Post by Ferryman on Feb 2, 2008 21:17:42 GMT -8
I'm finally back home, after wandering around 4 different ferries today, and feeling quite exhausted! I'll sleep good tonight!
I woke up to about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground, with it snowing pretty heavily still when I woke up at 6:00am. So I had to deal with winter driving conditions all of the way to Britannia Beach, and then it was just slushy all of the way down to Horseshoe Bay.
Once I had parked and purchased my ticket, I headed for the waiting lounge, where Jordan ran up behind me when I was least expecting anyone to come up and find me. We boarded the Cowichan, and wandered around looking for people from the forum. Eventually we found Michael, Ernie, Nick, and David wandering around the decks of the ship. It was snowing for most of the trip across the Strait, which made visability poor enough for the horn to be blasted every 2 minutes. At least it was a horn, that is music to my ears, instead of a bunch of noise that some of the other ferries make. Once we emerged from the snow cloud, we saw a beam of light only illuminating the beautiful Coastal Renaissance. Before we knew it, we were in Nanaimo, and heading for the group Staging Point. Once Scott, Karl, Ernie and myself arrived, the rest of the group was already waiting for us, along with a reporter and photographer from the Nanaimo Daily News. Kam kindly bought a mug of Tim Hortans coffee, and a box of Donuts. Thanks very much Kam, that was an awesome idea, and I really appreciated that coffee with how cold I was this morning.
After discussing our thoughts and opinions with the news reporter, we all proceded to the Assembly warf. Once we had arrived, it was starting to rain, but once we were standing in the lineup on the car deck, it was snowing quite heavily. The Route around the Ferry you have to follow around the Ferry was almost the same as the one in Vancouver. Except seeming we boarded via the Main Car deck, we started the tour in the Engine Room, and then up to the Bridge right after. Then we followed along Deck 5 and up to Deck 6 to the Sitka and Seawest Lounge. After that, we proceeded directly to the Coastal Cafe and we took a group photo of everyone sitting along the long row of bench seats. After this, we were directed to the car deck for a cookie and a beverage. I don't know where they get these cookies, but they taste really good! Too bad they don't offer them when the Ferry is in service. We also had a number of group photos taken down in the Car deck with the ferry backdrop and with Mrs. Marshall.
Oh but the Ferry fun wasn't over for some of us after this tour. Scott, Karl, Jordan, Nick, Ernie, and Myself decided to take a ride on the Quinsam over to Gabriola, to get photos of the Coastal Renaissance from the water. Once we arrived on the Gabriola side, we had to wait for 50 mins until the next sailing, due to a crew change. So we went to the nearest amenity, which was the Pub located right beside the terminal. After grabbing a bite and a drink, we hopped back on to the Quinsam to Nanaimo. By this point it was about 3:30pm, and we were planning on catching the 5:00pm back to Horseshoe Bay, so we had some time to kill. So to kill time, we went to the Departure Bay beach, parallel to Berth 1 at the Ferry terminal.
Before we knew it, it was time to get to the Terminal to purchase our tickets to get on the Ferry. The ride back over on the Queen of Oak Bay was pretty uneventful, but Scott pulled his laptop out and showed us all of his photos from previous trips. John H even joined us for the last half of the voyage, after he had taken care of his daughters and wife.
All in all, it was yet another awesome tirp. It was certainly worth going, again.
Well, it was at least awesome until the group had gone their seperate ways, when I realized I had lost my parking ticket that had the time for when I arrived at the Parkade. So I tried to show the security guard at the gate my Ferry ticket from this morning. But that wasn't good enough, so he had to record all of my vehicles identification, and he gave me an envelope and a fine of $40.00 to pay, for losing the ticket. So I have to send this envelope in the mail with the money. But the kicker to it all, is that he got my License Plate # wrong. I don't know how he could screw that up, but he did. Oh well, I'll send in the money regardless of that, just because I don't think there's anyway I could really dispute that.
Stay tuned for my photos in the Photos thread!
I woke up to about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground, with it snowing pretty heavily still when I woke up at 6:00am. So I had to deal with winter driving conditions all of the way to Britannia Beach, and then it was just slushy all of the way down to Horseshoe Bay.
Once I had parked and purchased my ticket, I headed for the waiting lounge, where Jordan ran up behind me when I was least expecting anyone to come up and find me. We boarded the Cowichan, and wandered around looking for people from the forum. Eventually we found Michael, Ernie, Nick, and David wandering around the decks of the ship. It was snowing for most of the trip across the Strait, which made visability poor enough for the horn to be blasted every 2 minutes. At least it was a horn, that is music to my ears, instead of a bunch of noise that some of the other ferries make. Once we emerged from the snow cloud, we saw a beam of light only illuminating the beautiful Coastal Renaissance. Before we knew it, we were in Nanaimo, and heading for the group Staging Point. Once Scott, Karl, Ernie and myself arrived, the rest of the group was already waiting for us, along with a reporter and photographer from the Nanaimo Daily News. Kam kindly bought a mug of Tim Hortans coffee, and a box of Donuts. Thanks very much Kam, that was an awesome idea, and I really appreciated that coffee with how cold I was this morning.
After discussing our thoughts and opinions with the news reporter, we all proceded to the Assembly warf. Once we had arrived, it was starting to rain, but once we were standing in the lineup on the car deck, it was snowing quite heavily. The Route around the Ferry you have to follow around the Ferry was almost the same as the one in Vancouver. Except seeming we boarded via the Main Car deck, we started the tour in the Engine Room, and then up to the Bridge right after. Then we followed along Deck 5 and up to Deck 6 to the Sitka and Seawest Lounge. After that, we proceeded directly to the Coastal Cafe and we took a group photo of everyone sitting along the long row of bench seats. After this, we were directed to the car deck for a cookie and a beverage. I don't know where they get these cookies, but they taste really good! Too bad they don't offer them when the Ferry is in service. We also had a number of group photos taken down in the Car deck with the ferry backdrop and with Mrs. Marshall.
Oh but the Ferry fun wasn't over for some of us after this tour. Scott, Karl, Jordan, Nick, Ernie, and Myself decided to take a ride on the Quinsam over to Gabriola, to get photos of the Coastal Renaissance from the water. Once we arrived on the Gabriola side, we had to wait for 50 mins until the next sailing, due to a crew change. So we went to the nearest amenity, which was the Pub located right beside the terminal. After grabbing a bite and a drink, we hopped back on to the Quinsam to Nanaimo. By this point it was about 3:30pm, and we were planning on catching the 5:00pm back to Horseshoe Bay, so we had some time to kill. So to kill time, we went to the Departure Bay beach, parallel to Berth 1 at the Ferry terminal.
Before we knew it, it was time to get to the Terminal to purchase our tickets to get on the Ferry. The ride back over on the Queen of Oak Bay was pretty uneventful, but Scott pulled his laptop out and showed us all of his photos from previous trips. John H even joined us for the last half of the voyage, after he had taken care of his daughters and wife.
All in all, it was yet another awesome tirp. It was certainly worth going, again.
Well, it was at least awesome until the group had gone their seperate ways, when I realized I had lost my parking ticket that had the time for when I arrived at the Parkade. So I tried to show the security guard at the gate my Ferry ticket from this morning. But that wasn't good enough, so he had to record all of my vehicles identification, and he gave me an envelope and a fine of $40.00 to pay, for losing the ticket. So I have to send this envelope in the mail with the money. But the kicker to it all, is that he got my License Plate # wrong. I don't know how he could screw that up, but he did. Oh well, I'll send in the money regardless of that, just because I don't think there's anyway I could really dispute that.
Stay tuned for my photos in the Photos thread!