Inside Passage and trip to Tofino

The Inside Passage ferry route connects Prince Rupert in the north (and thereafter Skagway for the Yukon or Alaska further north, or the Haida Gwaii / Queen Charlotte Islands to the west offshore) and Port Hardy right to the north of Vancouver Island. Most people on this trip are locals, holiday makers in RV's headed further north and a couple of backpackers, mostly coming down from the Yukon / Alaska. Some people treat the ferry journey as a cruise and make a return trip from either end. As the trip is stunning, and the ferry very comfortable, this is quite a nice thing to do if you are so-inclined, especially if you pay for one of the cabins on board. It is a much cheaper way of getting what many people pay huge amounts for on the cruise liners!

The route is fantastic, cutting through some truly spectacular fjords and in between so many islands, coves and inlets. The landscape is similar to that of Prince Rupert - really amazingly steep tree-covered mountains / rocks that crash into the ocean; a narrow grey and rocky intertidal zone surmounted by the dark green, lush conifers.

On the morning I left, it started out foggy but by 10am was entirely sunny. The early morning departure (7:30am) was stunning as the sun rising through cold and foggy air over the glassy ocean was breathtaking.

There were quite a few interesting characters on the boat, a lot of whom are involved in the First Nation communities, and in particular the impact of a proposed oil pipeline from Alberta to the coastline. One of the guys who had stayed in the hostel the previous night with me has been living on the Queen Charlotte islands for 8 years, and I spent a couple of hours chatting with him about life there. He spends a lot of time out in the forest mushroom picking, and has seen quite a few bears. (This came in reference to the white 'Kermode' bears [a sub-species of the Black Bear that and occur naturally on some of the islands off the BC coast] that we were trying to spot amongst the island trees) He told me a story of how he was camping once in the woods, and a bear was paying their camp a lot of attention. He took a baked potato out the fire, filled it with tabasco sauce and left it out for the bear. The bear promptly ate the potato, and Eric apparently spotted the bear a couple of minutes later in the stream: hindquarters in the air, mouth wide open and in the water - cooling off!! I can just imagine it; the stuff of Disney cartoons!

The scenery did change through the day, getting somewhat less spectacular in the afternoon. This was fortunate, as I was completely exhausted from a couple of late nights in Prince Rupert and the early start to catch the ferry. Once I allowed myself to go inside (I was determined to make the most of the scenery!!) I fell asleep for a couple of hours in the comfy chairs. During the afternoon, a couple of whales jumped right next to the boat, which was spectacular. A humpback whale also spent a while slapping the water with its fins, and a pod of what must have been more than 20 whales made their way past the ferry. It was a really peaceful, quiet and very civilized way to travel, and I recommend it to anyone who is in that part of the world. Next time, I'll be making my way to or from the Yukon!!

I spent that night in Port Hardy, a tiny little town right to the north of Vancouver Island. There isn't much to do in the town, although it does market itself as the 'bear capital' of Vancouver Island. A friend of mine did see one during his day there, and some people on the bus did see one on the way out of town. The hostel had even closed off access to their patio as a bear had been regularly raiding their kitchen. As the greyhound to Tofino left early the next day, I really only saw the inside of my duvet...

The trip to Tofino was long and tiring, the scenery was interesting (I was amazed to see snowcapped mountains and more glaciers on the island!) but logging seems to have taken its toll on a lot of the islands forests. The towns along the route were small, pretty seaside towns; dominated by logging and the sea.

I was very, very happy to arrive into Tofino, and it was good to have a friendly face waiting for my arrival! Andrew and I got a light dinner from a fantastic little shop and I greeted my first evening on the Pacific Rim with more of the amazing local wild salmon.

[photos to follow]