Pender Island
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Pender Island is a small island located in the Strait of Georgia, roughly between the cities of Vancouver and Victoria, in British Columbia. Pender Island is approximately 34 square kilometers in area and is home to about 2,200 permanent residents, as well as a large seasonal population.
As part of the southern Gulf Islands, Pender Island enjoys a balmy sub-Mediterranean climate and features open farmland, rolling forested hills, several lakes and small mountains, and many coves and beaches.
Pender Island actually consists of two islands, North Pender Island and South Pender Island, which are separated by a narrow canal originally dredged in 1903 and later connected by a one lane bridge in 1955. Most of the population and services reside on North Pender Island; South Pender Island is generally more rural, but features the popular Poet's Cove marina development (formerly known as Bedwell Harbour).
The island is a popular destination for fishing, kayaking, scuba diving and other outdoor pursuits. The island also boasts a 9-hole golf course. Pender is served by a provincial campsite, numerous bed and breakfasts and a hotel. Since 2003 many provincial and municipal park areas in the islands were subsumed into the new Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.
Aside from seasonal residents and visitors, the Pender Islanders allow for a phenomenon called "Pender Time". This is a Northern variety of the legendary "Manana" of Mexico. Verbal commitments to precise temporal execution of intended effects are seldom ironclad. The novelty of the situation is said to be in the easy acceptance of delay or non-performance by those who have exacted such commitments.
Pender Island can be accessed by regular ferry service provided by BC Ferries from Swartz Bay (near Victoria), Tsawwassen (near Vancouver), and other southern Gulf Islands, as well as by scheduled seaplane and water taxi service. Pender Island also has one public grass landing strip and a helicopter pad located near the main shopping mall, the Driftwood Center. Select helicopters also can land at the local RCMP detachment office. Aerial surveillance of marijuana cultivation is a nearly annual event in the late Summer.
No taxi service operates on this island since mid-September, 2006.
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