Mileage Today 190. Total mileage: 6,011 miles
We set off from Campbell River by 9am. It was another lovely sunny day with no wind. Our first stop was just a few miles north of town at the Quinsam Salmon Hatchery. We’d heard there could be some black bears fishing there but we may have been too late because we didn’t see any. It was interesting to see the long fish channels they used to free the salmon into the river.
On we went. The road was extremely quiet. We saw the odd logging lorry but not much else. RT 19 heads North but inland through river valleys and forests. Maybe one or two tiny hamlets in well over 100 miles.
We stopped at one of them. Tiny Wass. There was a bit of a pub next to the general store and we sat outside and had a couple of coffees. It was extremely quiet. The coffee was good.
Our next stop was tiny Telegraph Cove where we had our picnic lunch. Its an incredibly picturesque place. The terminus of the telegraph back in 1912 and then the site of a salmon fishery and cannery. All the old buildings and cottages have now been turned into holiday rentals and there is a restaurant, a general store, marina, whale watching trips….. We had a good wander about. So pretty and the water in the cove was very clear with giant kelp strands.
We continued along the North Coast to Port Hardy, the last sizeable town. It was rather nice and had all the facilities. I went into the visitor centre and picked up some maps.
We got to our accommodation for the next 3 nights just after 4pm. Wow. What an amazing place. We have home envy. The Inn on Stephens Bay is a fab place on the edge of an inlet just past Coal Harbour. There are about 8 rooms. We have the garden suite which has a bedroom, living room/kitchen and a patio with bbq. The lovely garden leads right down to the sea inlet and there are kayaks for us to use. I don’t think we’ll go anywhere else!!!!!
We met a Dutch couple who came back after kayaking and they had seen 2 humpback whales nearby and heard them singing every day. We’ve already seen several sea otters.
Our hosts sent down two fab desserts tonight. Berry frozen soufflés with a toffee toile. Breakfast is going to be amazing. https://bayinn.ca/ We cooked up some fantastic salmon for dinner.
