Grey Gables Farm Bed Breakfast your Romantic Retreat in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. Grey Gables Channel: Is immediately behind the house and can be reached by going through the gate at the side of your patio, down the steps and you will find yourself in nature's wonderland. The channel is a man-made project by the Department of Fisheries Oceans as part of their salmon enhancement programme. It is completely self-contained, fed by the natural drainage of surrounding properties and by a large filtration unit buried in the burm to your right when looking toward the snow-capped Golden Ears. The channel is linked to the South Alouette River and has thus formed an island of the land over the bridge. The project was started in 1988 and fine-tuned over the years to its' present state. To our benefit and the benefit of our guests, it is totally private and only accessed through Grey Gables Farm and two neighbouring properties. Birds and wildlife are happy to call this area home; the deer put in an appearance most mornings and we have black bear roaming through occasionally. The heron family is resident together with many kingfishers; you will see eagles nesting in the trees to the north and hawks love to hover to catch anything small that moves! Enjoy the chimena (Mexican fireplace always stocked with wood) in the evenings whilst watching the beavers. If you sit quietly on the bridge at dusk you should see them at work. They are very shy animals and will dive deep into the water with a huge splash if they think they are threatened. In the morning there is always evidence of their nightly endeavours - bare branches floating in the water. The government took great pains to make the channel;beaver friendly' by building a large box which houses a pipe through which the salmon swim, and therefore dissuading the beaver to build a dam. The water drains at the west end through pipes into a rocky outflow and back into the South Alouette. You can see all this by strolling to your left over the bridge. Feel free to wander the farm. Jenny, the donkey will possibly wake you in the morning with her call. She is a good;watchdog' and alerts us when anyone comes onto the property!. We have a few purebred Southdown Sheep, they are the ones with wool growing right down to the tip of their noses and their toes. The others with longer wool are cross-bred, Dorsets with Southdowns. The hens roam the property at will. The result of their free range diet gives us large brown eggs every day which our guests enjoy at breakfast. Although they appear to be always on the driveway, they learned very early to move when vehicles approach! The Black Sheep Pub: There are paths throughout the island to be enjoyed by our guests and the Black Sheep Pub at 23227 Dogwood (12900 block 232nd Avenue) can be reached on foot by following the path to the east and going through the housing development there - ask for instructions. Currently this path is getting rather overgrown with blackberries! Walking along the street is an alternative. Appropriately named, but not of our doing, The Black Sheep is our;local' and offers good wholesome;pub' fare. If you are interested in any of the indoor/outdoor sports offered extensively in this area we have information on most places.; Swan-e-Set and Meadow Gardens Golf Courses will give you a good rate on a round of golf, once again, please ask about this.; Golden Ears Equestrian Centre is also just a walk away over the bridge. They have horses for rent and also organize trail rides.; Maple Ridge Equestrian Centre is behind us on 132nd Avenue.; There are canoe rentals at Alouette Lake.; Maple Ridge Leisure Centre has full fitness facilities with hot tub, saunas and pools, including a shallow one.; To continue your fitness regime there are also several gyms with reciprocating memberships.; Planet Ice is a 5 minute drive away and has two rinks. Golden Ears Park can be reached by following the signs on 232nd Street - see map. Alouette Lake is a popular spot during the summer months and provides good hiking in that area all year round. Maps of the trails can be found at various locations on the way into the park. It is a wilderness area, so if you plan longer hikes in the park please let someone know your itinerary - Maple Ridge has a good Search Rescue group whom we would prefer not to have to call out!! Take warm clothing and something to eat and drink in case your sojourn is longer than you expect. UBC Malcomn Knapps Research Forest: Situated just north of us up 232nd Street merging into Silver Valley Road is a beautiful research forest overseen by the University of British Columbia and covering hundreds of acres. There are trails of every length and in the summer months organized hikes take you on an educational voyage into the forest - you will learn tree species and all sorts of plant life. Parking is at the gate. As advised above, if you plan a longer hike, please let someone know. Located just west of us and only a 10 minute drive away, Pitt Meadows offers wonderful easy hiking on the dyking system. After Grey Gables Channel, this region offers some great bird watching. Pitt Lake is reached by driving north on Neaves Road. There are canoe and kayak rentals at the parking lot there during the summer months. Across the Fraser by ferry, is Fort Langley. It is a trendy little village with good restaurants of all types, antique shops and clothing stores. The ferry runs every 15 minutes during the day and takes just 5 minutes to complete its' trip across. If you prefer to not take your car across, then there is limited parking on the Maple Ridge side, and it takes about 15 minutes to walk into Fort Langley from the ferry terminal on the other side. The attached map shows the route to get to the ferry from here. Remember that throughout Maple Ridge - streets run north/south and ave's run east/west. In the binder in your suite are cards and menus of local restaurants and other businesses in the area. There are many restaurants to choose from, ranging from very casual to elegant, and ranging from fast food to international cuisine. Of course, we have our favourites, please ask! Alouette Taxi (466-1313) offering preferred rates are always on call for your convenience. Enjoy a glass of wine with dinner and don't worry about the driving - they charge just $5 or $6, (depending on your destination) each way to drive you into Maple Ridge and return (you call when ready). And of course, there is a limo service available at higher rates. Tempo Gas Station, our closest;corner store' at the junction of 128th Avenue and 232nd Street also has a laundromat, an ATM machine and some video rentals. Once again, any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. We are here to make your stay as enjoyable as is humanly possible! Millie Terry Wilding e-mail: info@greygablesfarm.com web page: www.greygablesfarm.com tel: 604-467-3447 fax: 604-467-3554 cell: 604-889-2451

