August 6th - Day 9 - Salt Spring Island to Courtenay

We are only staying two nights with Basil and Margaret as we have very little time to cover all the places we are staying on our long drive north.

Before we left, Basil showed us his amazing model railway. He has built the whole thing himself. It is the most incredible system I have ever seen. I hope the photos do it justice.


A train approaching with its headlight on!


Our all too brief stay with my cousin has come to an end. What a wonderful time we have had at their idyllic home. They both have treated us so kindly, we cannot thank them enough. We can't wait to return in 2010 when we hope to embark on our cross Canada drive.

We said our goodbyes on the patio and took this photo of us all.


We drove the 30kms to the ferry at Versuvius back to Vancouver island at Crofton. We arrived just as the 12 0'clock ferry was leaving, so we had to wait an hour for the next one. We have been surprised at how much interest has been shown in our tour. People come up to us wherever we stop and want to know about our travels. Whilst waiting for the ferry a teacher talked to us and then two electricity company engineers came over. It's good fun to talk with people who are so interested in our journey and we often are told things about the country which we did not know and helps to make the trip so much more enjoyable.

Me talking with the electrical engineers.


After we boarded the ferry a woman approached us to ask us about our Indian trip in 2007. She was a resident of Salt Spring but was born in India and was Scottish!

Our drive to our hotel in Courtenay was only about 100 miles and was an easy run on a good fast road up the eastern side of Vancouver Island. We arrived there at about 3pm and ten minutes later Bob & Thelma arrived from their overnight stay in Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island.

Our hotel, the Old House Village Suites in Courtenay.