Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Ahar, Me Mateys! We Sail for ... PLUNDER ISLAND!

Our ongoing exploration of Vancouver Island and its siblings continues!

Later today, we are finally going to actually visit (rather than just "view from a distance") one of the many bodies that make up the Southern Gulf Islands, specifically North Pender Island.

(They're called the "Gulf" islands because of a historical misnomer, the Gulf of Georgia, which is in fact the Strait of Georgia, so they should be called the Strait Islands ... but then we'd be in a fight with the Isle of Lesbos, I guess, so let's just leave it be for now ...)

Pender Island is actually two islands, cunningly named North and South, joined by a single bridge built in 1955. It was originally named Plunder Island but renamed to honour an early explorer of the area. One of the many islets around it is still called Skull Island to this day. They really should make this the HQ for Talk Like a Pirate Day, which incidentally is just around the corner!

Our pals Christian and Sarah have some work to do out there on a local farm and invited us to tag along. Ever eager to see more of our adopted island and the surrounding region, we'll be taking a smaller-class BC Ferry over to Otter Bay. The map below shows North Pender Island, and you can "zoom out" a bit to see Sidney Schwartz Bay (where we'll catch the ferry) and Victoria:


View Larger Map


It's actually a short trip, so we'll leave here early in the morning, do our thing on North Pender, visit South Pender and then come back late in the afternoon (just in time for Sarah and I to get ready for our Victoria Mac User Group meeting!). Assuming we take some good pictures, we may throw up a little gallery or slideshow.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Another interesting tid-bit about the Penders... that bridge is only bridge allowed by the Islands Trust (www.islandstrust.bc.ca) a unique form of local government in the Gulf Islands.

Also, check your navigation. You are going to waiting a long time for a BC Ferry in Sidney. You may have better luck at Swartz Bay however.

Make sure you get to Salt Spring one soon!

chas_m said...

Heh, thanks for the catch on Sidney/Schwartz Bay, and thanks for the link to the Islands Trust -- you people are weird!

ShareThis!