, retired folks and those who commute daily to work in Nanaimo and Vancouver.