More photos of Bowen Island

My granny would have turned 100 on August 17, 2009 and we always had a birthday celebration at Bowen Island on the Sunday closest to her birthday. It was one of two days of the year (along with Boxing Day) when most of the extended family would get together in one place. This year we decided to get together even though Granny's not around anymore, and have a family reunion of sorts.

I cycled from downtown Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay to catch the ferry, which was 25km and took me 45 minutes, pushing the bike pretty hard. As usual, I had one of my cameras mounted on the handlebars, to take photos like these:






On the ferry to Bowen:




I met up with Lisa and Dan in Snug Cove, and Dan bought us ice cream.




I cycled up the 7 hills (I don't know why they call them the 7 hills, since I can never count 7 - it seems more like one hill to me, but cycling up it is ridiculously hard). On my way down the hill on the other side, at a speed of 46km/h, my front brake pad wore through its wear line and began making terrible noises. Stopping the bike was lots of fun without proper brakes but I managed it, and walked the last few hundred metres.

As I was coming down the last bit of road to our place, I saw this stag nearby. I only had my small camera with me, sadly, so the photo is blurry and distant, but it's very uncommon to see a stag:




The view from the cabin balcony:




Lisa taking care of our cousin's kid:




And me doing the same a little while later:




Matt, Dan, and our cousin Jenn all took turns taking the windsurfer out on the ocean. Here's a shot of Matt sailing along:




So many people on the float!




My uncle Stephen took his grandson and great-niece out in the rowboat, which they both thoroughly enjoyed:




Matt showed off his diving skills:






My cousin Jasper took his niece swimming:




And everyone spent time staring at the water, though I have no idea what they were looking at:




That evening, I went out rowing at sunset as I often do when I'm at Bowen, and the sky was amazing! I only had my point-and-shoot, so it's a blurry shot, but these are the real colours I saw:




The next day, Josephine and I hiked up Mt Gardner for the second time in two weeks. These are Oregon Grapes, tasty but a bit sour:




A grey squirrel eyeing us from a tree:




Views from the top:






Tron apparently visited the top as well at some point:




That afternoon, Jos had to head back to Vancouver, so my uncle David took her as he was driving anyways. I was out in the rowboat with Lisa when we took this shot of the ferry leaving Bowen:




And if we zoom in to the shot, uncle David and Josephine are waving to us!