REACHING FERRY RIDE #16

Continued from previous journal entry Adapting our travel plans.


Newcastle Island - a break from cars and trucks and other smelly traffic

We left the hostel in Nanaimo and headed down to the harbour to catch a special ferry that would take us to an island called Newcastle. This island is all park with no permanent habitants and no vehicles so you can see why we were excited. We waited for the ferry for about an hour when we came to the realization that it was not coming. We had talked to people in the hostel (they were a wealth of information) and learned of another private ferry that took people to neighbouring Protection Island for a little extra money. We made our way to its dock and convinced the skipper to take us there by telling him that we were backpackers and Newcastle was our home that night and the other ferry was obviously not running. He finally agreed as there was another family that also wanted to go.

We walked all over the island; wildlife was everywhere. What an oasis from the city, minus the emergency sirens that managed to drift over.

We stayed for two days and on the second night I phoned the Newcastle ferry service number and behold, someone answered the phone. I stuttered in disbelief but was assured that if I came to the park headquarters at 9 am Tony would meet us there and would take us across.

We met Tony at a private dock, not driving the ferry we expected but a twenty-foot fishing boat he had borrowed. This was starting to look illegal, but he soon cleared up all the confusion. And what do you suppose was screwing up the ferry service? Politics . . . what else?

The government was trying to find a cheaper contract to ferry people across, which they did. But the new guys weren't running yet (for some strange reason we had noticed that they preferred to just float around in the harbour without passengers) and Tony couldn't run either, what a mess. Not to mention all the revenue the government lost when they hired the new ferries which were not as large as Tony's resulting in many event rentals on the island being canceled because the new ferries simply couldn't handle all the people. He dropped us off and refused the money we offered him.


Qualicum Beach - a break from camp food that requires only boiling water

We caught the train in Nanaimo and headed for Qualicum Beach, where we planned to hook up with relatives of some St. Paul friends. The train ride was much more comfortable than the bus. A smoother ride, as we had right-of-way and didn't have to endure hard stops or jerky corners like on a bus, and more leg room.

We hopped off the train at the Qualicum Beach station and for the first time in our travels, had no idea where to go. A friendly lady pointed us in the direction of downtown and the Chamber of Commerce, so we walked there and met more friendly people who gave us some maps and let us leave our packs in the chamber office so we could roam around town.

We quickly found a pay phone and called the Lethbridge de Waals and found out we had a new nephew, Luke Owen, born May 1.

Then we phoned Doreen (the mother of one of our friends in St. Paul) and she said not to worry about finding a campground, we could set up our tent at her brother-in-law's place where she was staying, and she would come pick us up.

So for the next two days Doreen drove us around (we saw Cathedral Grove and Port Alberni and Coombs) and cooked for us (we got grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, eggs and toast, blueberry pancakes) and introduced to a man who had lived in the Queen Charlotte Islands for 20 years and gave us lots of tips.

She even drove us into town on Friday morning so we could catch the train, this time to Buckley Bay. Thanks Doreen for being a mom to us!


Denman and Hornby - a break from the sun and warm weather; wait, we didn't have that to begin with

At Buckley Bay we boarded a ferry destined for Denman Island. But after seeing the camping, or should we say squatters' facilities, we quickly amended our plans and went straight through to Hornby (you have to go to the other side of Denman to catch the ferry to Hornby).

Hornby was interesting but again it rained a lot and after two days we had had enough. We headed back over to Denman then onto the big island again and easily caught a ride to Courtenay.

The woman who picked us up was really great, she drove us all the way into Courtenay even though it was past her destination. She and her husband run a commercial painting company that spanned from the interior of BC all the way to Courtenay. We asked her about the housing market on Vancouver Island and she told us that within three years they had bought and sold three homes and profited $180,000. She explained that they just bought old poorly maintained houses and simply cleaned and painted them. Wow!!! We need to buy a house.


Courtney - finally we get to an Internet cafe!

In Courtenay we stayed at a "cheap" inn that had a hot tub and pool and laundry for one night just to get sorted out. Then we phoned around for a cheap campsite, and cheap we found . . . It sounded great, as do many things when you can't see them physically (the Internet can also make places sound much more appealing than they really are). It was within walking distance to town, had flush toilets, showers, and was nestled in beside a river. The only thing that should have warned us was the $15 price tag.

Upon arrival, we realized we had never seen so many hub caps, tarps, old vehicles and overgrown grassy clumps in one area before. We have never seen so many mullets and Pontiac Firebirds come together at the same time. The amount of old trailers, campers, RVs and combinations of all three adapted together in a sort of redneck omelet is quite the sight.

We had to remind ourselves that we were in B.C. and not rural Alberta. But we did decide to stay. Rachel started to get worried when we were asked a few times by different people if we were "moving in." Are we going to be able to get out of this place? But it is cheap so what can we say.

So here we are in Courtenay, hoping to get together with some more friends and relatives, and after that, north to Campbell River, possibly Quadra and Cortes islands, then Port Hardy.