Ferry Trip to Nanaimo, BC and drive to Port McNeill

Today we left early in the morning to catch the 8:30 ferry from Horseshoe Bay just north of Vancouver, to Departure Bay.Thats the harbor for Nanaimo, which is located on Vancouver Island.








It was definitely a good decision to start so early and take the 8:30 am ferry. There were huge lines and not all people made it. Some will have to wait for the 10 am trip.

The trip itself was pretty unspectacular. Easy roll on / roll off process. We enjoyed the time on the sea, great opportunity to have a look at the City of Vancouver from the distance.

After arrival at Nanaimo we had to drive around 300 km North to Port McNeill. We decided to take the Oceanside route, which is the old Highway 19. On our way we have seen many small seaside resorts. But once you are past Campbell River the only things you will see are trees and logging trucks. It is quite an experience to drive for almost 150 km thru woodland.

When entering Port McNeill we looked for our hotel, which we reserved upfront thru Orbitz. It had reasonable ratings, but our experience was quite different. After having stayed in hundreds of hotels in my career I have to admit this was one of the worst rooms I ever had. Tiny, not particularly clean with spots of unknown origin on the carpet. The guy at check in was quite surprised we showed up and intended to stay for two nights. He asked how we made the reservation and I told him via the web. I also offered him his own confirmation number, but his response was, that doesn't mean anything. After scanning his documents for another 10 minutes, a lot of mumblings and surprising looks we got a room.One that obviously was a room they typically wouldn't rent (I hope...). Anyway we checked in and went to the restaurant to have dinner. The story continued there with the chefs attempt to kill a halibut in deep fry. It worked but didn't help with the experience... After Dinner we went for a walk thru the harbor. As eagles are pretty wide spread in this part of Canada we actually came across a resident bald eagle, who was sitting on a pole. At least some reward for the long drive.

After the walk we had some beers in a local pub. It took us only the first sip of beer until we were approached by a local guy named Earl (seriously ! not kidding) Earl shared with us the story of his 60 year long live as a carpenter. He asked whether it would be ok for him to take Annette for a dance, but luckily we were able to trade this for a match at the pool table.

While Annette was playing pool I happened to talk to another guy at the bar. He turned out to be a cartoon artist and shared his web site with me (www.robbiedurose.com). Quite some funny stuff. At least some locals seem to be nice and not too insane....