North Vancouver Island

After our Barkley Sound cruise at Port Alberni we headed north to complete our tour of the Island. We stopped for a few days at Campbell River, the most northerly large town. It was a good place, large enough to have everything you could want, but, small enough to avoid traffic gridlock and high real estate prices. It has about 31,000 people and claims to be 'the Salmon Capital of the World'. The town is strung out along Discovery Passage and had ocean views from everywhere. We spent an enjoyable couple of days, got the bicycles out for a tour and also splurged on groceries at the well-stocked stores before continuing north to Telegraph Cove.

Telegraph Cove is a former fishing and cannery village now turned into a resort. It used to be the northern terminus of the Campbell River telegraph line, hence the name. Today, it relies mainly on tourism and only has a few permanent residents. Most of the historic buildings are built on stilts at the water's edge and joined by a boardwalk.

The boardwalk was perfect for strolling and due to our early season visit, uncrowded.

Telegraph Cove is known as a whale watching centre, especially for Orcas, who spend the summer in the narrows of Johnstone Strait which separates the northern part of Vancouver Island from the rest of British Columbia. We'd hoped to take an Orca tour, but, were a little too early. The tours weren't starting for another week, so, we had to satisfy ourselves with just enjoying this early evening view out over the water instead.

We spent two quiet nights in Telegraph Cove and then pushed further north, on to Port Hardy, the ferry terminus at the north end of Vancouver Island. This is the jumping off point for ferries north through the Inside Passage. We'd planned to make a short ferry hop here, to Bella Coola, further up the coast where we'd rejoin the highway, saving a long loop back around through the mainland. It wasn't to be. We'd been too early for Orca tours, now, we were too late for the ferry. It was booked solid a month ahead.

There was nothing for it. The only way off the island now was to retrace our steps back to Nanaimo and catch the ferry back to the mainland from there. We reworked our plans and will now take the ferry in reverse, from Prince Rupert to Bella Coola, later in the summer. This time, we reserved well in advance!