The BIG 50th Vancouver Vacation Sept/Oct 2021 - Day 4 Whistler, ferry to Vancouver Island & Ucluelet

[smithlane]

Day 4 - Sunday 3rd October 2021

Another 4 o’clock wake up for me! This jet lag is kicking my butt
I spent some time updating our engagement news on Facebook and Instagram and chatting to the kids.
Jim and Nick were golfing so they were up and out at about 7.30am. Nick said that him and Helen had very sore heads after not getting back to their room until gone 1am . I didn't disturb Helen, I figured she needed the lie in

I slowly got myself showered and dressed and by 8 I headed downstairs to do the very glamorous task of laundry. We were rapidly going through our clothes, I'm not sure how we'd worn so much already . I bought a single packet of washing powder from the front desk then it was $2 a wash and $2 for the dryer.

Foyer of the Listel Hotel

There was a vodka ice bar that had an entrance in the hotel but it was closed for de-frosting . They were chipping away huge blocks of ice and taking it away in wheelbarrows! Assuming they'll re ice it in time for the ski season.

Whilst it was washing I headed into town to have a wander and grab some breakfast.

It really is a stunning village but it’s a heck of a lot bigger than I originally thought, it goes back a long way with so many different shops and restaurants to choose from. I was instantly regretting only booking one night here!

I found a bakery so stopped for a hot chocolate and cinnamon roll. This thing was huge and I couldn’t eat it all!

Once done I carried on my stroll and made a mental note of the shops I wanted to pop into once they opened at 10.
Just beautiful views in every direction

I went back to the hotel to change over the washing into the dryer then went back to the room to pack everything up.
Helen was now up so we went to check out and leave all our luggage with reception. We needed to get one of the large trolleys to help us down as the boys had very helpfully left their suitcases with us instead of putting them in the car!

We now headed back into the village to do some shopping. We walked into the North Village first and found the 'Cool As A Moose Gift Shop' which was a fantastic store.

They were doing 2 for $25 on t-shirts so I got Jim these two and Hope a cropped hoody. I also picked up the obligatory magnet.

We popped into Billabong which had some lovely clothes but I refrained from buying anything in there.
We walked down to the Olympic Rings and Helen popped into a coffee shop to get herself a drink and a croissant, I was still full from breakfast.
We both agreed Whistler is almost like a ski resort version of Disney Springs. It was immaculately clean

Into a ski shop next where they had a rack of ski jackets and salapettes for 40% off so Helen bought herself a new Roxy jacket and trousers for £200. She said it would have been more than double that price back home! I just picked up 2 more t-shirts, one for Jim and one for me to sleep in.

It was about 12pm now and we still hadn’t heard from Jim or Nick so we popped into Tapley’s, the bar we went to last night for a drink.
We were actually feeling quite peckish so ordered a portion of chicken wings each too. Ooh these were good!

Jim messaged at 12.30 to say they were en route and were about 30 mins away so at 1pm we waited outside of the hotel with the luggage for them.
They'd had a great round of golf and unbelievably managed to take some photos for me! It looked a beautiful course and one I wouldn't mind driving the buggy around

Once loaded up I plugged in the address to the ferry port in Horseshoe Bay, it was an hour and a half drive. I was driving this leg of the journey.
About halfway down in Skwarmish we stopped off in a McDonalds so the boys could get something to eat. The drive thru was rammed so we parked up and went inside.
Believe it or not I was feeling peckish so got 6 nuggets and a chocolate milkshake

We needed to get a wriggle on as we needed to check in for our ferry 30 mins beforehand at 3 and it was 2.15 now with an estimated 50 mins to go!

It was slightly tense but we made it in time, they hadn’t even started boarding yet.
I had put down a deposit of $35 when booking to secure the crossing then we had to pay $130 at check in. This is for one way only.

Soon enough we were parked up on board level 3 and made our way onto the top deck.
These views will never get old!

We stayed up here until the boat got out into the open water as it got a bit too breezy then.

We got ourselves a hot drink and warmed up inside for a while.

I then went to sit upstairs in the outside undercover area, as it was sheltered it was actually quite warm.
It's about a 1 hour 40 minute crossing so had plenty of time to write up some notes and chill for a while

As we were approaching Vancouver Island I took some more photos but holy cow it was windy up the front . Worth it though!

We were called back to our cars and waited to dock. Helen then drove this section, it was roughly a 3 hour drive so I said I’d take over half way. Jim was shattered from golf, then we had the non driver Nick!

Unfortunately there was no WiFi on this ferry so I couldn’t load Google maps for directions so we had to navigate using good old fashioned map reading skills instead

We soon made it out of Nanaimo and onto the road that cuts through the island to Ucluelet and Tofino.

