| Author |
Message |
Bob Gallo
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 9:50 pm: | |
Has anyone ferried to Victoria, BC? Was it worth it? If not, what is a suggested way or place to store the bus on the US side for a short visit to the island? |
John Jewett (Jayjay)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 10:13 pm: | |
I took the ferry at Anacortes, and at Port Angeles, but at the last minute decided to leave the bus in an RV park,
A) It was going to cost about $35.00 (one way)
B) I had no place to leave my firearms.
C) The streets are too narrow and parking is
almost non-existent.
When you go, most definitely do a high-tea at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, near the wharf. The high speed passenger ferry at Port Angeles is the nicer of the two venues. ...JJ |
mel 4104
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 10:14 pm: | |
Bob where are you located at? and what crossing do you want to use and what type of veh. are you going to be driving?????? then i can answer the question. mel 4104 ps i live on the island. |
Craig (Ceieio)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 11:29 pm: | |
Bob - I have not taken my bus out to the island (yet) but Victoria is a great place to visit. While there are many buses around, I would not like to pilot mine around in the city. Parking for a car is a challenge and I think it would be all but impossible to plant a bus (at least near the waterfront). I would find a place to camp and rent a car.
If you want to go up the island some, head up to Parksville area. Very nice country.
You pay by the foot for a big rig on BC ferries (they have a web site with the charges on it). You can get reservations if you want, but the boats are huge and many RVer's show up without a reservation.
If you are coming up I5 through Blaine, take the Tsswassen (spelling?) ferry. It will drop you in at Swartz bay. You can go further into Vancouver to another ferry terminal that has bettery service to Nanimo (near Parksville) but the downtown Vancouver traffic will make you switch to decaf for sure.
Do get a reservation for high tea at the Empress Hotel. It is worth the bucks. The Museum across the street is great as well. The island is worth the ferry charge, so do it!
Craig - MC7 |
bruce king
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 11:35 pm: | |
The ferry ride through the san juans is one of hte most beautiful day cruises you can do, and is well worth the time and $$. You can do it via the anacourtes ferry, or you can take the victoria clipper from downtown seattle, link below.
http://www.google.com/local?hl=en&lr=&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-14,GGLD:en&q=to+victoria+ferry&ne ar=Seattle,+WA&sa=X&oi=locald&radius=0.0&latlng=47606389,-122330833,8211127142015205010
orcas island is ferry accessible, and has a very large state park on it, moran state park, that is really beautiful, and has a viewpoint that is really hard to beat. the san juan islands themselves are much sunnier than seattle, and if you have a boat, there are 7 complete islands comprising some 4000 acres that are 100% state parks.
victoria is a nice city, but post-911, the border is a bit weird. There usually are no problems going into canada from the US, but the return trip i've been given a ration of crap about not having a passport showing I was a us citizen. generally speaking, make sure everyone has a passport when crossing the border.
theres been a large number of pot busts along the border as well, the latest that hit the news was a canadian customs official carring 200lbs of pot, with his customs uniform hanging in the back window of his car. as a result, they're getting more strict about vehicle searches. RVs, in my experience, are almost always searched, sometimes both ways.
Regarding firearms, rifles and shotguns are OK in canada, provided you have some reason for them. I drove through bc and yukon to ak to do some hunting, and declared the rifle and shotgun i was carrying at the border. They required that I carry the bolt in a different location than the rifle, but didn't really bat an eye at the amoount of .308 ammo i was carrying -- 1500 rounds-- which surprised me. Rural bc (read: most of bc) consider guns a tool, and rifles & shotguns are pretty common.
Pistols are forbidden.
Pls don't take my word for this. Heres a link that i can't vouch for, that seems to cover it pretty completely.
http://www.canadianlawsite.com/gunlaws.htm
bc is roughly as big as california. The cassiar highway is rough, but goes up through the coastal range in northern bc and is really wonderful. |
R.J.(Bob) Evans (Bobofthenorth)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 - 11:12 am: | |
You've already been told about high tea at the Empress. The other "must do" for us in Victoria is dinner or lunch at Chandlers. I assume it's still there - right downtown along the waterfront - we haven't been in Victoria for a few years. If you like seafood then don't miss Chandlers.
There's also an old castle there that's worth seeing. Some old Scot - lumber or railway baron - built it for his wife. Seems to me there was some tragic ending - his wife died before the house was completed or something.
I'd also echo the advice that you don't want to drive a bus in downtown Victoria. The drive up the island to Comox or further north is really pleasant. You can catch a ferry back to the mainland from Nanaimo. |
Mark R. Obtinario (Cowlitzcoach)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 - 11:46 am: | |
And of course do not miss Buchart Gardens.
It started out as a played out rock quarry. Mrs. Buchart told her husband it was ugly looking. She then asked if it wouldn't it look nice with a few plants put around the old hole in the ground.
The result is one of the premier gardens in the world.
I don't know about Mr. Buchart but I hate it when my wife says "Wouldn't it be nice if we..."
Mark O. |
t gojenola
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 - 2:19 pm: | |
Also, take the surry tour of old Victoria. Pleasant ride in a narrated horse-drawn carriage. Ask the driver to show you the little white 3 bedroom hourse with five kitchens.
