The Official Kilt Kamp 2014 Registration thread

[KiltedKnome]

As someone who travels from the Lower Mainland (Squamish, Vancouver, etc.) to Victoria monthly, this is the ferry situation.

Visit http://www.bcferries.com/ and click on the schedules for Metro Vancouver-Vancouver Island- Sunshine Coast.

There are two possible routes:

You can catch a ferry at Tsawwassen over to Schwartz Bay, which is then a 30 - 40 minute drive to Victoria along the Pat Bay Highway. Please remember the road signs are in kilometers per hour and not miles per hour on the highway, or you will be pulled over to the side of the road by one of our "friendly" peace keepers. This ferry takes you through the smaller islands, and sometimes you can see orcas, etc.

You can catch a ferry at Horseshoe Bay over to Nanaimo, which is upisland (cool local word, sort of like "outwith" in Scotland). You will then drive 1-1/2 hours (some people do it in 1 hour) down the island to Victoria, going over our mountain range called the Malahat. You are on open water a bit more on this ferry.

YOU ARE COMING TO TOWN AT THE START OF A LONG WEEKEND. THE FERRIES AND ROADS LEADING TO THE FERRIES WILL BE BUSY. If you are pretty sure when you will be wanting to catch the ferry, you can make a reservation (see that website above). Otherwise, plan on the possibility of a sailing wait. In summer, I always make a reservation (and fork over the extra money) if I want to catch the Horseshoe Bay ferry, since it is several hours to the next ferry -- makes a rough sailing wait. There are more ferries sailing from Tsawwassen to Schwarz Bay, so a sailing wait is not as onerous. Please note, if you are on the bus that travels between Vancouver and Victoria, you will not be affected by any ferry waits (due to more customers than room), since the buses are guaranteed.

If anyone is catching the bus over from the Vancouver Airport, either Steve or I can meet them at the Victoria bus terminal. That bus takes the Tsawwassen-to-Schwarz Bay ferry. We are also available to meet flights at the Victoria airport. We have at least one group coming over on the Coho Ferry (Washington State Ferry out of Port Angeles) into the Inner Harbour of Victoria.