Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/679293
DREAMSCAPES SPRING/SUMMER 2016 12 T he waves glistened, a powerful tug pulled a barge on a long line and sails were like colourful, shimmering patches sprinkled on the sea. At Galiano Island a few cars clunked on and off the ferry. Gulls soared and black cor- morants dried their outstretched wings on the mooring posts like preachers blessing their flock. In Active Pass our ferry made sharp turns in the narrow, twisting channel. Fishing boats bobbed in the pass, seeking the herring and salmon attracted by the turbulent tidal currents. At Pender Island, my wife Allyson and I drove off the ferry. We were staying at a cabin for a month, and, as one sunny day followed another, we began to explore. On our walks through the forest we felt tiny amongst the enormous Douglas firs and western cedars. Here and there slouching arbutus trees with their peeling, rust- coloured trunks looked like hippies stranded in a platoon of ram-rod-straight soldiers. Surrounded by delicate ferns, sombre light, towering trees and bright green moss clinging to logs and rocks it felt primordial. We walked close together expecting a raptor or other Mesozoic beast to suddenly burst through the foliage. PORTLAND ISLAND One day we kayaked to Portland Island, part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, which sprawls over 15 islands and numerous islets. With one languid stroke following another, we floated along, feeling THE QUEEN OF NANAIMO CHUGGED INTO THE GULF ISLANDS, ENTERING A MAZE OF MORE THAN 220 ROCKY MASSES RANGING FROM DEATHLY-DANGEROUS- WHEN-FOGGY REEFS TO LARGE FOREST- BEDECKED ISLES. EDITORIAL AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY HANS TAMMEMAGI AN ARCHIPELAGO SURROUNDED BY WATER . . . AND ENVY TOP: A kayaker plies the calm waters between South Pender and Saturna islands. ABOVE: A mother bald eagle feeds her three-day-old chick high in a Douglas fir. OPPOSITE: A winter shaft of sunshine pierces the forest on North Pender Island.