Get a vehicle! That basically is all there is your say if you wanna stay on Vancouver Island – or Canada in general for that matter – for longer. Of course you can join the “there-is-no-need-to-leave-Victoria” crowd and stick with the awesome public bus system in Vic. But if you’re planning to really enjoy everything Vancouver Island has to offer, you’ll need that extra of freedom to actually GO places!
How-To
The Vancouver Island Logbook #2 – How to get around when you travel
Once more, I’m on the move. It’s barely 6.30 am and I’m on the last commuter bus for today connecting Duncan and Victoria. The sun is just about to come up behind the solid black outline of the island forests, clouds crowning the hills’ heads in feathery purple. The commuter 66 is full of people on their daily way to their office job in the province’s capital Victoria. Most of them are asleep, others are staring out of the fogged windows of the bus. My actual plan was to be sitting in my brand new used car by now, enjoying the early drive along Cowichan’s vineyards and through the mountains. However, at this time of year, all the mechanics are booked weeks in advance to fix brakes, check on fluids and change tires.
The Vancouver Island Logbook #1 – How to get there
How to fall in love with Vancouver Island, but also how to actually get there: Read No.1 of the Vancouver Island Logbook, hear my stories and tell me yours!
I am on the ferry from Tsawwassen to Duke Point. The sky is overcast and the hills on the horizon are hiding behind a curtain of drizzle. The ship is the main connector of the mainland of British Columbia and the beautiful stretch of land called Vancouver Island. Usually, I’d rather take the other route from the Vancouver ferry terminal going straight to Swartz Bay on the southern most tip of the island. From there it’s only a short bus ride to the province’s capital of Victoria. However today, my good buddy is going to pick me up at Duke Point in Nanaimo, a small town further north up island – the place where I literally had stranded about six years ago after my rather eventful road trip from southern Alberta in 2011.