Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island lies to the west of the mainland. It is 460 miles long and 62 miles wide. It is also a large part of the Inside Passage that I wrote about as our ship cruised south to Vancouver City. Interestingly, this island, in part, is south of the 49th Parallel, the only Canadian land below this mark. It was agreed upon in the Oregon Treaty that established the boundary between the USA and Canada at the 49th Parallel, that all of Vancouver Island would remain British (at that time).

There are no bridges that connect the island to the mainland. So most travelers take the ferry. Ours left Vancouver and took a couple hours to complete the journey…But this was part of the fun.

The Ferry wove through a cluster of islands. It actually seemed like another Inside Passage as a couple of the channels were so narrow that I wondered if they were one-way.

After landing, we drove through the city of Victoria to our lodge in the mountains beyond. Most visitors come here to see Victoria, a city of 300,000, which is half the population of the entire island. It has a beautiful marina and Old Town. We toured it by carriage, after Mrs Bear nimbly hopped up the two steps.

After the Clydesdale ride, we toured Butchart Gardens. I’ve already shared photos and video. My next post will continue my review.

The remainder of our time was spent at our mountain lodge. The scenery was spectacular and I got out to play a few holes on their beautiful Nicklaus-designed golf courses. Mrs Bear liked it so much that she wants to return, which almost never happens. I would have liked to explore the more remote areas of the island, but this will also have to wait until the next trip. Since it has been over 50 years since my prior trip, I hope the next will be sooner.