Water World

Port Hardy gave me a very wet sendoff this morning and it turned out to be the gift that kept on giving.  Ninety percent of today’s 325 miles was spent under significant rain and mid 50F temperatures.  I rode the whole of Vancouver Island BC, north to south.  It’s easy to make a mistake of scale when you think about this island, until you realize that its length is similar to the run from Las Vegas NV to Los Angeles CA.  Being so thickly forested, it felt at times as if I were riding through a maze.  We have all seen enough photos of trees and water from this trip, so I was lazy about pushing the shutter button today.

When you find someone dispensing gas into a water bottle it means that either they just can’t afford Two Buck Chuck anymore or their vehicle has run out of this precious nectar.  That’s what I found during today’s midday fuel stop.  A fellow rider, from Vancouver, had hitched a 10 kilometer ride back to the gas station while his bike remained exactly that far down the road.  Carrying his bottle of gas, he accepted my offer of a 2-up ride back to his bike and after a short drink, it lit right on up, as more rain fell right on down.  I remembered seeing him as part of a group of four riders on the ferry yesterday.  Today he lagged behind his riding group and apparently they didn’t notice him missing, as they just kept on going.  Maybe some new friends are in order for him, perhaps some that have rear-view mirrors on their bikes.

Today’s late start and weather-hampered pace, led to a late arrival in Victoria on the south end of Vancouver Island.  The harbor area is Euro-beautiful and its hotels were fully booked up, given that it is high season.  Hotels.com had to place me 9 miles out of the city at a golf resort (no joy for me).  Unfortunately that precludes any nighttime photos of the very picturesque Victoria.  If tomorrow morning goes well, I might shoot a few on my way to the ferry terminal.

Tonight is the last night in Canada party and tomorrow’s short ferry crossing leads me back to the States at Port Angeles WA.  I’m celebrating by searching the internet for a bacon & poutine rehab facility near my home.

Thus far, the two lessons I’ve learned when traveling this route in the high season are:

• Book your ferry crossings weeks in advance.
• Book Victoria accommodations well in advance.

If your mode of transportation is weather dependent, precede both of the above with a day or two to burn, thereby making sure that you’ll hit those reserved items on time.  Build the rest of your trip around these two items.