The Queen of Cowichan

October 19
Vancouver to Vancouver Island

We are up early, hitched Plan B (I’m getting good at this), and on the road in plenty of time for our 8:30 departure…….in fact we are more than early, so pretty much head of the line, meaning we will load and then disembark first.  I had a feeling it would be a tight fit on the ferry, but then I saw full size transports rolling off, and it took care of the anxiety a little.  Our ferry is The Queen of Cowichan and she is a big one………I picked up a new rain jacket in the store (total tourist ripoff shop, but good jacket all the same), then we went upstairs for breakfast……..good eats.  Not long after that, Nanaimo was appearing in the distance (1hr 40min crossing), and we were called to our vehicles to get ready.  As I expected we were one of the first to disembark……followed the signs……and we were on our way to Port McNeil. I should mention, it was $280. for the ferry.

 
Getting up to Campbell River was ok, but then we turned inland, and did it get beautiful in a hurry!  We drove through valleys, up and over passes, surrounded by some big mountains, and with only the occasional shower, the weather was not a bother.  There is just a whole lot of nothing but nature up in these parts.  Only a couple of towns along the way and they are mostly just a collection of houses, maybe a gas station……….

We checked into Alder Bay RV just outside of Port McNeil, and it is a very nice place, but almost totally shut down for the winter.  They have a boat ramp, and extensive docking facilities which are now all stacked on shore……..you can see that this must be a busy place in the summer but not now.  The only other campers here are a few year rounders, and the rest are snowbirds who have had their wings clipped because of Covid……….the owner told us that a number of their summer residents have just decided to stay here for winter as they can no longer head south to the USA.

Not that we hadn’t driven enough for the day, but I wanted to get into Port McNeil, and Port Hardy a little farther down the road, to see what they were all about.  Turns out…….not very much……..almost everything is closed…….all the restaurants except for a Chinese Food joint………..you know what they say…..”Never buy Chinese Food in Port McNeil”.  I would normally say Asian Food, but that’s not what is on their sign out front.  We stopped at the local grocery store and picked up some steak as I am determined to fire up my new tabletop BBQ.  
Great dinner/campfire………we brought along a selection of DVD’s to watch on the trip…….old favourites and a few classics…….last night was Slumdog Millionaire.

 
We are not sure what will happen tomorrow………all tours/fishing/excursions are totally closed down for the year, and even an inside connection for a fishing trip via our hosts at Alder Bay hasn’t panned out.  We’ll see how it goes in the AM. 

OH sorry……I forgot the side view of the burl………outstanding!