From Seattle to Vancouver Island

Saturday 7th July

At 8:30 am I start my journey, G. can sleep a little longer as her flight back home is later. However, I have to leave because I have to catch a ferry to Vancouver Island at a specific time. This is my first time crossing the border to Canada by car and I have no idea how long it will take. I have booked the ferry to Canada and I know that after arriving at Vancouver Island I still have to drive for at least four hours. The total distance I am driving today is over 670 kilometers (420 miles).

The reason for this long distance is the bear watching tour that I am going on tomorrow Sunday at the crack of dawn from Telegraph Cove on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island. That's why I have to drive up there today. Before booking the bear tour by boat, I called the provider to inquire if there are specific days in the current week that are better or worse. I find out that the tours always start at 7:00 am in the morning and are best when they coincide with low tide. Only then do the grizzlies come out of the forests to the shores to find clams. And that is exactly the case on the 8th of July and slightly less on the 9th. So I booked this grizzly observation tour for two consecutive days. The price of about 300 Canadian dollars per tour is not a bargain, but I decided on it months ago and prepared for it.

The drive from Seattle to the north takes you through beautiful forest sections and in the distance, you can see snow on the mountains on the left and right. At a parking lot, I quickly eat the last banana for breakfast because the import of raw food into Canada is prohibited.

The border control is quick. There is a line of maybe 20 cars, but the processing is efficient. They only check my passport and ask if I have any weapons, tasers or pepper spray and what I will be doing in Canada and how long I will stay. After 30 minutes of waiting in line and answering questions, I enter Canada and I am already at Tsawwassen at the ferry terminal by 1:00 pm. The ship doesn't leave until 3:15 pm, so I am the first in line. You can park your car in the line, so I get something to eat in the terminal building and sit outside in the sun and wind before we depart. I also booked the ferry from home to avoid any risk here. From my pole position, I am the first on the ferry and can drive to the front end of the ship, where the exit is on Vancouver Island. The ferry ride is calm and I am off the ship by 5:30 pm and soon I am on Road 19 heading north.

At 7:00 pm I reach the only bigger town on the route, Campbell River, and refuel. The highway is good to drive on, initially with a speed limit of 60 km/h and later 80 km/h. Then 110 km/h is allowed. But I have an American car that only displays miles, so I am doing calculations again whether I can drive 373 kilometers to Port McNeill, where I am staying tonight, with a tank that shows a range of 252 miles.

Fortunately, the speedometer has small kilometer numbers so I can at least monitor my driving speed. After Campbell River, the road becomes narrower and is only one lane in each direction, but I am almost alone on the road and since it's getting dark, I drive particularly attentively and also slower than allowed because I don't want to collide with a moose, fox or deer here. There are constant warning signs about wildlife crossings, which is logical because endless forests surround you here. I only see one deer and then finally a cat-like animal with a bushy tail and brownish-gray fur. That wasn't a cat or a fox.

The scenery is breathtaking with forests, tall mountains, some with and some without snow. Instead of the beautiful coastline that could be seen at the beginning, there are several beautiful lakes to be seen now. I then reach the hotel at 9:30 pm. Port McNeill is about a 20-minute drive from Telegraph Cove, where the boat tour starts tomorrow morning. I am quite far north here, so the sun is just about to set as I drive into the town.

At the reception, instead of breakfast tomorrow, I receive a snack bag because I have to leave too early. The hotel also has a liquor shop that is still open.

So I have a cold beer after this long day, a salad that I bought at the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen, and that's it. I also receive a note not to shower with shower gel or wash my hair with shampoo and not to use perfumed sunscreen before the grizzly bear tour. Grizzlies have sensitive noses and will move away if they smell something like that. I turn off the lights at 11:30 pm. The alarm clock is set for 5:15 am...

Driving distance: 675 kilometers