Day 14.........Prince Rupert to Port Hardy

Today we started at 4am to get to the Northern Expedition ferry that leaves from Prince Rupert at 7.30am to get to Port Hardy. This trip is a 15 hour journey that goes down the Inside Passage via the Grenville Channel, past Bella Bella, Namu and then across the Queen Charlotte Strait to end at Port Hardy on the Northern tip of Vancouver Island.
We were very lucky that the weather was sunny although the sea breeze was pretty cold. We booked a very comfortable cabin with two beds and a toilet with shower. This ship is the replacement for the Queen of the North which sank two years ago after hitting an island near Hartley Bay in the middle of the night. Apparently this happened due to the fact that the two crew who were supposed to be steering the ship were actually bonking on the bridge instead........this is obviously not the way to behave during work hours. The Northern Expedition was built in Germany and really is a very clean, neat and comfortable ship to travel in. It has two restaurants, one that serves typical BC Ferries burgers and chips and the other that serves fancy meals and wines etc .........at fancy prices too. I might add to that at $680 for two people and a car this trip is hardly affordable for the average person as a method of transport through BC. Add to this the fact that due to the sailing times you are forced to have a hotel room at either end of the trip this boosts to the price to almost a thousand dollars a time. On both the Bella Coola trip and this one the majority of the passengers were German tourists so this tells a story in itself.
   Mountains of 1500 to 3500 feet surround Grenville Channel the beginning of the voyage, the narrowest portion a mere 1400 feet wide. Although the channel is so narrow it has depths of up to 1620 feet that allows large vessels to navigate it. This route is popular with the large Alaskan cruise liners that sail here during the Summer months.
  Hartley Bay is about 5 hours from Prince Rupert and here we saw a large number of Humpback Whales breeching and blowing.

  The scenery through all of this trip is quite breathtaking and we passed a number of red and white lighthouses. When we got to Bella Bella, a small town about 10 hours into the trip the ship slowed right down so as not to create a large wake that would damage the numerous docks in the area.

   We snoozed a bit and went for dinner at the fancy restaurant where once again I wasn't happy with the vegetarian options......this is a thing that BC Ferries has to look at in all of it's catering throughout it's operations. During dinner the sun was setting on the one side of the ship and the moon was rising on the other.....very lovely moment.

  When we got into Port hardy we unfortunately had to once again brave the dubious quarters of the Port Hardy Inn since all the other hotels had been booked by the busloads of German tourists.