We left Courtenay for a short drive up the coast to Campbell River, the 'salmon capital of the world'.
We stopped at a diner on the waterfront to have a late brunch before driving the 150 miles north to Port Hardy. One of the really interesting sights to see are the truly amazing totem poles that adorn many shopping malls, garages and town squares. This one seems to be riding on the top of the car! Apologies for the blurry picture but this was due to the insects that keep getting squashed on the windscreen.
Once we left Campbell River the road narrowed to single lanes and we left most of the traffic behind us. A wonderful drive through pine forests followed. It's one of the great joys of these types of tours to be able to drive on empty roads.
A rare photo of and Thelma being overtaken!
We reached Port Hardy at about 3pm and checked in at our hotel the Glen Lyon Inn, which is perfectly situated right on the waterfront overlooking the harbour.
We then decided to go to the ferry terminal, about 5 miles from the hotel, to see if we could check-in for tomorrow's ferry, which leaves at 7.30am. Much to our surprise we could, and best of all we managed to get a refund for Bob's car. His car was being charged as an over-height vehicle, but by taking off his spare wheel from the roof rack, his car will no longer be surcharged. A saving of $250!
We then drove to downtown Port Hardy for me to fill up with diesel and also to check out a restaurant for this evening. Even though it was located in a dire looking mall that was full of empty shops, it was highly recommended, so we made a reservation.
We drove through Port Hardy main street and down to the pier.
Then a short drive brought us back to the hotel where we loaded Bob's spare wheel into the back of our Landcruiser for the journey to Prince Rupert.
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