Magic Cottage Creations

Magic Cottage Creations
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October 1, 2019

Texada Island

By Maryanna Gabriel
Landing in Van Anda
    Disturbed and dredged - that is what this island is, I thought to myself. As the ferry docked in Van Anda  mountain high piles of tailings greeted us. Heaps of gravel were everywhere. It started to become a joke between Sarah and I. Texada Island is huge, larger than Salt Spring Island with 150 year history of mining and logging behind it. In addition to limestone, copper, iron, Texada also had gold.The gold rush apparently even brought the construction of an opera house but I saw no traces of former glory but rather the opposite. 



     Our accommodation was mildly
Gillies Bay
disappointing but we did have a fantastic view so we set about to do what we do really well which was explore. We drove to Bob's Lake, I was worried about my car. The road was bad. The temperature dropped and a wind came up but we made the best of it. We decided to head to the Texada Market. It was from noon to 2:00 pm and there were about six tables with a couple packing up. I wasn't sure what to think. 


     We were happy to leave Texada and back on the Sunshine Coast we found a park with a lake to enjoy. Sarah had been regaling me with travelling tales of Newfoundland where she had just been and her stories of Gros Morne National Park were fascinating. We are old chums who met in the Yukon at age fifteen. We walked and chatted along a well kept path that bordered the lake and enjoyed the day.