Homeward Bound

It was an act of real discipline to go out on the deck yesterday to snap a few hurried pictures before my hands froze. It is always beautiful sailing through the gulf islands, no matter what the weather. - Fern

Howe Sound

Here's another one from our trip off the island recently. This is looking north from the ferry just before it docked at Horseshoe Bay, north of Vancouver. - Fern

Welcome Aboard

We recently took a trip into the Cariboo and of course that means leaving the island via BC Ferries. On a sunny afternoon it's quite nice to go out onto the deck and for the younger crowd, run around. - Fern

All Aboard!

We took a day trip over to the mainland yesterday and when you live on Vancouver Island that means taking a trip on BC Ferries. The view never disappoints. - Fern

Orca (Orcinus orca)

Part of the ferry route from Victoria to Vancouver goes through a narrow pass between two of the Gulf Islands. It's called Active Pass and is a good place to see some of the local wildlife such as seals and various seabirds. And if you're lucky, you may see some of the local Orca or Killer Whales (Orcinus orca) like I did on my recent trip. There were about a dozen in this pod though there were seldom more than three or four visible on the surface at any one time. In the photo below you can see one of them is breaching and spouting while a whale-watching boat follows at a discreet distance.

Island Living

Although Victoria is located on an island (Vancouver Island) I never really have the sense of "island living" except when I need to go somewhere. The first part of the trip is almost always a ride on a ferry to get to the mainland. That sense of island living is mostly absent because of the size of Vancouver Island. It's a big island - just over 12,000 square miles or 31,000 square kilometers - larger in area than some 50 of the world's smaller countries. It's just a little larger than Belgium, for example. It's about 285 miles (460 kilometers long) and averages about 50 miles (80 kilometers) wide. Much of it is wilderness - about half of the population of 800,000 live in Victoria, the rest in a half-dozen small towns scattered around the southern coastline. All of which may serve as a preamble to noting that I traveled to the mainland this last weekend and will be sharing some of what I saw over the next few days.

Tour Through the Gulf Islands

Saturday the staff here at Victoria Daily Photo took a day trip to Galiano Island. This is one of the Southern Gulf Islands and the ride is quite lovely winding through the islands and Active Pass. It was sunny but quite chilly; after a little while on the deck it was necessary to go back inside to warm up! - Fern

The Strait of Georgia

I cannot help but go out on deck and take some pictures when aboard the ferry over to the mainland. While this is not an unusual scene I never tire of it. - Fern

Riding the Ferry

If you live on an island, as we do here in Victoria, you have to take the ferry quite often. It is really a lovely ride through the smaller southern gulf islands. Between Galiano and Mayne Islands there is a narrow passage where the ferries often pass each other providing a nice photo op. -Fern

The Coastal Cafe

To ride the ferry between Victoria and Vancouver takes about one hour and thirty-five minutes. Many passengers spend this time having lunch or a snack in one of the ferry's eating places. This is a shot of the entrance to the on-board cafeteria called the Coastal Cafe. There is also a more upscale restaurant with an extensive seafood buffet and a small, mostly automated coffee bar. Each ferry also has, in addition to several large lounges, a video arcade for the kids, a play area for smaller children, and a gift shop selling books, magazines, souvenirs and snacks. There are also work areas where laptops may be plugged in.

Kwakwaka'wakw Bear Pole

On a quick trip to Vancouver last week I had occasion to wait at the Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal and noticed there this beautiful totem pole. It is a work of famed Kwakwaka'wakw artist, Chief Henry Hunt. It was carved to mark the centennial of the Province of British Columbia in 1966 and depicts a grizzly bear (top) and a whale. Henry Hunt was born in 1923 and worked with Mungo Martin and the BC Provincial Museum in replicating many decaying totem poles as well as on his own superb creations such as this prize-winning pole. In 1983 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by the University of Victoria. He died in 1985.

BC Ferries

Victoria is on an island so always the first step in any trip to or from the city is to cross to the mainland. You can fly but most people take one of the large car ferries that cross hourly during the day. It takes a little less than two hours to cross in a ferry such as the one pictured above. If you're out on deck you will almost certainly see some seals and maybe some orca as well.

Getting Home

By the time this image is posted I will be riding this ferry or one very much like it in order to return to Victoria from the mainland. I've had a wonderful trip but it will be nice to get back home and see how spring is progressing in Victoria. See you soon!

Roberts Bank Superport

When I left Vancouver Island earlier this week I took a ferry across to Tsawassen, on the mainland of British Columbia. The Tsawassen Ferry Terminal is adjacent to the Roberts Bank Superport, also known as Deltaport. I took this photo last summer because I liked how the cranes look like mechanical animals grazing amongst the containers and piles of coal.