Day 3 – 6 Prince Rupert to Masset to Smithers

The first day in ages where I wasn’t up at 5 AM! Yay! 4:00 AM is oh so much better.

Woke up, packed up camp, crammed everything into the car, made sure I had no kitty trying to hitch a ride, and it was off to the ferry. Loaded onto the ferry with no problems, but according to BC Ferries I have never travelled to the Queen Charlottes, my mum has. I find that endlessly amusing.

The ferry was long. REALLY long. It was made worse by the amount of children. It was inescapable. 6 hours of being stuck on a ferry, especially after little sleep, gets old really fast. It didn’t help that the air conditioning was cranked way the hell up.

I met a couple while I was on the ship. They were an elderly couple, from Northern Alberta, on their way to Masset to go sport fishing with another couple. The wife wasn’t looking too hot. She was seriously sea sick. She was not looking forward to spending an additional 3 days on a small ship, fishing.

Once we docked in Skidegate I was immediately introduced to the island’s only traffic light. I chose to not stop in Skidegate and head straight north to Masset. It was a wonderful drive. The beaches along that drive are amazing.

I got a wee bit lost once I ended up in Masset, but I finally found where I was supposed to be, got to my camp site and set up camp. It was nice to know that I was settled for the next few days, especially after driving so long, so far, and being so unsettled.



I started to cook dinner, make a fire, and got ready to settle in. Just as I started to eat dinner it started to rain.

The days tend to run together at this point. It was pretty much the same every day. It rained. It was cold. I was miserable.

I didn’t get to see a lot of Graham Island, at least not what I maybe should have. I didn’t get to see the shipwreck, I didn’t get to see North Beach at Tow Hill, I didn’t get to see the whales that rolled in EVERY DAY because it was all I could do to keep myself warm and dry.

I did travel around the island a lot. I did drive out to Tow Hill in Naikoon Provincial Park, and I found the most amazing café, Moon Over Naikoon Café. The first time I went I had coffee and a chocolate chip cookie, and while I was eating my cookie I met a number of the locals, and a bunch of tourists. What was supposed to be a short stop turned into a very pleasant couple of hours. I also ended up being there while the fresh cinnamon buns came out of the oven and I got one just after the hot icing was drizzled over it. It was perfect.

I saw totem poles, I saw beaches, I saw the ocean, I went to a museum, I saw much, much beauty. It may have rained a lot, but I didn’t let that stop me.

I missed a lot because of the rain. It was just too wet and cold to be out too much, but I am glad I saw everything I saw.

The last couple of days were the hardest. I was tired of the rain, of being cold and constantly damp, and I hadn’t been able to reach my parents for days and I knew I was stuck until I could get the ferry, which only runs twice a week or so.

I finally was able to reach my mum the day before I was set to leave. It made a massive difference in the way I was feeling. When you have nobody to talk to, when you are so isolated from the outside world, and when it is so miserable you spend all your time in your tent, finally getting to connect with the outside world makes all the difference. Once I spoke to her my spirits were lifted and I was ready to face the storm that was blowing in.

The drive home was long, but it turned out to be quite interesting. I left Masset on Saturday, and nearly missed the ferry. I pulled up to the ferry, and apparently I was late because they had already started to load the stand-by vehicles. Nobody told me that I needed to be at the terminal 2 hours in advance, as it was I was a good 1.5 hours prior to the ferry’s departure. The people loading the ferry pretty much ignored me, and when I started to get very nervous about what was going on I finally managed to get their attention and explain to them that no, I was not on stand-by, and yes, I did in fact already have my boarding pass. I was the third to last vehicle to get on. I was not impressed, but I was glad to be going home.

Another 6 hour ferry ride topped off with 4 hours of driving made for a late night. I got into Smithers at 2:30, stopped at the first motel I saw, and slept like a log.