Continuing the story of our road trip in August 2021…
We had a reservation on BC Ferries to travel from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert. The ferry sailed at 7:30 am; however, because of onboarding procedures (checking ID, etc), passengers are required to be at the terminal 90 – 120 minutes ahead of sailing. So there we were at 5:45am waiting to board. Craig and I were struck by how friendly all the BC Ferries staff were at such an early hour!
Safely boarded, we checked into our stateroom. We decided this was a good investment to have a place to store our belongings including our electric cooler and to have a place to put our feet up during the 16 hour sailing. I was surprised to see it had a TV and a shower!
We travelled on the Northern Expedition. The ferry was clean, didn’t feel crowded, and had lots of comfortable seats. Some of them faced out to the port and starboard so you could watch the scenery go by. Also lots of room to wander the decks outside for bigger views. That’s were I spent most of the journey. People were not allowed to stay in their vehicles or even go to the car decks as it is all enclosed. However, about every 2 – 3 hours, there was an announcement allowing people 15 minutes to go to the car deck to retrieve items, or check on their dogs.
The beginning of the journey is across open water, and there were quite a few queasy people. After about an hour, we entered the Inside Passage where the waters were very calm.
I loved that there were announcements of places of interest as we passed. Lots of lighthouses many of which were built to guide sailors to the Klondike. There was an unsolved murder of a lighthouse keeper on Addenbrooke, and some mysterious disappearances on Egg Island.
The inlets and fjords all along the journey were so picturesque. Although it was cloudy for most of the sailing, the views were still mesmerizing. And because the Inside Passage is so protected, it was quite pleasant to be outside on deck.
We had a stop at Klemtu which is an isolated community on Swindle Island where the main industry is aquaculture. A group of kayakers disembarked here. I was curious to know where they were going. This area is surrounded by the Great Bear Rainforest. I’m sure the kayakers would be seeing some amazing sites.
Further along, the sun came out for a while as we approached and passed by Bella Bella and Shearwater. Many years ago, Craig did a consulting gig at Shearwater!
I can help but post more pictures of amazing scenery along all of the Inside Passage!
One of the most picturesque lighthouses was at Boat Bluff where the inside passage starts to become very narrow. It was at this point that I actually saw a whale…I am pretty sure it was a Minke whale. Didn’t capture any pictures, except one that showed it blowing water!
The next photos really show how narrow the passage gets. The fog rolled in and the fog horn was blasting for quite a long way. The views were quite magical.
So glad that we took advantage of this BC Ferries trip. It is likely the only “cruise” I will ever go on!
Stay tuned for the last chapter of this road trip in the next blog…Prince Rupert, Terrace, Nass Valley, Smithers and Lillooet.
