Cruises/Ferries

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Finetuning Departure Plans

Six months and ten days ago I pulled into Croft and Norma’s driveway. I am expecting them any time today. I am a little boggled that so much time has passed. That’s the thing about life, it slips by quietly  and quickly; the only way to slow it down is to account for every single second of it. The end of October straight through the end of January were just about scraping by in a weary sort of daze, but February, March, and April sure have been manic!

I’m well on my way to being ready to go. There is still an hour or two’s worth of work to be done inside Miranda to get everything secured. Outside, the most pressing thing is to flush my fresh water system and fill my tank with that sweet Campbell River water I will miss so much.

My departure plans are evolving and I am starting to favour a mid-morning Friday pull-out, with an overnight in Nanaimo. There is a ‘ten-minute’ oil change place here in Campbell River that I would go to first since both the motorhome and the toad need new oil. They would also check the tire pressure for both vehicles, so it would be a convenient stop. The very friendly person I spoke to there said that I shouldn’t have too much of a wait, if any, before noon on a Friday. The estimates were reasonable and I reiterated several times that I just need oil changes since both vehicles had thorough checks last fall. These places always check other things for the price, like the tire pressure and other fluid levels, but I wanted to make it clear that I’m not paying for anything other than the most basic package. It’s these basic packages that make me reluctant to learn to change my own oil; for an extra $25 or so, all the basics are taken care of and I get a heads up on other things that may need to be fixed that I would have missed myself. I’ve never had a problem with these quick-lube places pulling the wool over my eyes and having a $50 oil change turn into a $100 job full of useless upgrades, although I have had one turn into several hundred dollars worth of necessary work!

From there, it would be a leisurely drive to the Walmart in Nanaimo. I just called them to ask about overnight RV parking and the answer was “no problem, just park at ‘the top’ near the road.” I had considered having my oil changes done there, but their service bays do not take motorhomes.

Being in Nanaimo Saturday morning would allow me to take an earlier ferry, most realistically the 8:30, which would put me on the Lower Mainland by late morning. I could do my Ikea stop, take on propane and fuel in Chilliwack, and then shoot straight up to the Chasm at a leisurely pace to arrive by dinner time. This would save me a day on the road, but, most importantly, a lot of stress and a huge to-do list on the day of departure. I could then spend two nights in Prince George and from there savour the rest of the journey north, no matter how much, or little, time it takes.

I will confess to being more than a little eager to be settled in my spot at Bonanza and back to the manic pace of a Klondike summer, and that this eagerness is slowly overtaking any desire to explore. I’ll see how things are once I hit the road.

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North Island

What a difference three months makes… Back in January I was feeling blue about not doing any traveling or renovating this winter and here I sit in my nearly ready to go rig with a new layout and I have been from one end of the Island back, as well as across it. I have just returned from Port Hardy, the northernmost community on Vancouver Island.

I’ve been through every single Vancouver Island community highlighted on that map!

The point of today’s road trip was to pick up my friend’s daughter at the Port McNeill ferry terminal. We arrived there at 11:30 only to find out her daughter missed her ferry and that we would need to kill two hours. So, we turned back south to see the absolutely tiny community of Telegraph Cove and when we saw that we still had plenty of time on the clock we headed north 50km from Port McNeill to Port Hardy just so I could say that I’d been from one end of the Island to the other. I made sure to thank my daughter’s friend for missing the ferry. 😀

We had just had two beautiful sunny and hot days, so of course today was rainy, cold, and generally miserable, but it sure gave a lot of atmosphere to my pictures!

Sayward is a way's off the highway, but I thought the sign was pretty enough to photograph.

Sayward is a way’s off the highway, but I thought the sign was pretty enough to photograph.

Port McNeill: home of NHLer Willie Mitchell. (who?)

Port McNeill: home of NHLer Willie Mitchell. (who?)

the prettier Port McNeill sign

the prettier Port McNeill sign

rhododendrons outside the ferry terminal in Port McNeill

rhododendrons outside the ferry terminal in Port McNeill

the port of Port McNeill :)

the port of Port McNeill 🙂

Telegraph Cove general store (closed for the season)

Telegraph Cove general store (closed for the season)

close up of the sign

close up of the sign

Telegraph Cove

Telegraph Cove

overlooking Bear Cove (on the way from Telegraph Cove back to highway 19)

overlooking Bear Cove (on the way from Telegraph Cove back to highway 19)

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Bear Cove

Leaving Bear Cove we saw all this eagle activity in the sky! They were LOUD!

