Vancouver Island

finally back at home 9pm doing our blog for our avid readers.

A pub in Victoria

driving through Vancouver Island, pretty in places.

This pic was from a "view stop" that you pull over into off the road,please
be aware that a "view stop" is not a "rest stop" ( no toilets ) Important to know
when traveling with 3 women.

An old Timber mill Town.

"A House"

Ferry line up bays, very exciting place!

So, today was a big day!

We decided to hire a car and drive to Vancouver Island.  This meant getting up at 6.30am to catch the 9am ferry.

I must say Adam does very well driving on the wrong side of the road.  It was about an hour trip from Vancouver to the ferry.  We had a GPS with the car but like always, things can go wrong, usually user error, as in this case.  I directed Adam to go on a slightly incorrect route and we ended up at the Canadian border control, heading towards Seattle USA.  Even the supposedly hard core border protection guards are nice in Canada.  We filed through in the car and he just laughed at us.  'Lost, are we?' he asked.  Anyway we were travelling without our passports, which is a big no no in this part of the world.  I assured him they were back at the hotel, locked up in the safe.  Anyway after taking some details he sent us on our way, with details of how to get to the ferry.

As we were about to get on the ferry it started to snow.  So exciting, first flurry of the trip.

So we did the ferry over to the island, 1 and 1/2 hours.  Big commitment to a day trip as we travelled 2 1/2 hours before even hitting the island. We visited Victoria, and then travelled up the island stopping at places along the way till we reached the other end.  Basically a day of driving.  But road trips are always fun as it gives you time to catch up together.

So we pulled into the ferry at 3.20pm to buy a ticket for the 5pm crossing.  The lady tells us 'overbooking, you may get on the 5pm but if not your definitely on the 7pm.'  I think she thought I didnt understand English because I had to get her to explain it to me.  Apparently everyone pre books their tickets so as to get a definite position.  We had a chance to get on the 5pm but not for sure.  So I asked her 'What do you do if you cant get on the 5pm, do you just sit in your car all that time?'  Yep, she said and that was it.

You see as you buy your ticket the cars then form several long lines and that is where you stay until your boarded on the ferry.  So doing a quick calculation it meant if we didnt get on the 5pm we would have to sit in our car for nearly 4 hours with nothing to do.  For all of you who know me well, how do you think I reacted to spending 4 hours unproductively sitting around?

Anyhow can you believe they loaded the 5pm and we made it in by ten cars!  I have never been so happy.  It was another hour and 1/2 on ferry and then about a half hour drive back to the hotel.

So if you think this post has been rather long, thats how our day felt too!!!