The trip out was much easier than the one in. For starters, I made sure I had proper directions. I pulled up the map and showed the route I’d planned all nicely laid out on the computer with my little GPS trail to follow.
“Yup, the road on that side of the lake is much better than the Youbou road is right now”
Most excellent news!
Off I went in a cloud of dust and the road was mostly great. Only a few bad patches, but again I learned that sometimes you have to trust your instincts and ignore the maps. In more than one place the GPS said go this way….but when I stopped and mulled it over, things just didn’t add up…so I went with my guts. And I finally found pavement (the GPS said stay right…on the gravel…yeah, right…that road never did meet up with the one I chose…I think it would have taken me to Port Renfrew by the looks of things when I checked later on the map.
So off I go, onto the Island Highway, zoom, gonna make that 5pm ferry! How exciting!
What’s that up ahead? Why is all the traffic stopped…yes, there’s a light…but it seems to go beyond that.
I sit and wait for about 10 minutes…watching that clock tick down towards 5pm…a map check, aha Another road! A quick left off the highway, a U-tune on a side road, cross back over the highway on a lower road that parallels the highway. Feeling quite smart……until I catch up to all the other smart people…at a dead stop…..
It took about 30-40 minutes to clear the mess, a very bad accident….all hopes are dashed now though. There is simply no way I can get to the ferry by 5pm, actually I need to arrive by 4:50 since they stop selling tickets ten minutes prior to loading.
Do I stop and relax and take some photos…or do I just head for the terminal and wait for the 7pm…sadly, I decide to head for the terminal. I’m tired anyway.
I pull up to the terminal at 5:17, three ferries are docked. Odd, one is the new Coastal Inspiration, not yet in use on this run. But strange to see all three docks full.
The woman at the booth takes my credit card, I sadly moan to her about being caught in traffic, she says yes, she heard it was bad….but then proceeds to tell me that today is the first day of the summer ferry schedule….the boat leaves at 5:20 pm …and I’m ON IT!!! Not just on it….but the last car on it too……
Priceless!