The Vacation Needed: Getting There Is Half The Fun

Vancouver is a great town, but not it's not all British Columbia has to offer. Victoria, the Capitol, lies across the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Wanda Who? I have to wonder about the nomenclature. The portion of the Pacific that separates Vancouver Island from the mainland is not straight, and the man it is named after wasn't really Juan De Fuca. In fact, there is some confusion as to what the Greek seafarer's name actually was. He was certainly not a Greek called Wanda. And to further complicate things, the city of Vancouver is not on Vancouver Island.

But we are intrepid souls, and chose to cross the water, whatever it may be named.

Approaching the Gulf Islands.

The ferry is a massive boat.
Note the deck wear people are sporting.
It may be sunny in the strait, but the wind is strong and cold.

The small Gulf Islands hug the southeastern coast of Vancouver Island.

There is a strong current between some of the islands.
It must have pushed these swanky homes onto the shore.

I bet there's a great view up on those hills.

Not so bad down here at sea level either.

As we continued southwest,
the hills got higher and the clouds, puffier.

It would be great to have a boat to explore the islands.
I could definitely afford this one...on the right,
trailing the sailboat.

Somewhere past that big island in the mist is the US of A.

Though our reservation was for noon, we just made it onto the 11 AM boat.
I had hardly stopped the car when the doors slammed shut.

They pack 'em in tight.

Having done the "cool wind in your face" on the way over, we decided it might be nice to grab a bite while we sailed back to Vancouver a few days later. (Relax. If you want to see Victoria, stay tuned for a following post. Or better...go there!)