After a 14 hour ferry ride from Prince Rupert through the inner passage we landed at Port Hardy on Vancouver island never was I so pleased to fall into bed. It had been an interesting trip through a landscape of mountainous and heavily wooded islands some inhabited and others showing remnants of abandoned industries. It was a real insight into remote coastal life.

Port Hardy for a port town was quite small and after a stroll along the esplanade and a visit to the local museum. We came away with a sense of it being a peaceful town which we very much liked.

Our next stop was the much larger town of Nanaimo which was the hub for accessing the Gulf Islands by ferry or seaplane. We discovered it had a bird reserve and were lucky enough to spot a Blue Heron. Apparently the town has an annual celebration of Bathtub racing which just happened to be on when we were there so we decided to go and watch the grand finale. Unfortunately despite arriving an hour before the advertised finish we had missed it by an hour due to the wind aiding the competitors to an early finish.

Our final destination was North Saanich at the northern tip of the Victoria peninsula where we visited Butchart gardens created by Jennie Butchart in 1912 from an old quarry.

Our last day was spent having a leisurely stroll around Sidney the nearest coastal town to where we were staying. We watched people crabbing off the pier where we spotted a sea otter, and while Charles whiled away sometime in the nearby coffee bar chatting to a local resident I managed to get my haircut before purchasing some fresh red snapper off the fishmonger on the pier. All in all a very pleasant end to our visit to Vancouver island.

Next the road back to Calgary for our flight home.