We travelled from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert on a ferry through the Inside Passage. The ferries that make this journey are huge and during the summer they are apparently teeming with people. This is not the case in October. Our ferry was eerily quiet throughout the whole journey, you could go for a walk to stretch your legs, or admire the view from the other side of the ship and see only two or three other people. It was really nice though, because the journey is so long (21 hours in fact) we developed a sense of community. Everyone greeted one another each time we met and swapped travel stories and destination plans.
It was dark when we began our journey and after embarking everyone found their own quiet spot and hunkered down to try and get a few more hours of sleep . When we awoke, we were in the passage and it was as if we had entered a whole other world. The sea was calm and the sun was just breaking through the clouds. All we could see in every direction was sea and tree covered mountains on either side of us.
The whole journey was completely magical. With each stop the ferry got quieter and the small communities scattered along the coastline thinned out, until we had seen no other signs of civilization in hours. Gradually the channel narrowed and the mountains began to really tower above us, and despite the size of the boat it made me feel really small and insignificant.
We disembarked in Prince Rupert in the middle of the night, by which time we had perfected the art of sleeping on a cold hard floor and of sitting, staring out of a window. This is going to prove useful as we continue our journey.
