NY Times promotes the Gulf Islands

It was nice to see that the New York Times Travel Section has discovered the beauty of the Gulf Islands and showcased them in an online slideshow of great photographs. Pender is featured, as well as Saltspring and Galiano Islands, and the quality of the images is superb.

See the slideshow here: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/20/travel/20090920-canada-slide-show_index.html 

Also featured in the slideshow is a photograph of someone standing at one of Pender Island's "Car Stops". This is a great program that was started recently by a local resident, Barry Mathias, who founded Moving Around Pender (MAP). In small communities like ours there are not enough potential passengers to make a bus service feasible, so the idea of designated places to pick-up hitchhikers that are both safe and on main roads is a good answer to the problem of moving people without cars around the island. You can see the car stop locations on Pender on the map at the following link: http://www.barrymathias.com/PI%20Car%20Stop%20Map%20Copy.pdf 

It's an interesting idea, with the ultimate goal being that it spreads to other islands. Mayne and Galiano are already interested in the project and maybe, one day in the future, it will allows residents to travel to and explore other islands without the need for their cars. This is particularly attractive not only for the environment but also to save on ferry fares.

It's community inspired projects, and the willingness of the comunity to implement such projects, that makes Pender Island and the Southern Gulf Islands such an onteresting and satisfying place in which to live.

So please visit us and see what we have to offer. You won't regret it.