Bowen Island vacation: some photographs

So Erika and I took a trip to Bowen Island the other day. It's amazing to me that I've only been there once before, considering how beautiful it is. It's utterly cost-effective, one of the best possible daytrips you can get from the Vancouver area; you can leave as late as noon and still have a great time there. The ferry is something like $13 round-trip, so if you pack your food for the day, with ferry and bus fares included, you can have a fantastic time for under $20 per person - assuming you like swimming in the ocean, that is (the lakes of Bowen apparently have abundant leeches and are not recommended).

To tell the truth, I haven't ever swum in the ocean before, or at least not in my adult years (I might have once or twice during trips with my parents to White Rock, as a child). It's amazingly buouyant and, where we went, quite surprisingly warm. The best beach is across the island, apparently - a bus will take you, which we missed - but there's a good one just a short walk up the hill, turning right from the ferry (the first beach you come to is closed, apparently, due to bacterial blooms or such, but a little further up, and then down a steep hill, there's a lovely swimming spot; the visitor's centre can give you better directions). Bring towels and water-friendly footwear, because the beach is really pebbly.

Anyhow, I haven't much to say about the experience: we went, we swam, we had a burger, and we came home. But it was lovely. So here are some photos... all I have time to do right now is post them.

Thanks are due to the dragonfly who allowed me to get right up close to take a few pictures. Totally fearless little fella!

At Horseshoe Bay (eat at Trolls!):

Fun with the hand dryer in the ferry men's room (soon to be Facebook profile pics):

The ferry trip:

Disembarking:

Arrival:

The swim (Erika has pics on her phone of my first venture in, then I took my phone out to photograph her). The water WAS a little cold at first:

In which I go out to join her, and continue to be a ham:

Back on the pebbly beach, as the tide comes in:

My sandals, her swimsuit. (No change rooms):

The road back to town, plus the fearless dragonfly:

A salt water pond with many ducks (including a species we had not previously seen), dragonflies, and geese:

On the ferry back, as the sun goes down:

We'll probably go back to Bowen this summer, but I think we might not need to bring a camera next time, eh? The experience has been amply documented...!