Monday, January 04, 2016

January 6th, 2016
ABC Wednesday
The letter is Z and gadZooks, Z stands for Zebellos
and here we are at the end of the alphabet......





Zeballos is a deep sea port located at the end of Zeballos Inlet on the wild west coast of Vancouver Island. about a two hour drive north of Campbell River.  It was named for Lt. Ciriaco Ceballos, a crew member aboard an early ship of Spanish explorer Alessandro Malaspina's expedition (1789-1794)  (Malaspina is also a familiar name on the Island).  The inlet remained somewhat obscure until gold was discovered in the 1920's, and this resulted in the usual influx of miners and adventurers.


The historic buildings in the village are a living reminder of these frontier days.

I recently purchased a book of paintings by Michael Kluckner 
(Vanishing British Columbia)

Here is his rendition of the hotel in Zeballos


and here as it stands today


Zeballos thrived in the Gold Rush days, but when World War 11 began
many of the miners and much of the workforce joined
the Canadian Forces, and the mines eventually closed..

Post war efforts were made to revitalize the industry
but the low price of gold made it uneconomical for the mines to continue
operating, and within twenty years they had all closed.

In the 1950s logging emerged as a promising new industry for the village 
and today the majority of the town's residents, along with the population
of the two neighbouring First Nations reserves
(the Oculcje and Ehatis)
are employed in the timber industry.

The village is becoming a favourite destination for kayakers, sportsfishers and those who want to experience the wild nature of this west coast.







There are fishing Lodges


and a museum


and for the more adventurous Rugged Mountain and the Slab in the Nomash
River Valley are well known to rock climbing enthusiasts.

Some of the best cold water diving on Vancouver Island can be found
just a short boat ride away from Zeballos,
The water are especially clear in the winter, and
colourful anemones sway in the currents while Puget Sound king crab scuttle below.  
There are purple hinged scallops, soft corals and abalone.

There are bears and elk and sea otters and whales
and beautiful towering forest-clad mountains.


You must come!!
How to get there....



Many more Zs at ABC Wednesday.
Click here and visit with Roger, Denise and
those who so kindly help and visit on behalf of the meme

15 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

Such a beautiful place Hildred. I look at it and think how lovely it would be to live in a place like that and then I think that perhaps it would be too cut off from the rest of the world.

Unknown said...

Wonderful photo's of a seemingly wonderful place.... i've never been to ...

Thank you for posting a wonderful choice for the last letter of the alphabet and the first of this new year. Wish you lots of fun with our meme and hope to may greet you again, next week.

Have a nice abc-day / -week
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♫ <abc-e-team)

Leslie: said...

My goodness! I was born here and lived here most of my life (greater Vancouver) and never heard of Zeballos. I've been to Campbell River, though. It's time I took myself on a tour of the island - except that it's SO expensive to go on the ferry nowadays!

Leslie
abcw team

Roger Owen Green said...

A nifty locale.

ROG, ABCW

Pat-Mather Brown Gordon-ceton said...

supper nice.

photowannabe said...

Absolutely gorgeous country.
It looks like a wonderful place to fish and hike.
Thanks for sharing your world with us.

carol l mckenna said...

What a wonderful post for Z and fascinating photography! Love it!

Happy Week to you, ^_^

Arnoldo L. Romero, MLA said...

It looks and sounds like a wondrous place to visit, with a fascinating history. I can visualize myself photographing the beautiful sites and wildlife, as well as sitting in one of those cabins t sketch. Thanks for sharing and happy ABC Wednesday!

Reader Wil said...

These surroundings must be a paradise for tourists and a ll travellers. Thanks for sharing.
Wil, ABCW Team

fredamans said...

I know many of the surrounding places like Comox, but never heard of Zebellos!

Joy said...

Brr I think I'll pass on the cold water diving despite you making it sound idyllic. One of the lakeside lodges in those surroundings would be a beautiful place to idle away a day

ellen b. said...

So many fabulous spots to explore in our Pacific Northwest! Thanks for sharing this spot.

EG CameraGirl said...

It looks to me to be a village with much charm! I would love to spend some time there.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

You did it! You live in the most interesting place; I have absolutely loved this series and I would love to visit all 26 places you featured. (I would like to explore the tide pools at Zebullos during low tide, but no diving!

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