I tried preparing as much in
advance as possible, including packing spare camera batteries. I even charged a
couple more batteries but then accidentally left them on the charger.
I took the 75 transit bus to
Brentwood Bay and rode the new ferry to Mill Bay for the first time. The new ferry actually looking like a 1990s
or earlier small ferry model. A good comparison
is the Sidney-Fulford ferry, with the middle being for cars and the sides being
for passengers, including staircases to a couple of upper decks. Only there’s
only one inside lounge, on the right side from the Brentwood terminal, with
bathrooms being on the left. The ferry
only had two cars and I think only one other walk-on passenger, probably
because it was the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter. People were
definitely out and about later that day but I’m guessing a lot of people chose
to sleep in that day.
I started to job between Mill Bay
Ferry Terminal and Mill Bay Centre, though I got a ride early on and ate at the
McDonald’s across the street from Mill Bay Centre.
I walked to Mill Bay Centre and got
some travel booklets from the Tourist Information Centre, which as usual was unlocked
but pretty deserted. I tried finding a bus schedule but couldn’t.
I had a lot of free time before the
bus to Duncan so jogged to Encore Records and back, only Encore Records was
gone. I returned to Mill bay Centre and
took the 15 bus to Duncan (it turned into the 10 at Valley View Centre and this
time went on the Cowichan Bay route).
I got off the bus and realized that
the same bus was actually now the next one I wanted to take, the 3 bus to Cowichan
Commons in North Cowichan (which is often treated as part of Duncan). When the
driver returned from a break I wanted to keep my transfer as a souvenir but the
driver wouldn’t allow that. Fortunately I’d previous taken photos of the
transfer.
At Cowichan Commons I bought some
bus tickets to save me money on future Cowichan Valley trips, then visited
Future Shop before returning to Duncan where I bought some DVDs at the Duncan
branch of Pioneer’s Video (they have at least one other branch, in Chemainus).
I noticed that the Burger King in the same mall was gone even though it had a
nice location: at a shopping centre on the Trans-Canada Highway.
I next went to Duncan’s own tourist
information centre where I got some more travel booklets; unlike the Mill Bay
one there was someone working there.
I visited Duncan Pets, where birds
in a cage on an upper level tossed seeds or seed shells at me twice.
Heading north again I when to
Duncan Pawn, then Heritage Pawnbrokers (bought some blu-rays; accidentally
bought a HD TV disc but luckily one side is regular DVD so that side is
playable on my computer) and then visited Collector’s Choice Sports Cards &
Comics. Collector’s Choice is actually
pretty infamous for being a poor comic shop; Cerebus creator Dave Sim once on a
Q&A on Newsarama once commented on the quality of the store.
I next went to A&W. I make the
mistake of ordering a large Coke, which looked to be a full litre. I met my
friend Darcey there. We chatted a bit
and we then drove to Simple.bay, which she wasn’t sure if it was still open.
There she remarked it was still there. I said “Not for long” pointing out the closing
out sale sign. I think one thing that
hurt the store was the woman at the cashier sat in a short chair so it was hard
to tell that there was actually a storekeeper present. We briefly part company to pursue different
shopping plans. I bought some blu-rays at Simple.bay and the started heading to
the old town, though I had to retrace a small section due to the lens cap
proving to still be on the camera; it was taking pictures anyway.
I passed a Saturday market and then
visited Area 51. After a few more photos of the old downtown I went to the Real
Canadian Superhero, which was being reorganized. It didn’t look like they were still selling
new DVDs; their old ones were in two different locations. I met up with Darcey
again there. There was a large TV she wanted to buy which was easily visible
from far off, but it was the display model and they had no boxed ones. The
display model as far as we could tell was purely decorative and not actually
for sale.
Darcey then drove me to Crofton
where she and I party company at Crofton Movies & More, where I bought some
more DVDs.
I went to the ferry terminal and
realized I didn’t have enough cash. Luckily there was a place nearby to rectify
that. I took the ferry from Crofton to Vesuvius on Salt Spring Island for the
first time. On this ferry the main lounge and upper deck areas were in the
centre of the ferry above the care area.
The lounge was small but larger than most BC Ferries its size, though a
bit hidden; I only spotted it upon exiting.
There was no bus so I walked from
Vesuvius to Ganges. A bus did pass me
about half way. Mid way, before that, I saw cops with scanners pull over a
driver, for speeding I imagine.
I got some pop in a shopping centre
in the north end of Ganges, before the downtown core. In the downtown core I visited a couple of
book stores, a used music/movies store (bought a DVD) and Star Video (bought
more DVDs). They’re currently building a long planned new library there.
Volume Two Books was gone. I
visited the Saturday market and then decided to lead south to Blackburn Lake.
Unfortunately my batteries died en route. I did manage to get in a few shots of
the lake and the bus stop near it.
The bus to Fulford was full; luckily
the driver pointed behind him so I knew another was coming. I took the 2 bus to
Fulford harbour where I managed to get a few more shots. I also tried a zero calorie cola that tasted
awful (Zevia).
I got on the ferry and managed to
get in the last shots my camera batteries would allow me before they quit for
the remainder of the trip.
I took the ferry from Fulford to
Swartz Bay. I had some time to kill before the bus back downtown so I grabbed a
small pizza from the restaurant. On the
way back I ran into my friend Katie who was embarking on a trip of her own.
By the time I got back to the bus stop
and got on the 70 bus (a double-decker) it was already filling up. I didn’t
have a window seat but given that my camera was no longer functional for the
remainder of the trip, that didn’t matter too much. I got off downtown and
walked the rest of the way home.\
My legs are still sore so I
definitely needed the exercise.
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