The Atlantic to Pacific 2011 road trip with my Shadow: Kelowna to Victoria (May 24, 2011)

I wanted to leave Kelowna early but never got out till 10 in the morning. Had a decent breakfast at Denny's to keep me going for a while. This journey involved a few navigational challenges as I was supposed to take a bunch of different highways to get to Sea-to-Sky highway and then through Vancouver to the Tsawwassen ferry. I wrote the important turns down to make it easier. Highway 97C after Kelowna was surprisingly fast even though it climbs constantly for the first 15-20 minutes and goes through difficult terrains. After that I kept on going on the Nicola highway (highway 8), which runs through the river-ranch land area of BC. It was a quiet highway so always more fun to drive when you would want to enjoy the view. From the town of Lytton, I followed the Lillooet-Lytton highway (highway 12). At the end just before Pemberton, during my descend you have to make sure your brakes work properly. I would say these highways climbed up to almost 2000m to 3000m ASL at points. These highways are recommended if you enjoy driving on narrow winding mountain roads.

Once I was on highway 99, which eventually turns on to the Sea-to-Sky highway after Whistler, the drive was much easier. The highway was very scenic, however, there might be too much traffic to actually enjoy the view. There are few places where you can stop and take pictures as well. I was aiming for the Victoria ferry at 1900hrs and everything looked good until I was in the Vancouver area. There was a huge traffic jam to get on the Lions Gate bridge and probably this is usual. After that I cruised through Vancouver without any navigational mistake and made it to the ferry at exactly 1902hrs. Fortunately the ferry was still there and I was the second last person to get on it with the vehicle. Otherwise I would have had to wait another couple of hours for the next ferry.

This ferry was busy and the journey was short. I saw five killer whales playing in the water and that was definitely a bonus. Unfortunately I was unable to take any picture of them as they liked to hide while the vessel was right beside them. From the landing dock at Swartz Bay to Victoria was a quick 30km drive and I came straight to my hotel. Because this is a weekday and me being not ready for fast food, the only option I had was Denny's once again which is open 24 hrs. Tomorrow I will be in Victoria to perform some further exploration.