Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Friday, January 29, 2016

On to VanCouver Island


From Portland we headed north to British Columbia and our eventual destination on Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island is located in the southwestern corner of the province of British Columbia.

 From Tsawassen, just south of the city of Vancouver, we took a BC Ferry to Swartz Bay on the island. The trip takes about an hour and fifteen minutes.

 



 
 
We landed at Swartz Bay which provides access to BC's capitol of Victoria. This bustling city is, as they say, "more British than the British." From there we drove north to Campbell River about halfway up the island.

 
 Enroute we stopped at "Cathedral Grove." The island is noted for the giant trees connected to the "temperate rainforest" climate.

At Campbell River. we stayed at a very nice B&B overlooking the "inside passage." This is the route that the giant tour boats take to and fro from Alaska. One evening after dark on our deck patio we saw what looked like a giant ship with colored lights and flashing cameras coming down the inland passage towards us.  According to our B&B hostess it was the last cruise boat coming south for the season from Alaska. The shore of mainland BC seemed a short distance to the east. I wondered how deep the
channel was considering the huge size of the boat. “Five hundred feet deep” was the answer. Deep enough for sure….:)
Mrs. T looks out over the inland passage, from our patio deck, at the B&B.
The Inland Channel. Mainland BC in the not so far distance....

View from the patio deck – Since this was our third trip to the island we skipped some famous but touristy places such as Buchert gardens and upon the advice of our hostess did some island exploring  and beach combing.
 More on that next in: Exploring The Island



22 comments:

  1. I love Vancouver Island and I look forward to seeing your explorations. :-)

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  2. That area of the passage is the Straits of Georgia, I've sailed up there several times, particularly around Quadra Is. Nice pictures, takes me back....

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  3. Vancouver Island is a great place to spend some time. Make sure you get over to Long beach.

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  4. What a wonderful trip! You must have made lots of memories! :)

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  5. My husband and I did that trip summer before last. Beautiful countryside and so much fun to travel by ferry everywhere.

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  6. I've always wanted to go to Vancouver Island. It looks lovely--and the views from the deck--WOW!

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  7. Nice views to look out on!

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  8. I ate some of the best Chinese food in Victoria.

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  9. Beautiful trip. Glad you're making it.
    I remember seeing dolphins or whales from the ferry.

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  10. Now I really want to go. Loved your view and looking forward to more.

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  11. Interesting. That boat you took a picture of looks like it might be a trawler. I'd imagine that deep channel has plenty of stuff living in it. I'll be looking forward to more about the island. I once thought about moving there.

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    1. It has dungeness crab and spot shrimp in abundance, and in season 5 varieties of Pacific salmon, and numerous fish like ling cod, halibut, etc...

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  12. Hi Troutbirder, I got behind on your posts, but just went back and looked at your trip to BC. Very nicely done with the photos and all. Somewhere in there you mentioned retirement and I wonder if you and Mrs T are now retired? Anyway, a neat road trip indeed to Portland, the Rose City. A coincidence that I just did a post on the Portland Rose too! :-) Although I love Seattle, I do think Portland has a more liveable downtown and I can't seem to get down there often enough. Lastly, it sounds like you had a great time in BC. Have you, or do you want to, take a cruise to Alaska? Thanks for stopping by my blog and your thoughtful comments.

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    1. Indeed we are retired. And yes we took a 7 week road trip to Alaska several years ago camping... No cruise boat for us though...:)

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  13. Absolutely gorgeous. I hope we can get to that area sometime... Beautiful!
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  14. What a lovely place to stay! I've only been to Vancouver once and that was to ski. I'm looking forward to your next post.

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  15. Oh WOW. I need to get up to that area!

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  16. Yes, it's still as lovely as I remember. Thanks for the great pictures.

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  17. We lived on Vancouver Island for a few years, summer 1978 to spring 1981. We already had our home in the Kootenays and I was homesick for my own land and friends. At the time I thought: "This place must have been wonderful some thirty years ago". We lived halfway between Victoria and Nanaimo and it was too crowded and polluted for my taste. We were there for the last time in 2006. I couldn't believe the traffic between Victoria and Nanaimo! It calmed down North of Parksville past the turnoff to the West coast. Long Beach is splendid, I hope you plan a trip across the Island to Tofino? And/or, hop over to one of the Northern Gulf islands, Denman, Hornby, Sointula. Enjoy, B.C. is a spectacular part of the world!

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  19. Very nice! My brother lives in Campbell R.!

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