We left Jasper National Park on Sunday morning and drove 6 hours to 150 Mile House, where we rented an Airbnb for two nights. We spent our time there working, doing laundry, and cleaning the van. On Tuesday, we continued the trip and drove another 2 hours to Bella Coola. The drive there was very exciting, with cows and horses crossing the road. We found a nice spot at the water to park the van for the night. The following morning, we saw lots of bald eagles at the shore. There must have been at least 20 bald eagles!
We booked a full-day tour with Bella Coola Grizzly Tours, where they took us on a fishing boat to see some highlights of Bella Coola Valley and the Great Bear Rainforest. There were six other couples on board and our guide, a very weird local fisherman. He brought us to the Hot Springs, which was a natural hot pool in the middle of the rainforest. It would have been nice, but it was way too hot to get in. In the meantime, our guide prepared some lunch for us on the boat. Then he took us to another place. He dropped our group off on the shore, gave us one bear spray and a radio to contact him, explained which way to hike, and left us. We hiked half an hour to a big cedar tree. Overall, it was a nice tour, and we were very fortunate with the weather, but it definitely wasn’t worth the 525 CAD we had to pay.
We booked a small cottage in a campground for that evening, because we needed a shower. Another older couple from Vancouver from our tour was also staying there. They invited us to their place for marshmallows. We couldn’t think of a good excuse on the spot, so we told them we’d come by after dinner. We grilled some delicious meat and went over to their place. It was great, and we stayed much longer than expected!
The next day, we had a 5-hour hike planned, but it rained the entire day. Instead, we did a short 1-hour hike in the rain and spent most of the time indoors.
In the evening, we went to the pub in Bella Coola for dinner and played games. Then we went back to the same spot we slept the first night. While preparing for bed, we heard some very weird sounds from the ocean. We drove to the dock and saw lots of harbor seals swimming and lying around. When they fought with each other, it sounded like a zombie apocalypse! We’ve never heard anything like it. They were also entertaining to watch, and we took lots of photos of the harbor.
Today, we had to get up at 5 am to take the ferry from Bella Coola to Vancouver Island. The ferry ride took 10 hours, and there were beautiful views of the coast and islands along the way. We also saw sea otters and several whales, including orcas.
Now we’re in Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. We plan to drive around the island for a week and then take the ferry to Vancouver before heading back east.