Along with 40 other passengers, bags of mail, and freight for outposts along the route, we chugged out of Port Alberni. Our destination: Bamfield, a remote village on the west coast of Vancouver Island, approximately 40 nautical miles away.
Sailing On The Francis Barkley
Pea soup fog in the harbor as we leave Port Alberni
The MV Frances Barkley is a working packet freighter, and this is most definitely not a luxury cruise. There’s a choice of seating indoors: rump-sprung red leatherette in the forward section, or industrial style dinette chairs and formica tables in the galley. The food offerings are of the traditional greasy spoon variety (we brought our own picnic fare).
But the views are grand, the crew is friendly, and the passengers are an interesting mix of world travelers who have somehow found their way to this unique experience.
Not planning on needing this
The galley isn’t luxurious but the views are excellent
The crew was happy to answer questions when they weren’t busy with other tasks
Enjoying the scenery as the fog begins to lift
View from the stern of the Frances Barkley
As it warmed up, everyone moved outdoors
Our captain, in his delightful Scottish brogue, shared a bit of history as we cruised along. Our first stop was the Kildonan Post Office, Canada’s last floating post office and the site of a former fish cannery built in 1903.
The freighter sidled up to the post office, the friendly old dog trotted out to greet the boat, and bags of mail were exchanged.
The Kildonan Post Office, Canada’s last floating post office
Remote homes and beautiful scenery along the Alberni Inlet
Exploring The Remote Village Of Bamfield
We reached the boardwalk village of Bamfield at close to noon, after about 3 1/2 hours of sailing time. The captain gave us the option of staying on the boat as it made the rounds of the Barkley Sound, or exploring the town of Bamfield. He suggested either walking the boardwalk or hiking the half-mile trail to Brady’s Beach.
We chose to do both (couldn’t stand the thought of missing out on anything!), which meant a speedy hike to the beach and some leisurely exploration of the tide pools, followed by a speedy hike back and a speedy walk up and down the boardwalk. We barely made it back to the boat on time. Had we missed the boat, we would have spent a couple of nights in Bamfield until the Frances Barkley called again. I can think of worse ways to spend a couple of days.
Sailing into the remote village of Bamfield, population 200
Exploring the Bamfield boardwalk
Bamfield mermaid overlooking the sound
Beautiful Brady’s Beach—those turquoise waters look tropical!
Exploring the tidepools at Brady’s Beach with Lars and Oasis, new friends from Germany
Leaving Bamfield, all too soon
A humpback whale makes an appearance close to the boat
The Delightful Town Of Port Alberni
Port Alberni is a surprisingly delightful town. We were there only to sail on the Frances Barkley, but enjoyed our time so much that we ended up lingering for four days. We stayed at nearby Sproat Lake Provincial Park, the perfect location for exploring Port Alberni and nearby Stamp River Provincial Park.
The Port Alberni Lighthouse is located on the waterfront and serves as the Maritime Discovery Center. The lighthouse was never a “real” lighthouse (it was built in the 1990’s by the maritime heritage society using generic lighthouse plans) but it contains a historic lantern taken from Chrome Island off the east coast of Vancouver Island. Although the lantern beacon is turned on during the summer, it has to be turned off at night because it disturbs the neighbors.
The Port Alberni Lighthouse; the home of the Maritime Discovery Centre
While strolling along the pier, we came upon a wild little boat whirling, spinning, and bounding in the rough waters. It looked like a crazed Australian shepherd rounding up a herd of sheep—but this was a herd of enormous logs. We learned later that this is a boom boat, and rounding up logs is precisely its job description. Isn’t that the cutest boat? I want one!
A boom boat rounding up logs
Corralling logs in preparation for loading onto a freighter in Port Alberni
We spent most of the rest of our days in Port Alberni searching for bears. The fall is salmon run season, and the bears come out for the easy pickings. We hung out at the Somass River in Port Alberni waiting for the bears to show up. They did, and it was fun watching them fish, but we didn’t get any decent photos. Well, except for this one.
