As I mentioned in my previous post, husband’s cousin Walter and his wife Elisabeth from Munich were with us for a visit for about ten days. They had first driven from Calgary over the Rockies to Vancouver, a very popular trip for European visitors. In Vancouver, we showed them around for a few days, then we headed out for an island hopping tour focusing mostly on the northern part of Vancouver Island and some smaller islands east of them, areas that we ourselves had not explored before.

Day One had us on the morning ferry from Horsehoe Bay to Nanaimo. We had dense fog all morning until about Buckley Bay where we stopped for refueling. This was a familiar spot where we have many times taken the two little ferries to Hornby Island. It was the only day, really a half day, on this journey that the sun did not shine which was quite incredible. We had only once, over 40 years ago, driven north of this point, in a rush to catch the overnight ferry to the northern port of Prince Rupert on our way home to Fort St. John where we lived at the time.

Our destination for the night was the town of Campbell River. We had heard how much it is thriving, attracting young families to jobs and affordable homes, and it certainly is an attractive, clean and pretty town. Our bed & breakfast place is in a nice quiet neighbourhood with lovely gardens. Inside we were astounded by the amazing art collection in the home, mostly prints, some paintings, sculpture and pottery, mostly by German artists. Elisabeth is very knowledgeable about art and was most surprised to learn that the owners, also German, had an art gallery in Munich before they came to Canada. Too bad they had to be away, leaving a friend to take care of us. (Sorry no photos since they weren’t there to be asked permission.)

We had a lovely dinner by the pier where we noted numerous fishing ships, mostly owned by the First Nations. Breakfast next morning was a visual and gastronomic feast! Husband and I have said we’ll be back!

Day Two was a highlight… report coming soon.