Back to the Mainland

After crossing Vancouver Island from Duncan to Port Renfrew, we carried on along the coast of the south end of the island through Jordan River and Sooke.

I checked out Belcher Bay and went for a short hike along the coast before finding a quiet spot on a nearby mountain for the night.

While three friends in the area were all out of town or unavailable, I did manage to get together with two lovely young ladies in Victoria for lunch as I was passing through.

About that time, I noticed that the calendar was still ticking the days off and it was getting  closer and closer to the day when snow might start falling again around home.  I also had a request for some more aerial photo work back in Alberta.  So with that in mind we headed for the ferry …

In the tight passage between Galiano and Mayne islands we first met a tug with a barge load of gravel.

Then, another BC Ferry came into view right on a tight corner!

For a while there, it was headed right for us!

And then passed by us on the port side.

Once on land again, the GPS was ignored and we followed the signs (!) to the trans Canada Highway and headed east.  Beyond Hope (the town that is), we took the less travelled route through Princeton, Hedley, and Keremeos.  Traffic was light, the fall colours were out which made for a pleasant drive on a road that I realized I had not previously driven!

There were still a couple more ferry crossings to go in this trip – for a total of 12!

We got a front seat on this short ride across the southern end of Lower Arrow Lake.

A quick side-trip to check out St. Leon hot springs was cut short because it appeared that it would be relatively crowded during the nice fall weather.

The final ferry ride, and 12th of the trip was across Upper Arrow Lake.

The ‘fuel pirates’ were ripping people off with the fuel prices in Revelstoke.  It was $1.15/L when I headed for the coast, and up to $1.20 on my return a few weeks later. Prices were not even that steep at the north end of Vancouver Island!  By comparison, the price in Calgary was $.89, and around here it is still $.92/L  I realize that BC has higher taxes, but that is ridiculous.

Once back home, it was time to unload and winterize the truck camper, and start gearing up the 5th wheel for the southward migration.  My friend Don, from Driving Miss Donna stopped by and gave me a hand taking the camper off and moving the propane heater over to the 5th..

The weather was remarkably warm and sunny for this time of year, and even though the leaves are all gone, there was time to get up in the neighbourhood and take some fall photos.

As soon as the last photo job is out to the way, or at the sign of the first snowflake, you can bet we’ll be on the road south.  In the meantime, Hailey is enjoying the time at home and keeping all the local mice well behaved.  For the first time in quite a while, I guess you could say that the blog is right up to date!

Meanwhile, south of the line …

Wheeling It  Nina & Paul  have been in the Williams area, planning to visit the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

Bayfield Bunch are enroute from Ontario to Arizona, one Cracker Barrel at a time!

Jean and Skip have been checking out the Lake Havasu area

Wandering Willy is making his way down 395 in eastern California, perhaps with Death Valley in his sights.

Looking forward to seeing everyone down south this winter!

Island Hopping

You can’t get much further north on Vancouver Island than Port McNeil and Port Hardy, so unless we wanted to take the Alaska ferry (next time?), there was no where else to go but head back to the south.
So south it was, retracing our steps through Campbell River, Courtenay, then Nanaimo.  A few stops for some Tim Horton’s coffee showed that most of those franchises in the area have smokin’ fast and free wi-fi, so we took full advantage – not having our satellite system along for this trip.

As we headed southwards down the coast, our next stop involved more ferry rides.  Friends live on Hornby Island which requires the use of two ferries each way.  This would bring us to nine ferry crossings so far on this trip.  We spent a couple days visiting, hiking, visiting a meadery, and attending a popular show at the local community centre.
From there it was down to Qualicum Beach to meet up with another friend who is now retired and has written a book.  This book is about his life growing up in Jasper National Park, and then becoming a Park Warden, and we worked together in the park.

I picked him up and we headed for the west coast at Tofino, where we met up with a group of former park wardens and present staff from Jasper and the coast.  A good time was had by all.
Another stop was made in the Duncan area, to visit yet another former park warden and his wife from Jasper, along with their many dogs, cats, ducks and cows!

Other common island wildlife!
And of course, the wildlife that travels with me!
 
From Duncan, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, we cut across to the west side to Port Renfrew.  The road is now paved all the way.  An exploration of another logging road along the way turned up another secluded camp spot with a view.

In the morning, the mist in the trees lent itself to some more photos at Fairy lake.

As soon as we get home, it will be time to winterize this camper, then load up the 5th wheel to head for the south country.  Many others have a good head start on my including stealth blogger Wandering Willy, Jean & Skip, and by the time you read this, the Bayfield Bunch should be across the line making their way to the south-west!

Island Hopping

You can’t get much further north on Vancouver Island than Port McNeil and Port Hardy, so unless we wanted to take the Alaska ferry (next time?), there was no where else to go but head back to the south.

So south it was, retracing our steps through Campbell River, Courtenay, then Nanaimo.  A few stops for some Tim Horton’s coffee showed that most of those franchises in the area have smokin’ fast and free wi-fi, so we took full advantage – not having our satellite system along for this trip.

As we headed southwards down the coast, our next stop involved more ferry rides.  Friends live on Hornby Island which requires the use of two ferries each way.  This would bring us to nine ferry crossings so far on this trip.  We spent a couple days visiting, hiking, visiting a meadery, and attending a popular show at the local community centre.

From there it was down to Qualicum Beach to meet up with another friend who is now retired and has written a book.  This book is about his life growing up in Jasper National Park, and then becoming a Park Warden, and we worked together in the park.

I picked him up and we headed for the west coast at Tofino, where we met up with a group of former park wardens and present staff from Jasper and the coast.  A good time was had by all.

Another stop was made in the Duncan area, to visit yet another former park warden and his wife from Jasper, along with their many dogs, cats, ducks and cows!

Other common island wildlife!

And of course, the wildlife that travels with me!

From Duncan, on the east coast of Vancouver Island, we cut across to the west side to Port Renfrew.  The road is now paved all the way.  An exploration of another logging road along the way turned up another secluded camp spot with a view.

In the morning, the mist in the trees lent itself to some more photos at Fairy lake.

As soon as we get home, it will be time to winterize this camper, then load up the 5th wheel to head for the south country.  Many others have a good head start on my including stealth blogger Wandering Willy, Jean & Skip, and by the time you read this, the Bayfield Bunch should be across the line making their way to the south-west!