Trip to Vancouver Island

[mister_mcgoo]

We're going to be visiting Vancouver soon to see if we might want to settle there long term. One thing that is very important to us is ease of access to natural beauty and the area around Vancouver seems to have that in spades. I would love to spend a day on Vancouver Island if I can, see the huge trees, eat some granola, commune with Mother Gaia, all that

So the question is, how feasible is this for a day trip? Could we get up at 7AM, take a ferry, spend the day on the island and get back to the city 12 hrs later? Where would you go? What ferry? How much does it cost? Any 'must sees'? I've read some about Cathedral Grove and that seems pretty cool, have you been there? Should I buy some bear spray? lol Anything else?

thanks

[Gramps]

PM me if you want any info on the Island. Born and raised on the Island and willing to help with any questions.

[valec]

PM me as well. I'll send some info anyways. Born and raised here as well.

[reeveta]

Doable in a day. It helps that the ferry trip is nice in itself. If you take the ferry to Victoria (Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay) then you go through the gulf islands. The Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo ferry is a bit more open water but gets you closer to Cathedral Grove. With a couple people in the car each trip it pushes $100 each trip. The car is like $60 of that. I tend to make reservations when not required but the first ferry in the morning can fill up so a reservation might be nice.

As to where you would go on the other side, depends what you like. I wouldn't say there is any 'must see' thing to do.

As for bear spray... as long as you can run faster then one other person you are with you are fine. One of the handy things about having kids (as long at they are slow).

[mister_mcgoo]

thanks for the tips so far guys, much appreciated...to clarify, yes I know asking 'what should I do in a day' is kinda absurd, if I could have my way I'd probably spend a week in Vancouver and another week on the island but but sadly our bosses do not see eye to eye with us on vacation -lol. So it's mainly trying to do a crash course in the area, see things that make the area special and see lots of stuff but not try to do TOO much (it is a vacation after all). I really want to try to visit the island because it just looks stunning but obviously if it's just for a day then you need to factor in travel time and try not to spend more time travelling than exploring y'know?

As for bear spray... as long as you can run faster then one other person you are with you are fine. One of the handy things about having kids (as long at they are slow).

haha! yeah good point, I don't have any kids but maybe we'll make sure we're always in the area of someone else's so we can outrun them if need be

[Shoeless]

Here's the Island's tourism clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0jU2-M4j4g

[Loch]

As for bear spray... as long as you can run faster then one other person you are with you are fine. One of the handy things about having kids (as long at they are slow).

I also would refer you to the sign posted in various park bathrooms here on the island:
Bears are fast. Cougars are Faster.

(in my opinion possibly the best Gov't warning ever!)

Oh, and if you want to see something really unique in the area:
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/