The Somass River in Port Alberni; this was our best bear sighting on the river
Papermills on the Somass River; like a scene out of an Edgar Allen Poe tale
Welcome Totem of the First Nations Hupacasath peoples
Relaxing at the SteamPunk Cafe; the best place in town for good coffee and great internet
Finding Bears At Stamp River Provincial Park
We had great luck at beautiful Stamp River Provincial Park, though. The salmon run thick in the Stamp River, and we cheered them on as they flung themselves up the falls. I’m not sure why some of the fish insist on taking the hard way when there’s a fish ladder available. It was way more fun to watch them go up the falls, but it was also pretty cool to see the fish on live camera squeezing themselves through the ladder.
At the beautiful Stamp River, in search of salmon and bears
Watching the salmon leaping up the falls (Go, salmon, go!!)
We were in search of bears, and spent a couple of afternoons looking for them. We watched them fishing far away across the river, but wanted closer views. A hiking trail took us to a remote area of the river, where we found the bears leisurely fishing.
Hiking the trails at Stamp Falls in search of bears
Waiting for the bears to arrive
Spotting a big black bear downstream on the Stamp River
Black bear and Common Merganser sharing fishing grounds
Black bears are good swimmers!
This guy looks big….time to pack up our party and leave!
Where We Stayed
Campsite at Sproat Lake Provincial Park
We really enjoyed our peaceful stay at Sproat Lake Provincial Park. Like all of Canada’s provincial parks, there are no hookups. But the sites are large and level, there’s water available throughout the campground, and the showers are decent. The park is 15 minutes from Port Alberni and about 20 minutes from Stamp River Provincial Park, an excellent place to see salmon and bears in the fall.
There are two loops in the campground; we preferred the lower loop, which is closer to the lake. No internet (of course!). But there’s blazing fast free internet and a cozy atmosphere at the SteamPunk Café in Port Alberni. The coffee is good, and the owner makes yummy scones from his grandmother’s recipe.
I love the bear in the water. You look so pretty in the photo where you’re looking at the man. This is so pretty. These would make great Christmas cards. Get them developed and place on a blank card. I so enjoy receiving your emails. If you go into a shop where it’s decorated for Christmas, if I may ask if you’ll take photos? I just love to see different places decorating for Christmas. Thank you.
Christine Duval
Tucson, AZ
Thank you for your nice comment, Christine. I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blog! I love taking photos of holiday decorations wherever we go — it would make a fun blog post. I definitely need to get caught up on the blog — the holiday season is here!
Another amazing adventure on this beautiful island. Now to get there with a little smaller RV! Love the ferry ride. That floating house was really floating alone! We usually see them floating right by and attached to the shore. Tide pools, whales, and spectacular scenery sure made for a special day. The boom boat makes a lot of sense. I never thought about how they corralled the logs after floating them down river. Ahhh, watching the bear fish…icing on the cake! Great photos! Love seeing those big furry guys.
Pam, although we saw people traveling in motorhomes, it seems that most people on Vancouver Island were in smaller rigs. This was another great stop, for sure. The mailboat cruise was relaxing and scenic, and we were pretty excited about the bears at Stamp Falls!
This looks simply amazing. There is just too much to see and do. Glad you didn’t have to use the life preserver. I also think you were a bit too close to the bears. Just sayin’.
Haha, yeah, I was thinking we were too close to the bears, too! As they started making their way closer to us, I started dragging Eric away from the river. I think they were about 200 feet away in the water and that was way close enough for me. You know how stubborn he can be, Brenda. :-))
Eric…stubborn…nah, I don’t believe it. LOL!!
Enjoyed your photos and story on the mailboat cruise, beautiful scenery! Thanks for the journey.
Thanks, Denise! Glad to have you along for the journey.
You are like the wildlife whisperer. Everywhere you go, you see all the incredible wildlife that is nowhere to be found when other people (namely, me) go looking for it. Humpback whales? Bears? Salmon? I’m so jealous…
I could look at pictures of this part of Canada all day every day. And I love that there are villages in this spectacular part of the world with just 200 people and folks in tiny towns who can convince the local museum to turn their light off at night. What a peaceful place it must be to call home!
Laura, I like that…wildlife whisperer! That’s because you don’t know about all of the times we’ve been skunked. :-)) If there’s one thing I can say about us, it’s that we’re tenacious.
