Vancouver to Victoria
Sunday, May 16, 2004 A Grayline of Vancouver bus collects us at the Pinnacle at 845am, stops at other hotels for more passengers, and deposits us all at the central Grayline Tours Terminal at the Plaza of the Nations, an architectural oddity from Expo 86. Lines of passengers for a variety of Grayline tours form behind the appropriate signs. Our luggage is placed on the curb and our new Victoria Tour driver asks us to carry it over to his bus. We are the only passengers taking a one-way trip to Victoria; others are doing a 13-hour round trip marathon.
Grayline drivers have a reputation for adding history and background to a locale. Ours never stops talking. While he is a gold mine of information, English is not his native language and sometimes he is impossible to understand. It is an hour-and-a-half to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, with one stop to pick up passengers at the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel.
Travel Tip: If you start this tour upon arrival at the airport, it will eliminate the first half- hour on the bus.
We are able to get off and walk around while awaiting the arrival of the next BC Ferry to Vancouver Island. Early on this off-season Sunday, the line of automobiles waiting to get onto a ferry stretches out of sight; in the summertime it would be possible to wait in line for hours before boarding – but tour busses have priority. Reservations can be booked for $15.00 CAD, then you only have to appear 30 minutes before your scheduled departure time, and you are guaranteed to be boarded.
Our Grayline driver points out that BC Ferries has more vessels than the entire Canadian navy. The “Queen of Vancouver”, launched in 1962, appears and we get back on the bus to be driven aboard, then go to the upper decks to enjoy the ride.
We are free to roam the ship during the one-and-a-half hour cruise to Swartz Bay, the ferry terminal on Vancouver Island. There are large enclosed seating areas, some with tables, a cafeteria, and a gift shop with a snack bar. Two outside decks are open to passengers who prefer fresh air and exercise. The ferry backs out of the slip, does a 180-degree turn and picks up speed as she heads for the Gulf Islands and the narrow S curve channel between Galiano Island and Mayne Island.
We have been on this route before and never tire of this high-speed passage. There is quite a chill breeze out on the foredeck, and there are very few brave souls out there. Knowing how cold it can be out on the water, even on a warm sunny day like this, we’re prepared with wool shirts, windbreakers, gloves, and facemasks, so we are warm as toast. Just before entering the channel, a crewman arrives to loosen the clamps holding the port and starboard anchor 
chains. The pilot announces that the horn will be sounded, giving us a chance to hold our ears as we charge into the choppy tidal bore at the channel entrance. A westbound ferry suddenly appears from the bend to the right and we pass at full speed, turning to starboard and listing to port, the other vessel turning to port and listing to starboard. The crewman is ready to release the anchors in case something goes wrong and we need to stop suddenly.
Soon another blast of the multi-toned horn echoes and re-echoes against both islands as we turn to port and bolt out of the channel into the relatively open waters of the Strait of Georgia and head southwest to the terminal at Swartz Bay. The sailor retightens the anchor chain clamps and returns to his other duties; the high-risk area is behind us now. We repair to the cafeteria for a light lunch which we finish just as we are requested to return to the motorcoach. Next stop -- Butchart Gardens for a two hour visit, then onto the Chateau Victoria Hotel, taking the scenic shoreline route.
The Chateau Victoria is a 19 story tower hotel looking down into the backyard of the world famous Empress Hotel. From the picture windows of our 10th floor suite, we have a 180 degree view of the Inner Harbor and the Straits of Juan de Fuca, all the way to the Olympic Mountains in the State of Washington. The “Island Princess” is just leaving for the Inside Passage to Alaska. The high speed Victoria Clipper leaves for Seattle. Another Clipper arrives from Seattle. The Black Ball Line’s “Coho” departs for Port Angeles, Washington, and a steady stream of float planes dives into the inner harbor sea plane port, carrying visitors from Vancouver.
Although there is no air-conditioning at the Chateau Victoria, a cool, fresh sea breeze wafts through our open patio doors. After an excellent dinner in the 18th floor, with British Columbia Gewürztraminer, we settle into our comfortable king bed and think about our next train trip tomorrow morning, on the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway.
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