Vancouver Island and BC mountains

rubberfish · May 16, 2019, 09:12:04 PM

I have a question. Your flight from Florida will be landing where in B.C.?

Stephen1 · May 16, 2019, 10:07:06 PM

Time! We all need more. Have a great trip where ever you end up travelling.

florida · May 17, 2019, 06:51:40 AM

We will be landing at Seattle. Big price differencerwhen we got our tickets.

tule peak timber · May 17, 2019, 10:40:23 AM

The Victoria Clipper is pretty cool, similar to an airplane ride. I asked permission to enter the machinery space and got to "pet "one of their MAN diesels turning and burning at full tilt boogie. Zoom !

rubberfish · May 17, 2019, 07:30:58 PM

Quote from: florida on May 17, 2019, 06:51:40 AM
We will be landing at Seattle. Big price differencerwhen we got our tickets.

And you're walking to Canada? Give us a little to work with eh? :D
Would a reasonable sized rental motorhome suit your needs?
Cruise in that for a couple days, stay where ever, then hotel it for a night.
Have a bath, get some laundry done. Then cruise for a few more days?
And repeat 'til you have to bring it back to Seattle and fly home.
You'll end up taking a two hour ferry ride over to Vancouver Island
and your adventure begins. Whale sightings are common as you
approach Active Pass. Food for thought.

Bandmill Bandit · May 18, 2019, 02:41:10 PM

Heres a rental website for RVs in BC if you are interested. They are pretty popular across the country.

https://gorving.ca/find-an-rv/rentals/rentals-british-columbia/

florida · May 18, 2019, 07:18:12 PM

We're taking a ferry from Seattle to Vancouver but I don't know any details about it.
RV's are not in the picture. We already have B & B reservations for about half our time. I'm looking for places we can go off the beaten path on VI.

btulloh · May 18, 2019, 07:48:32 PM

Florida, I don't think you'll have any problem getting off the beaten path on VI. Once you get a little north of Victoria, you've pretty much accomplished that. It was almost thirty years ago when I was there for a week, so I'm sure it's changed a bit, but most of VI is pretty rugged and undeveloped. I was at Cowichan bay and had only a couple opportunities to poke around, but it didn't take long to get into some really interesting areas - both on the shore and west to the interior. We stopped in Duncan for a few minutes and then drove over to Cowichan Lake on one little excursion. Cowichan Bay was pretty much off the beaten path in those days. Don't know about now. I know there was a lumberjack bar there that some of us went to in the evenings a couple times. There were some pretty rough lookin' characters in there, and that was just the women I'm talking about. But no lives were lost.

Duncan - The City of Totems

Maybe y'all aren't big on just winging it, but that can work pretty well. You'll probably get some good input from the B&B owners too.

tule peak timber · May 18, 2019, 08:07:06 PM

Quote from: btulloh on May 18, 2019, 07:48:32 PM
Florida, I don't think you'll have any problem getting off the beaten path on VI. Once you get a little north of Victoria, you've pretty much accomplished that. It was almost thirty years ago when I was there for a week, so I'm sure it's changed a bit, but most of VI is pretty rugged and undeveloped. I was at Cowichan bay and had only a couple opportunities to poke around, but it didn't take long to get into some really interesting areas - both on the shore and west to the interior. We stopped in Duncan for a few minutes and then drove over to Cowichan Lake on one little excursion. Cowichan Bay was pretty much off the beaten path in those days. Don't know about now. I know there was a lumberjack bar there that some of us went to in the evenings a couple times. There were some pretty rough lookin' characters in there, and that was just the women I'm talking about. But no lives were lost.

Duncan - The City of Totems

Maybe y'all aren't big on just winging it, but that can work pretty well. You'll probably get some good input from the B&B owners too.

