Harpoon Rock

On last week's post about Gonzales Beach I pictured one of the glacial erratics that is on that beach. Here are two more. Both of these are located at Harling Point, which marks one end of Foul Bay (Gonzales Beach). Harling Point is also the site of the Chinese Cemetery and in addition to these glacial erratics is geologically interesting because it lies directly over the intersection of two giant tectonic plates. The erratic pictured above has a name, Harpoon Rock, derived from an old Lekwungen folk tale. A man was hunting seals here when he was visited by "the Transformer" who turned him into this stone.

Gonzales Beach

One of Victoria's nicest little beaches is Gonzales Beach, just below the hill capped by the Gonzales Observatory. Here's what it looked like last Sunday - surprisingly uncrowded despite the warm weather. The huge boulder pictured above is what is known as an "erratic" meaning that it is unlike the other nearby rocks. This erratic and others along Victoria's coastline were carried here by glaciers during the last ice age and dropped on the shore as the ice melted. On the left, one Gonzales Beach resident uses driftwood to communicate a nice yogic reminder.