It's been quite a few years since I was there, so I'm sure much has changed.
tg |
Craig (Ceieio)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 - 7:36 pm: | |
"There's also an old castle there that's worth seeing. Some old Scot - lumber or railway baron - built it for his wife. Seems to me there was some tragic ending - his wife died before the house was completed or something. "
Craigdarroch castle. Build by Robert Dunsmuir who's brother founded Dunsmuir California. He died just before they moved in. Neat old place. My daughter and son liked playing the 100 year old Stienway there during spring break this year. It added ambience to the castle. They are both Jr. High age and it was well received. I leaned on a wall. That is my talent.
Craig - MC7 |
Bob Gallo
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 - 9:56 pm: | |
Thanks for the responses! I'll be in a 4106. I'd thought I would take it across and stay at an RV park on the island. Then tour using public transit or toad. We plan on going Labor Day week. We'd heard it could be crowded, but I don't know how it would compare to sometime in August. |
Bob Gallo
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 - 9:57 pm: | |
I forgot. I'm coming from Kansas City. |
Michael Lewis (Puffbus)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 23, 2005 - 11:40 pm: | |
The Seattle Victoria run is now passenger only. They stopped hauling vehicles some time ago. You might have better luck out of Anacortes.
Michael |
Craig (Ceieio)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 1:30 am: | |
Bob - depending on what else you have in mind it seems likely that you will be on I-84 through the Great State of Oregon (shameless plug), then heading north on I-5, crossing Washington on I-90 and catching I-5 North, or coming across on the Trans-Canadian Highway 1. All three of these routes will bring you into Tsswassen south of Vancouver BC proper, and an easy 2 hour ferry ride out to the island. (There are lots of other routes of course, but these are three are big-obvious ones). |
T. (Bluegrass)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 8:47 am: | |
Good Morning Bob
I believe If It was me and I planed on staying at a Campground that was very busy I would make reservations so I would not be stuck 50 miles from the place.
Tony |
greg
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 9:55 am: | |
Welcome Bob I am from the island and a busnut and a good rv park link is fortvictoria.ca
it is not far from town aprox 10 miles and yet a good location if you want to venture out to the north end of the island Tofino ( great place)the fishing is great at that time of year right on the west coast aprox 6 hr drive. Just bear in mind you could easily spend a couple of weeks here and still not see all of it. Have a great time while u are here. |
mel 4104
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 10:32 am: | |
Bob, to get the ferry to the Island is very easy as you come across the border at Blain you go north about miles and the the signs will tell how to get to the ferries you only take one left thun onto the highway to the ferry. the depot is huge and easy acces with 6 boths well marked, once through the both you enter a nother large laned parking lotto wait for the next ferry , you will enter one end of the ferry and exit the other as you will drive down the center of the ship, you will be amazed at the number of vec. that it carries,plan to spend lots of time on the Is. as it is 310 miles long and 100 wide. the BC ferry is much cheaper than the US ones. the post by Bruce KIng has a little error-Cal. 158,693 sq.mi.--- BC 366,255 sq.mi. i live at Parksville and have room for you to park if you get this far up the island,just send me your phone # and i can give you more details. mel 4104 |
nvnenzel
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - 5:00 pm: | |
Bob, my wife and I have taken the RV (not a bus owner yet) on several occasions to Victoria. We have left from port Angeles, not worth the trip in my opinion, left from Anacortes, beautiful little rv park in Anacortes makes for a nice night and then catch the ferry, get to victoria and enjoy the day and the trip itself is worth every penny. We also left from the first Canadian port past the boarder, don't remember the name but it's well marked. This was the cheapest route and was also very nice. By the way, the time we left from Anacortes, the Washington Ferry service went on strike as we were in route, captain threatened to return to anacortes, but he was out voted about 500 to 1 against that idea. We made it to Victoria, but the ferry returned to the states empty with about 1000 very angry returning tourist left in B.C. But what I wanted to tell you was about a wonderful little RV park right on the bay. It's only a two mile walk to right in the middle of downtown Victoria or you can take the harbor ferry, a great experience in itself. The ferrys allow you to enjoy a little fine wine with that great dinner (never had a bad meal in victoria) and not worry about a drive home. And if it's a little too late, that walk is perfect to work off a great meal. Anyway, the park. Call early, waterfront reservations can be tight, but all of the park is worth the effort, but get water front if you can. The park is called Victoria Westbay Marina, 866-937-8229. (by the way, I'm in no way affilliated with the business, just a happy customer) GET INSTRUCTIONS HOW TO GET THERE once you know which Ferry you're coming in on, as stated above, driving an RV in Victoria is a once in a lifetime experience. My wife and I will be there starting June 29th, Nevada plates, southwind, five dogs. Finally, we priced it out, it's still cheaper to take the ferry and get an RV spot than go to a hotel if you plan to stay more than about three days, plus you're home which is what this lifestyle is all about. "Home is where I chock the wheels." Laughing Dog |
Fred Mc
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 26, 2005 - 1:17 am: | |
I have a 4106 as well and have been to Victoria on a number of occasions, although not recently. I had no problem driving downtown Victoria. In most inner cities you have trouble parking a bus and Victoria is no different.
Have fun, its worth it.
Fred Mc. |
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