Leaving Bear Cove we saw all this eagle activity in the sky! They were LOUD!

eagles

eagles

entering Port Hardy

entering Port Hardy

Bear Cove Park in Port Hardy

Bear Cove Park in Port Hardy

Port Hardy (Bear Cove Park)

Port Hardy (Bear Cove Park)

Port Hardy, near the ferry terminal

Port Hardy, near the ferry terminal

sign downtown

sign downtown

Port Hardy is an important destination for Alaska-bound travelers as it is from this community that the Inside Passage ferry departs. I would have loved to have taken the ferry from there to Prince Rupert, but the total trip cost would have been double.

I really didn’t do much tourism today since the conditions weren’t right for it, but there really wasn’t anything to see and do at this time of year. I am satisfied with simply having gone and back. It gives me a sense of closure to my Vancouver Island winter, at least from a tourism point of view.

Tomorrow, I will continue to work on trim and finish my fight with the sawdust in the workshop to bring the renovating portion of the winter to a close.

I leave Campbell River a week from tomorrow. Where has the winter gone?!

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Thirty-Three Hours

I have four shifts left at the gas station, for a total of thirty-three hours. I am beyond excited to get out of there, but grateful that the job turned out much better than I would have thought.

While I am off the next four days, I aim to be just about ready to go by Thursday night. This means that I have a minimum amount of stuff left to pack and only exterior things, like flushing the fresh water system, left to do, and that the workshop and house are ready for Croft and Norma’s imminent return!

Friday, I am taking a road trip north Island with a friend from work. We’re not going to the northernmost community, Port Hardy, but almost since we will be going to the ferry terminal in Port McNeill. I’ll have managed to see a lot more of Vancouver Island this winter than I would have expected!

Departure is still slated for May 1st, next Saturday! I had thought it would be nice to sneak out a day earlier than that, but don’t want to get ensnared in Friday night Vancouver rush hour, even if Saturday afternoon probably won’t be much better. I’d like to catch the 10:30 ferry from Nanaimo, meaning that I will need to leave Campbell River no later than 7:30 after dumping. It’ll be an early morning! That would put me in Vancouver around 12:30 and in Chilliwack by mid-afternoon after running an errand for a friend in Coquitlam. By the time I take on gas and propane in Chilliwack, it’ll be a reasonable time to hunker down and crash at the Walmart!

Last night, I planned my trip to Dawson to see what is the minimum number of days I’d need to get there safely and enjoyably: nine. That would give me six days flex time in case of weather issues. I do plan to spend two days in Prince George but would otherwise be thrilled to get to Whitehorse on schedule since that would give me extra time to putter around the Yukon before shooting up to Dawson. It’ll really depend on the weather.

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A Final Day in Victoria

Being less than 300km from ‘home’ and not having to start work until 2pm tomorrow meant that I could enjoy a third day in Victoria. I dropped Mrs. H off at her friend’s house and then drove downtown to do a few museums. This post will gloss over some of the details of today as some destinations merit their own posts.

I decided to park in Chinatown since the daily rates are cheaper than downtown and planned my day as a loop. My first stop was just a block away and was a store! It was recommended to me by a reader and is called Chintz and Co.

Chintz & Co.

This store comprises 20,000 square feet (!) and is just about a one stop home decorating stop. It was the first time I have walked into a store selling new furniture and found myself liking almost everything. Had I had $2,000 I would have walked out with a handsome wingback chair covered in dark orange leather (*swoons*).  The furniture style was mostly luxe shabby chic, with lots of rich colours abounding. I could have spent hours there, but focused mostly on the remnants section, which was much larger than I would have expected. I found some fabrics I thought would coordinate with ones I have already picked up, but I wasn’t sure enough to buy.

I ambled down Store street and turned into Bastion Square:

alley off of Bastion Square

Bastion Square’s giant tulips

My next stop was The Soda Shoppe, which I had discovered on my first night in Victoria. It is located on Government Street right in front of the Empress Hotel, kitty corner to the visitor’s centre.

The Soda Shoppe

I would normally balk at paying $4.19 for a small ice cream cone (even if it is of the waffle variety), but they have bear claw, a dark chocolately fudgy caramelly cashewy concoction I haven’t seen in about ten years since an Ottawa shop carrying it closed down. It was as good as I remembered!

