Yukon Ho!

June 11, 2006

July 6, 2006 on 12:31 am | In Uncategorized |

Biking time: None
End: Prince Rupert
Distance: None
Ferry day started at 4AM because we had to check in around 4:30 for a 5AM Boarding call. Luckily they had coffee available immediately, and we were first in line due to us boarding on foot (before all of the cars). It was extremely foggy when we left, so there wasn’t much to see, but while Amy napped in the seat, I rocked out to Joel Plaskett up front while I watched the employees take turns on fog lookout detail. I guess they aren’t taking any chances on losing a second ferry. The “Inside Passage” route, not surprisingly, takes a course mostly through a channel up the coast, so the open water is only at the very Southern and very Northern ends of the ride. The fog stayed thick until we hot the passage, at which point it lifted completely, and most of the day was spend in blazing sunshine. The scenery was fantastic, and the ride was really good except for its length. We were on the ferry from 4:30 til after midnight… a long day with no bed. We ended up spending the last couple of hours trying to sleep on the floor in the TV room where they had the lights off. When we weren’t lounging on the deck, we spent most of the time trying to b reak the day up by eating (snacks, meals, coffee… whatever we could find). They did have free portable DVD player rentals, so we watched two Wil Farrel movies, both of which were OK but not fantastic (Bewitcheed is a bit better than Kicking and Screaming). Other than that there is not a lot to say about the ferry, other than to let some of the pictures do the talking. They probably won’t do justice to the actual scenery though.

When we got to Prince Rupert the fog had returned, and we had a chilly, damp bike ride to the hostel (2-3km through town). The town had an awesome air to it in the foggy darkness, with a few house lights seen up on hillsides and a perfectly sized downtown area which we hoped to explore in the morning. The hostel we stayed at was built in an awesome old house-styled building (it looked like it was originally a small inn), and the beds were more like hotel beds than standard hostel cots. There was o ne free computer for us laptop-less saps, and free wireless for the rich and nerdly. So all in all the place was great, but the front desk girl (who also owns the place and is the sole employee save for one cleaning staff member who happened to be off) was a bit of a weirdo. Even when I called to make a reservation she acted very strange (like it was a chore to answer questions), and she seemed to kind of hate her job and hate people in general (especially tourists). None of that mattered though since we were ready to put an end to the 22 hour day we’d just endured. GLORIOUS SLEEP!

Click here for today’s pictures