Salt Spring Photographer John Cameron
11:58 a.m. At Catalyst’s Crofton Mill
There’s plenty of ‘off-island’ travel during the pre-holiday season to and from Salt Spring Island. So Salt Springer’s get to spend ample time at BC Ferry terminals taking in the nearby sights. Two ships were loading while I was waiting in line, the Star Kirkenes, registered in Bergen, Norway and the Yunnan, registered in Hong Kong. It’s easy to look these up on the Internet to find out information about the vessels and to track their current locations.
8:05 a.m.
From the Vesuvius area at sunrise looking NW over Georgia Strait to Vancouver Island
Large mirrored wall display in a high end Vancouver store during the lead-up to Christmas.
The often photographed Seahorse and I watch a late autumn sky in Ganges Harbour.
The 16 second exposure, aided by a tripod and an absence of boat wake, helps portray the tranquility of this scene.
Once we get past the current monsoon-like weather, there may be more opportunities like this. In mid-to late December the sun rises straight out the harbour and, combined with humidity and the (usually) cold weather, a golden ice fog can form over the ocean’s surface.
Construction of the 89 000 square foot (8279 square-metre) Gulf Islands Secondary School began in May, 1992 with a project cost of just over 13 million dollars. The school opened in September 1994 with 678 students in grades 8 through 12. Salt Spring Middle School opened the following year in the old high school with students from grades 6 through 8, leaving GISS with grades 9 through 12.
At the time of opening, GISS was one of only a handful of buildings in British Columbia with ‘ground source’ heat; 20 kilometres of pipe collected heat five feet under the playing fields. And another 40 kilometres of pipe in the school’s floors provided radiant heat. The trend continues as the school now sports a huge solar array on the gym roof.