From there, I walked the length of the Empress Hotel, crossed the street, and landed at the Royal British Columbia Museum:

Royal BC Museum

After a couple of hours, I headed across the street

street separating the RBC museum from the Legislature

and strolled along the length of the BC Legislature:

war memorial

close up showing the addition of the Korean ‘police action’; a nice touch since many forget that Canada was involved in this war

the BC Legislative Building is quite a handsome structure! It’s almost as impressive as Ottawa’s Parliament buildings!

this is all of the Sequoia I was able to get into one shot 🙂


then crossed the street in front of it to go visit the Undersea Gardens:

The Undersea Gardens

After that, I slowly began to stroll back towards the car with a stop for lunch:

Victoria Harbour

there was a whole row of dedication plaques

a magnific mosaic orca

a map of Vancouver Island

I was just going to get a slice of pizza for lunch, but was lured by the siren’s call of Cafe Mexico. I had an excellent meal there of a chicken burrito with ‘fries’ (more like chewy potato chips with a hint of crunch). The highlight of the mean was the ‘mojitea’:

mojitea

My drink of choice is the mojito, but I didn’t want to drink alcohol before a long drive home so I decided to try their virgin version even though virgin mojitos seem to be missing a little ‘something.’ Well, Cafe Mexico found what that little something is: sweet tea. The tea doesn’t have the same flavour as the rum, of course, but it’s the perfect non-alcoholic addition to turn the club soda and muddled mint into more than just minty soda. Yum! The burrito was fresh and light and the fries were served with a sauce that had me go ‘WHAT?!’ at first taste, but which grew on me with every bite. I asked the server what it was and she said it was a ‘chipolte aioli’ which I think means a smokey garlickly mayonnaise. It was the perfect complement to the fries. This wasn’t the best Mexican food I’ve had in my life, but definitely fits at the top of the list. It was reasonably priced to boot!

I grabbed an ice coffee for the road and returned to the car to plot a route to the Nanaimo Best Buy. My GPS is getting to be ridiculously outdated, so it didn’t have that store in its data base. It felt incredibly luxurious to boot up the laptop, sign on to my Telus connection, and get the necessary info. My life has definitely changed!

My destination mapped out, I headed out of Victoria at 3PM. I’ll write a separate post about the drive back to Campbell River.

Victoria left me with mixed feelings, some negative, most positive.

The negative feelings are towards the cost of museums and attractions: ridiculously high. There was nothing under $10 and most things were $15 and up. I would have loved to do the Maritime Museum, but with the RBC being $15 and the Undersea Gardens being $11, the additional $12 for the MM would have busted my budget. Having been to so many museums in both the Canada and the US I can say with a measure of authority that everything I saw in Victoria was way over priced. Whether or not I enjoyed myself is not relevant.

That said, Victoria is a beautiful and accessible city. If I have to stay in Canada next winter I will do so in the environs of Victoria, even if it means spending another $400 on ferry costs. I have nowhere had my fill of this city and feel that I barely got a taste of it. I’d like to spend more time exploring Beacon Hill Park and exploring the many hiking trails in the area.

Victoria is one of those Canadian cities that feels exquisitely ‘old world’ in its waterfront area, so much so that the cloppety clop of horse hooves is the most natural sound you could hear in the setting. The traditional architecture is Victorian with its emphasis on grand neo-gothic structures like the Empress Hotel. I didn’t get quite as much of a feel for the outlaying parts of town, but Mrs. H had me drive through many a neighbourhood that had streets lined with Victorian cottages, some simple, some dripping with gingerbread.

I had a lovely weekend and feel it is the perfect cap to my Vancouver Island winter.

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The Shortest Summer Ever

Winter seems to have returned to Campbell River. 🙁 It SNOWED yesterday morning and there was frost all over the car last night. On the upside, it seems to have cleared up. We had about two solid weeks of rain and stormy temps, enough to cancel ferries, so seeing blue sky again is welcome. I just wish it was still warm. At least, I’ll be able to fix the leak if this trends keeps up.

Dawson City, however, is apparently experiencing an early spring. According to a friend, the weather has changed ten days early and if the trend continues there will be no problem with my arriving for the 15th. I’m really motivated to get there for that date just to see the pre-season opener at Gertie’s!