June 1 – 6: Sooke to Port Hardy
June 1-3: Living Forest, site 133. First stop on the trek north on Vancouver Island. Had been there before, and found it just as good this time. Made a big pot of chili, using the induction cooktop inside. Good smells while cooking, but took a few days to air out the van.
June 3-4: Took the Benz to Big Boy’s Toys to get the noisy heat pump fan fixed. They couldn’t do anything that day, but were able to fit us in the next day. Spent the night at Rathtrevor Provincial Park (site 185). No services, but a beautiful spot, and we would have walked the beach nearby had it not been pouring rain all day.
June 4-6: Seal Bay RV Park: Site G13. The BBT service guys did something to the heat pump, and it stopped making noise for a short time. (EDIT: The noise came back worse than ever a day or so later.) Courtney/Comox is a favorite area, with lots of good shopping. The park itself is excellent, with some permanents, but with a lovely clear area for transients like us (with Starlink!). Probably not ideal in the heat of summer, but great for us. We had a good sunny day to do laundry.
Had an excellent visit with John & Brenda Bavin, old friends from the days of building Freja II (early 80’s). They have a beautiful modern house that John built on an infill lot in Comox. View to forever, including to the glacier to the north.
June 6: Port Hardy Ferry Terminal. Beautiful day for a drive to Port Hardy in prep for ferry to Prince Rupert the next day. We expected to have to sit in the parking lot, wake up at 4:30 to get into ferry lineup, and wait there till the 7:30 departure. As it turns out, they let you actually get into the lineup the night before, so that’s what we did. We were second in line! The lineup spot was not even remotely quiet, as the terminal operates all night, doing what is not quite clear, but it was done with lots of engine noises! Nevertheless, it was better than we expected. Met a very nice couple, Chris and Cheryl, in front of us in line, and whom we ended up seeing several times over the next 24 hours.