Port Hardy to Prince Rupert by Ferry

I had been looking forward to this part of the trip since it was planned – a drive up the island to Port Hardy where we would catch the BC Ferry to Prince Rupert. This would take us north, up most of the coastline of the province of BC.

The drive to Port Hardy was fascinating. The roads past Nanaimo became narrow and twisty, taking us through forests and around mountains and lakes. It was a six hour drive up island to its northeast point. Our ferry was leaving the next day, so we stayed in a motel I had booked for the night. The memorable characteristic of this motel

was the lovely smell of the salmon farm across the road – so refreshing! We found some dinner in the small town – thankfully there was a Subway still open because it appeared everything closed at six o’clock! Including the restaurants! No worries, this left us no choice but to head back to the motel and hit the sack, so we could get up before the sun to catch the ferry in the morning.

We were in line at the dock before six in the morning. We loaded up, settled Chip as comfortably as we could for his stay in the car, and headed up to the passenger decks. This ferry was more like a cruise ship! It had cabins you could rent for the day, three different decks, a full sit-down restaurant, and a cafeteria. We followed the smell of warm breakfast to the cafeteria and found a cozy table in the corner beside the window and hunkered down for the sixteen-hour ride.

Our only worries were how we would pass the time, and how Chip would fare in the car the whole day. To help out the dog people, they opened up the car decks every three to four hours for fifteen minutes, to relieve our pets from our cars and to walk them around the car deck. This was very confusing for Chip. Poor puppy! We hated leaving him there, but he survived, none the worse for wear.

As for how we passed the time… Well our multiple decks of cards came in very handy. The girls learned how to play Gramma and Papa’s favourite card game – “Golf”. We built card towers too! Nature also provided wonderful entertainment with sightings of orcas, porpoises, and even a few whale blowhole spouts!! There were literally over a dozen sightings on this day – I think at least one every hour! The cashier at the cafeteria said this was very unusual, so we felt blessed for this wonderful experience (again it was exactly what I hoped for)!

The captain of the ship also educated us on names of islands and lighthouses along the way. We waved to a few lighthouse keepers and learned some interesting lighthouse history. We splurged and went for the buffet dinner in the restaurant that evening. It was very good, but we realized afterward that we still had several hours to go before we arrived. This meant a fourth meal from the cafeteria around 11:00 pm. Finally around midnight, we pulled into the Port at Prince Rupert.

By this time, we were going pretty crazy and were so relieved to be allowed back in our car to disembark. Unfortunately, we forgot to unplug the cooler again! Meaning our car battery was completely dead. No disembarking for us. The good thing was that this time we were at the back of the line, so we weren’t blocking anyone. We had

to wait until all the cars were off, then one of the porters jumped our car with a portable battery. I can’t imagine we were the first car this ever happened to.

All we had to do once we left the ferry was find our motel two kilometers away; however, we got about five hundred meters before we were stopped by the police! I know I wasn’t speeding, so I had no clue why we were stopped. Apparently, when your car battery died our headlights didn't come back on automatically (even if they were set on auto). The cop was concerned that we were driving without our headlights on. I somewhat calmly explained what had happened, and he graciously decided to let us go with a warning, phew!

We eventually made it to the motel, and the room they had reserved for us was not pet friendly – even though I know I indicated that we had a dog when I made the reservation. A couple phone calls to the manager, and a little more begging from me, and they decided to let us stay, thank goodness! We could finally rest our heads and get some sleep before our adventure continued the next day.