Before we left for Prudhoe Bay in the beginning in July, Joost and I already decided we wanted to cycle across Vancouver Island. For one, in the research we did to figure out our route, all sources were very positive about cycling here and indicated it one of the highlights of Canada. Secondly, the 15 hour ferry ride from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy on the island, was said to be very interesting. The Inside Passage stretches from Port Hardy on Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert in northern BC, through the protected waters of British Columbia’s central and northern coastline.

Anyway, the ferry left Prince Rupert on the morning of the 17th at 7:30am. We were out packing our tents and stuff around 5 in the morning, quite the task, haha! After we got a few cups of steaming hot coffee into our bodies, we took the rest of the day to enjoy the scenery, eat, make photo’s, play cards and read books (Joost).

We say humpback whales blowing air, at some point there were at least 15 in the waters surrounding the ferry, a very impressive sight. Together with the idyllic seaside villages we sailed by and the bald eagles in the sky, this made the whole ferry ride definitely worthwhile. Check the pictures! We set foot on land at Port Hardy around 11pm, pitched our tents in the nearest spot of grass and went to sleep…

From the 18th to the 25th, we cycled across Vancouver Island. Most of it together with Devon and Jessica, the two cyclist who are also doing the Alaska – Argentina trip. As the days passed by, the landscape changed from rugged and undeveloped to fields filled with cattle and private property as far as the eye could see. For us this meant we had to be more and more specific about our camping locations, a process which took a few days to learn. The north of the Island was still very much like large parts of Canada and in particular the Cassiar Highway which we enjoyed so much. Creeks and rivers, mountains on the horizon and a limited amount of traffic on the roads. Our legs were fresh from the three days off and the kilometers jumped fast on our displays. After the first day of cycling, we found a nice place to camp along Nimpkish Lake. Since we had stocked up on food in Prince Rupert and Devon and Jessica had gone out of their way to bake bread and cookies, we dined as kings (and one queen).

The next couple of days, the cycling got easier as the mountains became less prominent. One or two big hills up and down and that was it. We passed through towns named Woss, Sayward, Campbell River, Comox and Courtenay. One evening, when pushing ourselves through the 100km barrier (actually, we do that a lot), we set up camp on the beach. The morning was great, walking on the beach, spotting crabs, starfish and kelp. It was almost time to say goodbye to Devon and Jess as they planned to catch the ferry to Vancouver in Nanaimo. Joost and I decided to save that city for later.

As the freeways became busier and the shoulders filled up with more and more crap, so did the number of flat tires increase. That’s just something you have to deal with as a cyclist and that’s also why we prefer roads less traveled. That was also the reason why we decided to take the ferry to Sidney, north of Victoria (our end destination on Vancouver Island). It proved to be a very good decision. We avoided the busy freeway and in return, got a paved bicycle road (the Lochside Trail) through the countryside of the Island. It was just terrific! We waved to all the bicycle commuters passing by and laughed at the traffic jam on the way to Victoria.

Victoria itself proved to be a special place in its own right. Very bike friendly. We cycled into town, parked our bikes in front of the Visitors Center and went to explore the city. After a quick lunch in Chinatown, we went back to check up on our bikes and had a nice talk with some fellows who were admiring our bamboo bike.

One of them was artist Greg. He makes pen drawings of architecture, nature and people. Another one was film maker Sorin. Besides working as a producer/film maker, he also gave tours through Victoria on his bicycle/rickshaw AND he was the stunt double of Woody Harrelson in the hollywood blockbuster ‘The Thin Red Line’, a recipe for an entertaining afternoon. He showed us around town and pointed out which buildings are haunted by ghosts and what pubs had the best beers (important).

That afternoon, we said goodbye to Canada and hopped on the ferry to Port Angeles, on the other side of the channel in the grand state of Washington. Customs had one final remark on our physical appearance; ‘You (Joost) are so thin, you need to run around in the shower in order to get wet’…

So true, almost two months on the bike had made us lose some pounds. It took us two days to cycle across the Olympic peninsula, to the lovely town of Olympia, where the brother of Joost’s grandfather, Ivo, was waiting for us with food, brewskies and..!!! real beds! Awesome!