I don’t know if I have mentioned this yet or not, but this is my first time on “The Island” and no I’m not talking about the island in Lost, although that might be fun too. The island I’m talking about is Vancouver Island. This was is my first time in Vancouver and Victoria. Yes, they finally let me out of the north.

Well to get to the island I had to take the ferry over. This was my first time on a BC Ferry. I have taken ferries in Ontario and in Alaska, and of course the ferry crossing the MacKenzie River on the way to and from Yellowknife.

I have heard many people talk about BC Ferry on Twitter and not all good things, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Truthfully, because of the people I have met through twitter I was a little worried.

When I boarded the ferry though, I was pleasantly surprised. The ferry was clean, timely and accommodating. As I climbed the levels to the main decks, I found a lot of seating for all the passengers. It appeared there were more seats than passengers, so that is always good to see and the seats were relatively comfortable. Having been slightly sick earlier that morning and hungry I wanted to get something to eat. So we found the food area and got some food. Ferry Food as someone called it, wasn’t the greatest around. I would compare the burger I had to one that was left until the end of the day at McDonald’s. It was dried and shriveled.

As I toured around the ferry, I learned that they offered free WiFi, although it was slooooow. You do seem to keep cell service for the majority of the ride though, so tethering saved me from boredom. I also found a kids area and a private area, for those who wish to pay more. I made my way out onto the front deck, which was right under the bridge and I could see the captain. I was somewhat surprised we saw land for most of the trip, then again I didn’t know what to expect.

Getting on and off the ferry was actually a fairly fluid process. We drive on, park, rest and then drive off.