MacsTravel Blog

It was a while until we saw blue sky.

The drive from Kelowna was a hazy one, even as we climbed high into the the Cascades on our way to Vancouver. These mountains are deceptively high: many reach over 10,000 feet but they don’t overpower the way the Rockies do in places. The descent from Merritt to Hope along the Coquihalla Highway is one of the longest in the country and is so tricky in the winter that it inspired the Discovery Channel show “Highway thru Hell”.

The haze had settled over Vancouver as we skirted the city on route to the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay. We were headed to Nanaimo where we’d stay to the night before pushing on to Tofino. A planned stop in Bamberton Provincial Park and visit to see our high school friend Dave Kettlewell in Victoria had to be scrapped as we were a couple of days behind schedule.

After a quick dinner at Olive & Anchor in Horseshoe Bay (good food and service and dog friendly) we headed to the terminal to line up. BC Ferries had been receiving all sorts of negative press due to scheduling and staffing issues and an older fleet with vessels routinely being taken out of service for maintenance. Betty had made reservations for all of us in advance, and we crossed our fingers as we eased into the line.

All went smoothly at first. We had booked a spot as an oversized vehicle due to the addition of the Thule on the top of our Subaru. We were directed to the appropriate gate to check in. Soon after that we were in the twilight zone.

We pulled up under the officious and (we later discovered) paranoid gaze of the BC Ferries staff member who was responsible for oversized vehicles. She looked at our Thule and car, and pronounced “This isn’t over seven feet.”

I met her gaze. “It has to be pretty close. We thought it best to be safe than sorry.”

Her voice began to rise in timber: “It has to be seven feet! If not you are in violation and your ticket will be null and void!”

“You mean the ticket we reserved and paid for in advance isn’t any good if the car and carrier isn’t over seven feet?! Even if it’s close?”

By this point she had exited the booth and was adjusting a giant pole contraption of the type used to determine the height of horses running in the Kentucky Derby. She waved the pole in the general direction of the car like a diviner searching for water and proclaimed, “Nope. Not seven feet. I don’t know what we can do.”

Before I suggested that we could start by getting a grasp on reality, Robin piped up from the passenger seat: “What if we strapped a cooler to the top of the Thule. Would that work?”

Enlightenment dawned in the Ferry Officer’s eyes. “Yes, that would work. I might still get in trouble but if you pull over there and strap your cooler on top of the car you should be ok.”

Slack-jawed I took the proffered ticket and we pulled over to begin the nonsensical process of strapping items that had been safely packed inside the car onto the domed roof of our car carrier. At this point I was pulling bungee cords and straps out of our bungee cord and straps bag: never had I felt more prepared for a more ridiculous situation. I may have mumbled some unpleasantries about the BC Ferries institution in the process. At that point, Robin sensibly decided that we should strap a pliant sleeping bag to the car carrier rather than a rigid cooler. After some stressful strapping moments (my stress, Robin was trying unsuccessfully not to laugh), we continued on to our assigned lane looking like we had whimsically decided to add a beanie to the roof of our car.

We pulled into a line with several other large vehicles as well as a number of similarly sized cars with roof carriers that did not feature an item that might have been acquired at a haberdashery for automobiles.

I turned off the car, got out, and stomped directly towards the open window of the driver’s door of the car behind us. The couple inside were staring wide eyed at my approach, glancing furtively at the sleeping bag beanie which was slipping to the side, negating the height advantage that it was supposed to provide.

After confirming that they had not been required to resort to any artificial means of meeting the 7’ requirement, I explained our situation.

I’m pretty sure they didn’t believe me.

After parking the car upon boarding I removed the straps, cords and sleeping bag and went upstairs to enjoy the beauty of the Straight of Georgia as we crossed to Nanaimo.

I have to say, it was a lovely trip.