Peaceful Pender Islands

I'm spending a week on North Pender Island, in the Canadian Gulf Islands between Vancouver and Victoria. I've wanted to stay here for years, since I took one of the big ferries from Tsawassen to Swartz Bay, saw all the houses on the islands overlooking the water, and thought it would be cool to stay in one of them for awhile. And, it is! The two Penders, North and South, total only 14 square miles, with a permanent population of about 2400. Now, on a summer weekend, it's probably double that. There's enough activity to keep things interesting, but it's not crowded. In the winter, under gray, rainy skies, it must be VERY quiet. Pender is diverse; this pic shows Roe Lake, a fairly large lake on a fairly small island. There are many hiking trails on the island.

This is the type of ferry we took to the island...it's a pleasant 40 minute cruise through the archipelago. The ferry is docking at Otter Bay, Pender's main port.

North and South Pender were actually one island until 1903, when the government dredged this channel to facilitate boat traffic between the two sides of the island. (South Island is on the right). Oddly, the bridge wasn't built until the 1950s. It's a one laner, similar to the spans near Haena on the north shore of Kauai.

We were hanging on the deck of the house yesterday afternoon when a pod of orcas swam by, right near the shore! They came in three groups, and they were big and swimming fast! The orcas spy hopped, jumped and belly flopped, and generally put on a show. The pod was acccompanied by a posse of whale watching boats, but I think we were at least as close to the orcas as the folks on the boats. Blow the pic up for a better view of the orcas. This was the first time I had ever seen orcas in the wild. The day before, a bald eagle was hanging out right near the house.

Sunset from the deck. I enjoy just soaking up the beauty here. During the day, it's constantly interesting watching the sailboats and ferries go by. Now, at sunset, well, aaaahhhhh.