Vancouver Island from the land and air

Martin's hosting continued rather well. The weather was a tad overcast but that didn't stop us from visiting the local marina and seeing how lifejackets (OK personal flotation devices) are just sitting in the open, not secured and ready for kids to use:

We tried to imagine how long they would last if that was in a UK location. Our guess is that they would be listed on eBay within a day. It was strange to see the fishing boats and pleasure craft intermingled on some of the pontoon areas. We can only begin to imagine the smell and level of ensuing bird poo. We had a few nights in Brighton many years ago when we were dumped onto a fishing boat berth. Cleaning up afterwards was not fun.

After some marina and local areas wandering, we were taken to the nearby Courtenay Airpark. Was Martin trying to get rid of us early? Nope, no commercial flights from there. It was to see their hanger and Cessna. The captain duly drooled over both and this stunning Beaver floatplane sitting outside:

Apparently it had a "moment" and was subject to significant repairs, now in pristine condition. The Airpark has both a runway and an area for floatplane launch and recovery. Martin and Inge's Cessna was a floatplane but now lives permanently on wheels. Too many logs floating in the river, tricky insurance etc were reported as the reason. 

A visit to the hardware store for some critical items  allowed us to see how seriously some folks take the whole Halloween thing. Or at least, how seriously the retailers take the profit opportunity:

Many were animated as per this video clip:

and this one too:

We were told that the store put up with a busload of kids being delivered just to admire the display. Whilst we were there, it was mainly retired kids having fun with the merchandise. The store staff were tolerant with us though.

Just along the road from their house is a guy who is a talented and inventive metal worker.  Here is the display outside his place:

The detailing is incredible - even down to fitting lights:

One of those strange hobbies that brings amusement / wonder to others.

After another Cordon Bleu dinner from Martin's fair hands, the weather had perked up a lot and so we were able to take advantage of it and give the Cessna an outing. Well, not "we" - Martin of course. We just helped open the hanger doors:

to reveal the very cute Cessna:

Yes, Martin looks cute too, we know, unlike the captain:

Fired up:

fuelled up, the crew was loaded into the back seat ready for her first ever flight in a light aircraft:

The fixed grin is probably due to her prior comment that "Martin is the one guy I would feel comfortable with flying one of these". (For those who don't know him, Martin was a Canadian Air Force pilot, then flew for Cathay Pacific based in Hong Kong ending up as a base captain on Airbus 330 / 350s) . Captain Rae, the owner of the Nordhavn 47 called Albatross who is a confirmed Boeing pilot type calls Airbuses "Poxy Frogbuses". We guess that he would approve of the Cessna yoke, no hi-tech fangled side sticks here:

Our trip was tremendous. The expert local guide showed us the many islands in the area and we could only gawp in awe. As you can see from the screen, it was a "free expression" trip, no specific flight plan:

The many islands and inlets make the area a boating paradise with stunning views and vistas from the air:

Heading back, we passed through Comox airspace, here are the runways of the joint military / commercial airport:

Getting permission from the air traffic controllers to pass through their airspace was remarkably simple as the place has very few flights each day. Along the coast you also get an aerial view of Martin and Inge's house:

For those who are tempted to buy it, you will be getting the second one from the right on the clifftop. Wonderful setting.

There was a plan to land at an airfield on the mainland for lunch but the cloud base over the hills there prevented it. Well, prevented taking off again which would have been inconvenient in the extreme. So, our trip looked like this on the navigation tablet:

but way way better in real life. It was one of those "never expected to see or experience that" days. the crew loved it too, recognising Martin's quiet competence and feeling very comfortable on board. Truly unforgettable stuff.

Heading for Comox and being pampered

During our last night in Nairn Falls campsite it rained. Rather a lot really. You could listen to it hammering down on the roof of the Airstream and that was quite comforting in a strange way. We kind of wanted it to stop before we headed off in the morning though and it did oblige, sort of.

We hitched up the truck to the trailer in almost dry conditions and headed off for the run down to the ferry terminal. This is how Mr Google sees it:

only we stopped off to the south of Whistler to empty the grey and black water tanks at the handy refuse station. All very quiet there - no queue, no fuss. We were becoming old hands at this, just as the skill would no longer be needed. Story of the captain's life really.

The trip down to sea level had. obviously, to be mainly downhill. Sure enough it was and in some stretches of the road it felt more like driving down a river. Loads of water was coming downhill with us and from time to time on steeper downhill stretches of road, we took advantage of the ability to brake the trailer a little bit more to keep it stable. A strange concept for Europeans who are used to over-run brakes on trailers that do exactly what they want to when they want to. The North American system which is electrically controlled, not just through a big spring in the trailer hitch, gives you controllable options. That was good to help the stability of the rig - of course there are benefits and drawbacks to both systems as regulated by local laws. 

We were in plenty of time for our ferry and decided to stop at a nice spot for a while to admire the view (the rain had stopped) and relax. The last bit of the journey was truly whacky. This is how, coming south, you approach the ferry port:

Yup, a long run past it, then a strange loop off the main road and back up north. At first we thought Mr Google had blow a few chips and was going crazy or been hacked by the Russians / China but no, it has the strangest approach to a ferry terminal we've ever seen. Having followed the route and getting almost a priority check-in thanks to our overall length, we joined the ubiquitous queue. You will see that the Horseshoe Bay ferry port is no grander than any other:

The crossing was fine though, here is a borrowed image of the large ferry:

and the view from the window as we headed into Vancouver sound and across to Vancouver Island:

The coffee on board was, as you would expect, average. The pastry offerings fell into the same category. The space and seating were fine though for what was classed as a full ferry. We'd booked a specific sailing thanks to advice from Martin and Inge ages beforehand and are glad we had. They were quoting wait times of over 4 hours for possible space on another ship.

Here is the route across to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and Mr Google shows the timing spot on:

Owing to a mix of rain and dodgy decision making about a turn off, we missed going into the Nanaimo car wash area that had a bay big enough for us to pressure wash off the truck and Airstream. As it turned out, that was not a bad thing as more rain showers meant we would have messed it up again as we headed up the island to Comox. A quick fuel stop there to brim the truck ready for hand back and we duly arrived chez Martin and Inge. Only Inge was off working - flying her helicopter around the north of the country in the kind of territory you see on wildlife programs, so poor Martin had to entertain and feed us. He did both royally.

If you fancy a rather nice pad on Vancouver island then their place is up for sale, it  looks like this:

and comes highly recommended by us. As does Martin's cooking and hosting..

We had safely returned the truck and trailer to their home base after the most amazing time, seeing and exploring places in a way that we never ever thought would be possible. Somehow it didn't feel like the end of an adventure though as we had a week ahead of us to catch up with our hosts and see some of Vancouver Island.