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Port Hardy
Arriving at Port Hardy.The night chugged slowly for me as I didn’t sleep well (although Gail said she slept well), heard the ship dock at some place to unload passengers and supplies at a tiny port in the passage, then at 3:30 am we hit open water and the bucking of the ship started in earnest. Luckily though I didn’t feel nauseous this time. It was reassuring to reach the open waters though as the chances of us running into rocky ground were much slimmer! Even so, just in case of emergency, our clothes and shoes were strategically placed and ready to be donned should the emergency whistle blow. At 6:30 the alarm went off and up we got. There was a nice big shower in our room, but after Gail had finished she warned me the water could be warmer. Hmm. That doesn’t sound too good. Indeed the shower could be warmer, in fact it could even do with being warm! Nothing like sensation of a bucket of cold water being thrown over you to wake you up!
After taking our gear down into the car, we had a quick breakfast before search out Susan and Beth to say goodbye, after which
Port Hardy
Arriving at Port Hardy. we found Guy and asked if he still needed a lift. Guy accepted the offer, so down the three of us went to the car and chucked his pack in the boot. Good job we had a big car.
Driving off the ferry we headed down route 19 towards Telegraph Cove. As soon as we got under way Liisa launched into her Spanish Inquisition on poor young unsuspecting Guy! She asked every conceivable question, how long are you in Canada for, where have you been, how was the hitchhiking going, what type of people pick you up, what is your daily spending allowance, who were you staying with in Edmonton, what was the skiing like in Banff, how expensive was it, what was the quality of snow like, every minute detail about his digital SLR camera, how was the camping going, etc? Our amiable stow away was more than happy to answer each one. The only thing Liisa didn’t ask was his inside seam measurement which I am sure he would have gladly answered too! LOL
He was interesting to talk to and had many humorous anecdotes to tell of his travels and we also chatted about our various
travel experiences and points of interest.
Just before we got to Telegraph Cove we spotted what we thought was a dump with hundreds of Bald Eagles sitting on what looked like heaped peat soil and in the surrounding trees. We decided to stop and take some pictures. Being so close to them we were able to appreciate their size, many of them spread their 6ft wings and took flight before our eyes. It was a fantastic sight to watch them soaring above us looking so graceful and regal.
The last stretch of road to Telegraph Cove was unpaved and is currently being improved. We had to take a little detour due to the massive piles of gravel and the abundant machinery, before we came to the cove. It is a beautiful area with views of the mainland of Vancouver, but unfortunately the mist over the water and the rain obscured most of the view and the probable pods of Orcas swimming past. We drove into the little quaint village of Telegraph which had a small docking harbour for yachts surrounded by colourful buildings and took some pictures.
Making our way south, we all scoured the roadside for bears
Eagles in the Mist
Countless Bald Eagles in the trees! as Guy hadn’t had the privilege of seeing any yet and of course we would always love to see more, but alas it was all in vain. The bears were once again hiding from us and our zoom lenses. I think they should be fined for not cooperating and exposing themselves to us. Even when I looked at a map they didn’t appear like in times past, as most of our sightings had been when I pulled out the map to study it.
The scenery was as expected - beautiful, lush and green. The trees were in leaf now and bright green, the grass was out and there were even some flowering trees. Our first real taste of spring on this journey. Had we more time, it would have been great to spend a few days exploring, but as the three of us had places to go, we just drove through and enjoyed what we could see instead.
After spending about 5 hours with Guy, it was time to drop him off at the crossroads to Tofino where he was heading for a few days on the West Coast of the Island to do a trek through the
Eagles
On the mound of something or other! Pacific Rim National Forest. We prayed he would get a lift quickly and with no problems, particularly as we had passed so many signs on the way down that said it is illegal to pick up hitchhikers!
We said our goodbyes and then headed for Chemainus, a delightfully quaint little town on the East Coast of Vancouver Island, about an hour north of Victoria. Chemainus has been made famous for its many murals, 36 of them, throughout the town on the sides of buildings. Parking up we sat in the car and contemplated getting out to stroll through the town, but both of us were too tired due to lack of sleep and early rises, so instead we drove around the town viewing the murals instead. It is definitely a place to return to so we can explore in greater depth.
An hour later we pulled up at The Empress Hotel where we would be staying our penultimate night before the end of the trip. A nice splurge! The doorman, then porter took our bags from the car on up to the room. The room was painted in an historic shade of green, not a colour I would
Eagles
Christmas decorations! choose for my house, but it looked nice in this environment. The view from the window overlooked the little rooftop Japanese garden and part of a car park, not very exciting considering you have the harbour on the other side of the hotel, but then those rooms come at a steep price. The bathroom was filled with nice little goodies which promptly made their way into our bags to take home.
On reflection and comparison of this room to the many we had stayed in over the past few weeks, we came to the conclusion that this one would rank as number two. Falcon Crest and the Bell 2 Lodge would tie at first place. Whilst the two winners might not have been as grand as The Empress or nowhere near as expensive, the facilities of the rooms and quaintness were far superior. The Empress didn’t even have wireless - just shocking! Still, The Empress is a grand old hotel steeped in history and tradition and a must stay place when in Victoria.
After settling in and having a drink, we went out and did a bit of exploring by foot around the harbour area before coming back
Eagles
A massive eagle not far from us! to have dinner. Neither of us felt enthused to dress up and head down to dinner so instead we ordered room service and had them bring it up to us. We both had a scrumptious ceasar salad for starters followed by a polenta wrapped black bean and roast vegetable tamale with a spicy cream sauce, then for desert Liisa had a cherry crème brule and I had a flourless double chocolate cake, which looked like a piece of sculpture when it arrived.
It wasn’t long before there was a knock on the door and the hostess wheeled in our immaculate white linen covered table, bedecked with silverware and silver cutlery with our Pellegrino sparkling water sitting in a champaign cooler on the side. The food presentation was superb and the taste was equally as good. Shame about the movie we were watching as we ate though. Dumb and dumber. All in all it was a great way to finish off the holiday, considering as our last night would be in the bargain bucket Motel 6! In the back of our minds we pondered how Guy was fairing, whether he was still standing on the grassy verge or had he
Eagles
Even more eagles. managed to hitch a lift to his destination. We hoped so!
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