When I turn 46, I say "No more nonsense": Bicycle Mania (IX):....Ferry Hopping:... Ladysmith to Saltspring to Galiano to Parker...

7:00
That's 10 hours of sleep...... and I still feel like a bulldozer ran over me two or three times.....

I'm semi-conscious again by 8:30.... at least it's warm in the sun on my balcony.... but the constant traffic outside is atrociously LOUD and obnoxious....

OMG, now THIS is GOOD wine.....

I check my posts from 2 years ago.... I am in Vietnam 2 years ago.....I don't have the land yet, I don't speak any Vietnamese, I don't buy Vietnamese lottery tickets, and I am generally clueless....... I have made A LOT of progress since then ;-)

10:00
I'm still tired.... no idea how I am going to survive the day ....

10:50
on y va!

The first ride is only a short one. Time to buy wine & Moet at the village Liquor store.

It's still early and I have lots of spare time to catch my ferry, so I decide to visit 'downtown' Chemainus.....

No idea where this ferry goes to ...

buying munchies

And here is Chemainus' claim to moderate fame ....

.... it murals..... I'm shocked HOW MANY tourists are here just to see these...

There is nothing here but quite a few nice murals and a lot of daft tourists ...
on y va!

I knew this sight was coming.....

... the pulp mill...

... just south of Chamainus ...

... and just north of Crofton.

The Crofton ferry terminal is not much further.....

The DC (dangerous cargo) ferry run arriving

A big group of cyclists are waiting here. They are on a Victoria - Salt Spring - Victoria route .... these guys are in their 60s and possibly 70s and ONLY the guy who is in his 80s just bought an e-bike... I feel old....

Can you see where the inspiration for West-Coast Native art came from?

NO, most of these will NOT get onto my ferry....

pretty, eh? Beautiful British Columbia, My ARSE!

In contrast, Vesuvius on Salt Spring Island looks a bit nicer:

It's time to eat something and to kill time before the departure of my next ferry, so I stop at Moby's Pub in Ganges....

It's a gorgeous building with an 'awesome' view of the (dredging platform in the) harbour. The staff is agreeable but the food is ATROCIOUS.... a GREASE ORGY

15:00
Time to put the freshly charged battery back on the bike and to ride the 4th stage of today's Odyssey: Ganges to Long Harbour.....

There is the ferry:the Salish Raven…. and MORE cultural appropriation…

We leave right on time at 15:45

I took the battery out and the bottle of wine….. I’ll get to sip in secret ;-)

There will be a stop at Mayne Island and apparently that is where all the other bicycles go… because they are at the front of the ship whereas I was told to park at the back….

The wind on the upper deck is COLD and I wish I had brought my hoodie….. It’s so cold that I go back below, where my battery is charging…… and again… NO WiFi…

16:15

I’m getting bored…. I want to smoke…. No-Smoking ferries are NO FUN !

But I should be in Montague Harbour in about 45 minutes….. then I only have one crossing left, LOL.

That hazy mess over there is Tsawassen with Vancouver in the background

But where is this ferry going? Shouldn’t we have stopped at Mayne Island by now???? This doesn’t make any sense! There is only 10 minutes left in the scheduled time, so maybe we’re going to Galiano FIRST ?????

Yup, the first port is Galiano and apparently this ferry continues to Tsawassen? That is NOT what the BC Ferries schedule said! And I'm GOOD at reading schedules!

Google Maps had already given me an indication of the ascend I should expect..... that is quite a HIGH hill I have to climb .....

I've made it all the way up.... and there is this sign that has the symbol for "risk of skidding for bicycles"....

..... WTF? I ignore it..... but the downhill ride is really STEEP..... At some point I HAVE to concentrate and no longer look at the speedometer...I'm going FAST... then I see the depression stretching across the road where the ground must have sunk... and I'm going REALLY FAST ... OH SHIT !....I grab my handle bars tight and raise my butt a little of the seat..... BAADOONG ..... goes first the front wheel and then the rear of the bike as the HEAVY saddle bags are at first free-falling downward and are bumped upward less than a second later... I swear my rear wheel looses contact with the ground for a moment ... I apply the brakes after that to slow down.... that was close..... Later in the day, I check the control unit of the bike and discover that I was going 65 km/h......