Bicycle Mania (VI):....An ocean-crossing ... Powell River - Comox

6:00

It's 9 degrees outside ...

I am no longer being triple-charged for my first night here..... still not sure whether it was the ditzies at my Credit Card Company (every time they change their site, which is way too often, the site stops functioning!) or the fat and ignant local receptionist woman at check-in......

I even fall asleep again......

10:00
Time to get a move on... I have to leave in 1 hour!

10:50
The ferry is already on its way...

... and I'm ready to go..... I have mixed feelings about my time in Powell River..... but then I'm always overthinking and my thoughts are already 4 days in the future .... a reunion with Mr. S. 

Receptionist Kelly is printing out the receipts for me…. I like him, LOL.  Talking about Canadians or their cars, or about Buddhism vs Christianity in Taiwan and Vietnam I seem to detect a kind and kindred spirit…  and I think it’s mutual….. See you next time!

11:45

I’m on the ferry…… and I realize with HORROR that the Nanny State is growing in size …. On all other ferries I am not allowed to cycle on the RAMP but I am allowed to cycle on the actual ferry. But after I cycle once around this ferry and back to the entrance ramp, and ask a 20 year old BC Ferries employee where to park the bike, he not only directs me there but also feels obliged to say “you have to push the bicycle”.

I am NOT going in THERE !

Let’s hope this ferry will at least leave on time…… the cars are too slow again…. And 1.5 hours without a cigarette are more than enough….

My backpack contains my laptop, salty pretzels, and ¾ of a bottle of wine…… 

Being in Canada it will be just a matter of time until someone tells me that I am NOT ALLOWED to drink wine on this ferry, LOL.  

That is mighty weird, because the British & also Canadians always used to make FUN of Germany because everything in Germany was VERBOTEN !

Now it's the same here ;-(

I walk through the BC FERRIES gift shop just to see what they have.    There are a lot of items with Canadian First Nations designs…… My gut feeling tells me that Cultural Appropriation is happening here…. But I’m not sure…… Andrea burned her fingers the other day when lifting a hot bowl of Chili….and she mentioned that she needs a pair of oven mitts.  

So I look at the Native design oven mitts in more details…
... and Cassandra was RIGHT again…..

....the fucking things are MADE IN CHINA.

The mighty Dollar rules again….. there are more than enough Natives in Canada to supply the BC Ferries gift shops with REAL Native products…. 

But BC Ferries has their “Native” stuff manufactured in China…

…FUCK YOU,  BC Ferries !  

I was OK with the ferry from Earls Cove to Saltery Bay not offering WiFi….. but right now I am on a major ferry connecting the BC mainland to Vancouver Island… a 1.5 hour journey….. and there is NO WiFi….. 

Fucking THIRD WORLD living ....    

We're 5 minutes late already….

...the Texada Island ferry is just idling out there in the water at zero speed, waiting for my ferry to vacate the loading dock …..

OK, Blog Writer, STOP whining!  I was in such a good mood this morning…..  But encountering that Canadian reality, where nothing works and everything is PHONY (and expensive), but they’re still convinced that they’re the bee’s knees while looking down on anyone who does not conform, drives me up the wall every single time!

12:06

The ferry finally starts moving…. That’s only a 16 minute delay ……

12:40

I have fallen asleep in my seat, dreaming of very pretty mid-twenties Vietnamese men, when an announcement from the bridge wakes me.

There are a few whales breaching two miles in front of us…..

OF course, EVERYONE runs to the front of the boat, lOl. 

Is that SNOW?

I can SEE Native designs in the water reflections ! .... but no live whales !

 After a while I spot them….. I was expecting Killer Whales (Orca) but this is NOT an Orca dorsal fin, this is the pectoral fin of something MUCH BIGGER j…. 

 Humpbacks in these waters?

I miss the shot when one of them breaches (catapults itself completely out of the water) but I am happy to have seen any part of any whale at all ;-)

snow INDEED !

We're approaching Vancouver Island !

Poor kid.... his wife (NO, that is NOT his mother!) ALREADY fixes his clothing....a life ruined....

13:40

It seem much WARMER on the Western side of the Strait of Georgia...

I bolt off the ferry as the first vehicle but stop right away at the local beach..... I want to smoke and I don't want to get caught in that stinking & noisy car caravan leaving the ferry.

WHY does the bald-headed eagle leave?

...cause it's being chased by seagulls

... but it doesn't stay away for long (or is that a different one?  Difficult to tell ;-)

more cultural appropriation..... and the tourists LOVE it 

14:30

A quick trip to the BC liquor store.....  They have Les Fleurs du Mal ;-)

At 15:00 I'm checking out the laundry facilities of the Travelodge.... Oh, FUCK YOU!.... the one washer and the one drier BOTH carry OUT OF ORDER signs .... LOUSY management!  Good thing I did sink laundry yesterday..... maybe I can wash the bulk of the dirty clothes in my motel tomorrow !

18:00

The only reason I'm getting up is so I can make it to the one of this town's five or six Asian restaurants that is actually open today (it's Sunday) but will close at 8 pm.

 I ride the 2 km to the only Sushi place open today ..... there is a sign that reads "Temporarily Closed".  

 OH, FUCK this city......

Since I'm close to Superstore, I ride there next....

Good move, I find decent shorts, undies, socks, and a re-heat at home meal, all on points.... ;-)

Unfortunately, the reheat meal is a typical Canadian "Get-FAT-Quick" meal.... A breaded chicken breast sprinkled with cheese accompanied by pasta ... NO vegetables... and this was the HEALTHIEST thing they had, LOL.

So when Karma guides me into a side street and I discover a Greek restaurant, I don't cry any tears for the DOUGH&FAT meal and order a Kalamari Dinner ;-)

OMG, those calamari are TENDER and perfectly cooked  ;-)

22:00

Tired again already ?