I made it to the island safe and sound Tuesday evening, about six hours after departing Calgary. “Six hours,” you say? Yep. I flew into Vancouver and then took the ferry over. “Vancouver,” you say? Yep. I chose to fly into Vancouver instead of Comox because I found a $19 flight on WestJet. “$19!?” Yep! Seat sale back in June, I think. But add in taxes, and the round-trip flight still cost $185, despite a fare of only $38. Never the less, worth it.

So I landed in Vancouver at around 3:20 on Tuesday, with the intention of experimenting and trying to take a bus to the ferries. The challenge, however modest, was getting to the ferry within two hours. If I did not catch the 5:45 sailing, I would have been stranded until 8:45. Feeling an ever-so-slight sense of pressure, once we landed I sought some direction as to which bus to take and where to take it. So I promptly turned on my iPhone. Googling “vancouver, transit, airport, tsawassen,” the first hit is a very well laid out, step by step set of instructions on how to take a city bus from YVR to the ferry terminal. Brilliant! I recommend this for anyone doing the same thing. Following these instructions, I was at the ferries in just under an hour, for the total sum of $3.75.

It’s great being on the island again. The ferry ride was relaxing and peaceful. (I think riding the ferry as an occasional novelty is much more enjoyable than doing it routinely) Yesterday was quite nice, catching up with my parents and wandering the neighboring towns of Coombs and Qualicum. Today, we head south to Victoria. The ole stomping grounds. The requisite stops: Silk Road for tea, and meeting Davin for dinner.