Reminds me of Kito's Kave in Petersberg AK. ( The Lumberjack Bar part) :D :D :D

sawguy21 · May 19, 2019, 04:40:15 AM

:D That is funny. There is so much to see and do on VI. If you have time Long Beach is an incredibly beautiful area (as long as the weather is clear).

florida · May 20, 2019, 12:05:15 PM

I'm sure we will find plenty to see. We try to stay away from people and have little to no interest in cities. I think my travel planner has us booked up now so we'll go wherever the roads lead. Thank you all for your very helpful advice without which we wouldn't be going to Bella Coola at all! I'll let you know how it goes.

btulloh · May 20, 2019, 12:17:02 PM

Have a good trip.

Hopefully you can post some updates as you go along. If not, we'll just have to wait til you return.

Magicman · May 24, 2019, 09:59:08 AM

Where would you go on VI to see Puffins? Preferably on the North end.

florida · May 24, 2019, 04:18:49 PM

Magicman,
Last year in Scotland we were just poking along as we usually do along the north coast and saw a large head, Dunnet, in the distance. We drove out to it, poked around and walked over the top to the other side. There were puffins everywhere! It was really fantasitc for me as seeing a puffin has been on my bucket list since I read about them when I was 6. We talked to a photographer from Glasgow who had been going there for 30 years to photograph puffins and he said he'd never seen so many nor seen them so early.

I'd love to see more.

florida · June 01, 2019, 11:33:33 AM

The big day has arrived and we leave in an hour.! The heat index here was 114 yesterday and summer is just starting. It was nice putting coats in our bags! Can't wait for cool weather and beautiful scenery!

sawguy21 · June 01, 2019, 12:09:59 PM

Well, if you call the 90's cool. :D Have a good trip and be sure the camera is loaded and locked.

florida · June 03, 2019, 10:36:44 AM

As seems to be always the case getting to VI was a long trip but we made it. The ride from Seattle to Victoria on the ferry was so foggy that we saw nothing until we were a mile from the dock we got a rental car and headed north and stopped an hour later for lunch in the Cowinchin area. Our first taste of the beauty of VI and we were impressed! After lunch we continued on to Parksville, a mundane name without much romance about it but another beautiful spot. The view from our room at the Tigh-Na-Mara resort is breathtaking! We are looking over Rathtrevor Beach at the Strait of Georgia with the mountains of Lasqueti Island in the background.

>

sawguy21 · June 03, 2019, 11:26:40 AM

8) Keep the pictures coming, it is an incredibly beautiful area.

Stephen1 · June 05, 2019, 08:11:06 PM

Safe Travels!

florida · June 06, 2019, 11:36:09 AM

We made the trip to Bella Coola the past 2 days. Gorgeous scenery but 20 hours on a ferry in 2 days is all we want of that! We saw whales, otters and dolphins as well as lots of logging. I'm amazed at the " slopes" they can cut as some of look more like cliffs than hills!
We are now at a B&B right on the water in Port McNeil. Our hosts said there were 24 traveling Orcas right off their beach last week as well as a bunch of humpbacks! we stopped yesterday evening to see the Worlds Largest Burl just north of here.
I'll add more photos later as I have to wait for them to move from my phone to my IPad.

btulloh · June 06, 2019, 11:40:47 AM

Glad you're enjoying your trip. Thanks for the updates.

Are you managing to stay "off the beaten path" or have you even seen a "beaten path"?

Neat place.

Bandmill Bandit · June 06, 2019, 02:28:10 PM

Anahiem Lake is an awesome lake/valley just east Bella Coola. If you have the time drive in and have look around and may be have a picnic. you will not regret it.

sawguy21 · June 06, 2019, 08:06:17 PM

The road might give them grey hairs and religion. :D

Bandmill Bandit · June 06, 2019, 10:43:14 PM

Yea Saw guy, to you and I that road is an "improved" high way but to most others it would be called a bad logging road. I went in there with an Olds Delta 98 in 1992 with my aunt and uncle from Germany. They loved it but my aunt thought I was completly nuts.