your romantic retreat in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. The Southdown Suite. The Southdown Suite is a spacious, beautifully furnished 550 sq. ft. which is both soothing to the eye and senses. Special touches have been added, an example of which are the lampshades, hand-made to complement the decor and colour scheme. The eating/sitting area with coffee maker, TV and VCR has its' own private entrance and parking area. On sunny days enjoy the privacy of your patio. Upon arrival you will be greeted with our welcome basket. Your first fire in the woodstove will be laid for you - simply strike a match to enjoy the ambience. Logs are provided should you wish to enjoy further fires. Access to the ensuite bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and separate shower is adjacent to the king-size bed. Soaps, delicately and naturally fragranced and crafted by a local artisan, await to pamper you. They are gentle enough to use as shampoo giving you shampoo and conditioner all in one! Enjoy your fluffy towels and monogrammed robes in your spacious surroundings. Larger bars of our soaps are available for sale in our 'mini-mini-craft store', which also offers hand-painted watercolour cards, photo cards of the farm animals, and miscellaneous sheep and bear items from Heartstrings Quality Crafts. We have a limited number of Christmas items now available. The full farm breakfast - ham, eggs (from our own free-range hens), sausage, hash browns, or one of our 'dishes of the day' - served between 7 am and 9 am (please advise us of your preferred time) is our speciality. It comes complete with juice, fresh fruit and freshly baked bread and muffins, tea or coffee. You may feel that you need not eat again until dinner!! We pride ourselves on providing home-made everything!!! - jams,sauces and preserves, bread and muffins are baked fresh every morning, our hash browns are from 'scratch', and of course, not mention our darling henny-pennys providing us with fresh eggs every day. Just ask for more muffins to take with you for the day. Reminiscent of days gone by, is awaiting your visit!

More about the area, specifically Grey Gables Channel The ground base of the Grey Gables Farm area is river bed from thousands of years ago. Over the last hundred years Alouette Lake was created from the build up of water of the existing river, by the building of Alouette River Dam. This dam, closely monitored by BC Hydro, now controls the flow of water into the river, enabling wildlife to survive in its' natural habitat and allowing salmon the necessary water flow needed for their successful migration up stream each year, returning to their spawning grounds. In 1980 after several weeks of torrential rains, the dam burst, sending millions of gallons of water downriver. Houses were flooded, and even swept away in the onslaught. This flood caused a natural change in the flow of the South Alouette, turning away from the bottom of the farm's bank, and swinging to the north. Before this happened, however, there was a small cabin, since demolished with all traces, situated closely to the immediate east of the existing house. The people who rented this cabin for a number of years have visited us and told us that they used to boat each day from the bottom of the steps down to their workplace at 216. Street. Hard to imagine now! When salmon stocks and habitat seemed to be diminishing, the Federal Department of Fisheries Oceans, looked for areas to build salmon spawning channels. Fortunately, we were selected for the installation of one of these. 1988 saw the first round of construction of the channel as you see it today. It was not an easy task, requiring huge machinery and many manhours; not the least of the Department's problems were the beavers, who saw this as a new challenge, toiling daily to block the flow. Neighbours worked hard to clear these new dams as they were built, but if one day was missed, lookout! The beaver could build a dam overnight which would require a couple of hours of work with pitchforks, rakes, or whatever was available. The channel is completely self-enclosed, having two pipes running into it at its' eastern end - one is a continual flow from big-o pipe running the length of the river for about 250 yards, the other is a pipe running from the river through a filtration system, and with an on-off control to it. At the western end of the channel, is a large box through which the water flows through a series of pipes into a small rocky channel. The box was built to deter the beaver from blocking the channel since they now cannot get at that water source. The rocks through which the water exits enable the salmon to successfully swim upstream and back into the channel to spawn. Surprisingly to us (obviously not to the experts!) the salmon have no problem swimming upstream through this pipe and through the box. Each year more and more salmon come to lay their eggs and die. In November and December, when the rains come, the dead fish not washed downstream provide food for their young struggling to survive.

 Luggage storage
 Credit cards accepted
 Jacuzzi tub
 Smoke-free guest rooms
 Parking lot
 Private park, garden, courtyard
 Quiet surroundings
 Private/Ensuite bathroom
 Tea and coffee making facilities
 Phone at reception
 TV sets in rooms
 Patio, summer terrace
 Cheques accepted