(+4 insets!) (Please view large for more details!)

Vancouver Island's bustling city of Nanaimo is perfectly located between the rugged, sparsely populated northern town of Port Hardy and the metropolitan city of Victoria in the south. I mentioned in my last report how unfortunate it was that we weren't able to book a 5-day stay at our campground. We had to make due with three days and because we wanted to be in the area for a total of at least five days, we found another campsite just a bit north which we booked for four days. However, as I've mentioned on other posts, any "travel" day, no matter how short, is a complete disruption and we hate it. Usually we cannot do anything at all on those days other than get from Point A to Point B, set up, eat dinner, and then wind down before bed.

In this case, we had exactly ONE full day to be in this area and throwing out all the other excursions around, we decided to go to Newcastle Island for the day. Located just off the coast of Nanaimo, it's just a short 10-minute ferry ride over to this sizable and culturally significant island.

Owned and managed by the Snuneymuxw First Nation people, the proper name for Newcastle Island is Saysutshun, which means 'training for running.' This island has always been hugely important to the Snuneymuxw as a place of physical and spiritual healing and to prepare mentally for races or battles. There are no cars or motor vehicles allowed (except for First People's maintenance-related) and there is something really wonderful about being required to walk or ride a bike to get anywhere.

This being said, we decided to take our bikes with us on our adventure, as it is a fantastic way to see the island and travel on its 22 km of well-maintained trails.

Saysutshun's little ferry runs to and fro every 30 minutes with a modest fee of $9 for a roundtrip ticket which includes a bike and we were so excited as we parked and made our way over to the pier.

Today's Pictures
My main picture today also works for Happy Fence Friday! It shows the walkway down to the docking area for the ferry and temporary docking. Our ferry, the Grey Selkie, is docked in place on the left side with another boat docked on the right. This picture was taken after we returned from Saysutshun but I wanted to use it so you could see the ferry. I was so excited when it arrived that I totally forgot to take one! :D

We only waited for about five minutes before the boat pulled up and while we waited I got a picture of the cute little blue boat docked there. We initially thought it was the ferry but realized that it probably wasn't, especially when the actual one pulled up! Once it was tied to the pier, Steve helped the captain and assistant to lift our bikes up to the cargo area on top of the boat. After we were seated I took a picture of the inside which I thought was really interesting. I'd never been in such a small ferry before and was overwhelmed by the "cute" factor of this little work boat!

I have also included a panorama that I took as we motored from Nanaimo to Saysutshun. You can see just how close the island is to the mainland on the left side of the picture. You can see the Nanaimo harbor and also, near the right side of the panorama, Saysutshun's harbor! Pretty cool! :) (The land mass on the right side is Protection Island, a First People's private land, not normally visited by non-indigenous people and a home to many of these folk.)

Pam, I hope that you are comfortable and resting a lot. You've been in my thoughts so often and I am very relieved that all went well. This hurdle out of the way, now you can focus on being as well as possible. I hope that you get a little better quality of life with this stress out of the way. Maybe there is a possibility that your Left Side Neglect will fade some as time passes from your procedure. You mentioned that what's done is done but I can't help hoping for some improvements for you. *BIG HUGS* from southern Oregon.

Explored on 1/24/20; highest placement #4.