We fell in love with Vancouver Island and can’t wait to return, for many reasons. Put it on your list — you know, that big long list — you will definitely see wildlife!
Another very special location. I think it would be hard to leave the serenity of such a beautiful and “non-hectic” place (except for the whole no connection thing). The boat trip looks like something we would really enjoy. Great shot of the salmon going up the falls! Love the ravens keeping an eye on Eric and his coffee. Somehow the looking for bears sounds scarier than watching bears. Beautiful pics of them in the water – what a treat!!
Jodee, you and Bill would love the mailboat cruise, and you would love seeing the salmon at Stamp Falls! It’s pretty spectacular. I was very “alert” while we were looking for the bears. When that big one made eye contact, I knew it was time for us to get out of there! I know they were more interested in the salmon than they were in us, but still….
Another great adventure. Canada’s “last” floating post office implies they used to have a lot of them. Why in the world would you want a floating post office or a floating house for that matter. I’ve been by the ocean during storms, I sure wouldn’t want to be on the water during one. I’m sorry you didn’t get left by the boat actually. It looks like a wonderful place to spend a few days. But hunting for fishing bears sounds fantastic as well. Even if you got no pictures, did you see brown bears fishing?
Sherry, we have plans to return to Bamfield for a multi-day kayak trip sometime in the next few years. So yes, we want to get left behind there! As far as the bears, we didn’t see any grizzlies during our time in Canada. I would definitely not want to be as close to a grizzly as we were to the black bears!
Bear hunting….glad they didn’t eat you…wearing purple instead of salmon was a wise choice. Happy birthday hope it was just the start of the continuing celebration you make of your life…such an inspiration!
Thanks for the loving wishes, Diana. You know how to celebrate life too, my friend. And yes, what a good choice that I didn’t wear salmon to the bear festivities! :-)
Looks like a Super Special Walk on the Wild Side!!!!
John, we’re counting on you guys to show us some real wildlife when we finally make it to Alaska! We’re practicing with the black bears. :-)
Another fabulous stop! It’s fitting that the boat was from Norway, your photos remind me of a fjord tour we took in Norway!
Love all the bear sightings.
A fjord tour in Norway — that sounds interesting! We were happy we managed to get some good bear sightings, Lisa. It was so cool watching them swimming and fishing for salmon!
I had no idea just how much could be done on Vancouver Island. What a wonderful way to tour the inlet, on a mailboat! How wonderful to be able to watch the bears fishing and seeing the salmon as they made their journey upstream. How fun would it be to kayak those waters.
LuAnn, we didn’t realize quite how much Vancouver Island has to offer until we got there. Our planned two weeks quickly turned into five, and we could have happily stayed longer! We’re definitely going to do more kayaking there…want to come along? :-)
We have friends from Nanaimo that winter in our resort and keep telling us to visit. You have made planning a trip much more enticing. We are looking forward to following your footprints.
Vancouver Island is wonderful, Debbie — it’s so beautiful, and there are so many varied adventures on the island. It won’t be our last visit there, that’s for sure! I’m happy if our blogs help you with your planning.
This looks really wonderful. Seriously consider paddling the Broken Group next time you’re in the neighborhood. It was incredible. Love following you two around!
Joanne, you’ve inspired us with how much you loved your kayaking adventure in the Broken Group. It’s high on our list for a return trip to Vancouver Island. So happy that you’re following our journey! Keep sending ideas our way. :-)
Any day on the water is a good day for me! That area reminds me of the 1000 Islands region of northern New York, except for the whales, sea stars and bears of course! Thanks for getting us out on the water again!
Sue, we love adventures on the water, too. The 1000 Islands region is on our big list! Thanks for joining us on the water.
Your change of plans to go to Vancouver Islands has given us plenty of things to think about, about visiting there as well. Although we said we don’t want anymore border crossing with Betsy!
For now I’m a bit jealous of your summer adventures :) It’s a good thing you did not have to use the bear spray :)
ML, you and Steve would love exploring more of Vancouver Island. The border crossing really wasn’t bad — I think the ferry crossings are easier. We carried our bear spray that you gave us — but we’re happy we didn’t need it. :-)