Just some of your usual goats on the roof...

More amazing scenery on the way, we quickly pulled into a viewing spot by Cameron Lake, just beautiful.

It soon turned dark and the road became quite hairy, you literally couldn't see a thing! Even with full beams on it didn’t help much.

We didn’t realise just how mountainous VI is, poor Dave was struggling getting up some of the steep parts of the road!

Helen was starting to struggle with about an hour to go so she pulled over and I took the wheel.
Our ETA was about 8.20pm so we decided to stop off in Ucluelet first for dinner before finding our AirBnB.

We got there unscathed but as we couldn’t access Google maps and it was dark, it was hard trying to find a place to stop.
We drove past Ucluelet Brewing Co so thought that would do but unfortunately their menu was quite limited with only a few wraps and fries.
Luckily just around the corner was Frankies that sold more bbq style food.

The kitchen was still open, just, and they had a table for us.
We were really hungry now!
Helen and I went for the bbq brisket with mash and the boys hot wings and fries. All with 4 diet cokes

We didn’t have to wait long before it all arrived and boy I inhaled my food! It was so good
They got the chicken wing order wrong by bringing out Bourbon wings instead of hot but Jim said they were still good.

We settled up the bill of $70 each then tried to find our home for the next 3 nights.
It was less than 5 mins away and we found it no problem.
It was tucked right out of the way right next to the woods. It was a self contained 2 bed unit that was attached to a main house where the owner Sean, lived.

It was immaculately clean inside and a really good size 2 bedrooms. No living area though, it was just 2 en-suite rooms, each one had its own set of double doors to the outside area.

We brought the suitcases in and pretty much crashed for the night, it had been a long day of driving.

[anji]

Whistler looks beautiful! Love the views from the Ferry and looking forward to doing that. Good to know about the deposit system. Long drive across the island! We've booked a night in Nanaimo before driving to Ucleulet. Will make a note of Frankies too as that brisket looks wonderful 😀

[NewtoOrlando]

Stunning! I would love to go to Whistler & VI, my friend at work is from Nanaimo, she's told me so much about the island, I will have to show her your trippy to see if she recognises things!

[Goldia]

Once again the photos are stunning. Beautiful trees and the lakes too. The morning sounds lovely just wandering around the little town while the chaps played golf. Your dinner looks delicious and the airbnb sounds perfect really for two couples.

[MamatoFelix]

Whistler looks so nice 🤩

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by anji

Whistler looks beautiful! Love the views from the Ferry and looking forward to doing that. Good to know about the deposit system. Long drive across the island! We've booked a night in Nanaimo before driving to Ucleulet. Will make a note of Frankies too as that brisket looks wonderful 😀

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The views from the ferry are jaw dropping Anji, no photo I took will ever do them justice! I can’t wait for you to experience it yourself.
That’s probably not a bad idea to stay the night before driving as it’s so much more beautiful in the daylight than the darker than black roads that you’ll encounter 😳
I’d 100% recommend Frankies!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by NewtoOrlando

Stunning! I would love to go to Whistler & VI, my friend at work is from Nanaimo, she's told me so much about the island, I will have to show her your trippy to see if she recognises things!

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Hey Rachael, I’d highly recommend a holiday to that part of the world. We barely scratched the surface and will definitely go back again to explore more!
Why the heck did your friend emigrate from VI? I’d never want to leave if I lived there 😂

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Once again the photos are stunning. Beautiful trees and the lakes too. The morning sounds lovely just wandering around the little town while the chaps played golf. Your dinner looks delicious and the airbnb sounds perfect really for two couples.

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The trees are certainly something I really miss, the photos don’t truly capture just how huge and vast everything is over there. I’ve been to the Lakes in this country and whilst beautiful, is nothing like Canada. It’s just jaw dropping scenery in every direction!
Whistler really captured us and we instantly regretted not booking more than one night there

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by MamatoFelix

Whistler looks so nice 🤩

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It’s such a lovely village/town. I could have easily stayed a whole week! I recently priced up a ski holiday for next Christmas and the cheapest quote I got was £4500pp staying in the same hotel we did 😳. That was only flights and room only 🥴

[MamatoFelix]

Originally Posted by smithlane

It’s such a lovely village/town. I could have easily stayed a whole week! I recently priced up a ski holiday for next Christmas and the cheapest quote I got was £4500pp staying in the same hotel we did 😳. That was only flights and room only 🥴

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Wow! 😅 That’s a crazy price, bet it’s stunning at Christmas though. My partner is into snowboarding and wants to go to Canada desperately but we’ve always put other things ahead of it, I’m hoping we can go in the near future 🙂