We love to explore new places and we love it even more when our Little Missy Girl can venture with us! This year we took a trip on a ferry to visit Vancouver Island!
Now, the Island holds a special draw for Mr. S so what did we do for his 50th birthday? A special trip! 3 days (plus 2 travel days) to visit Ucluelet and Tofino. But what about Missy Girl Skye? Well, she came to, of course!
We boarded the Horseshoe bay Ferry early on Friday morning. The Ferry has not always been pet friendly. You used to have to leave your pups in the car or stay in the pet area on the vehicle deck. Now, though, Fido can come along! BC Ferries have expanded their pet zones to include the open viewing deck with a 3 sided enclosure at each end so you can walk around and sit with your pet. Its a bit chilly but it definitely is nicer to watch the water than stare at cars! The ferries have even gone a step further and allowed for not just service animals, but support dogs to be permitted on the passenger decks (they just cannot be in the cafeteria areas).
Bear in mind, service and support animals are NOT the same thing. If you have a support animal, make sure you have the appropriate identification and paperwork on you to show it to the captain. If the dog is not well-behaved and if you don’t have your identification, support animals can be refused entry/access. Service animals must be wearing their service vests and go through rigorous training.
For Skye, while she was allowed on the passenger decks as a support animal, we took her mostly out to the pet deck. We tried to walk up to the bow of the boat and Skye, being so slight, got blown sideways. She was less than impressed with the high winds in her face! Particularly when they blew her over…..so we stayed in the enclosure areas and visited with some of the travelling families and other pups on vacation instead.
You will want to ensure you have a water dish handy for sailing as those are not provided to the 4 footed passengers.
We disembarked in Nanaimo and met a dear friend for some late lunch/early dinner snacks before we began our journey across the island. The Ferry is across the Georgia straight, the inner channel between mainland BC and Island, we had to get to the Oceanside still! The drive from Nanaimo to Ucluelet is about 3 hours. Mr S thought it was a lot closer.
We gassed up and hit the road! If you are going to try it, it’s not the best road if you get car sick. It’s a very windy road! Little Skye is not a fan of lots of twists and turns. She was restless on the really topsy turvy sections (which were about a solid 1 hour stretches) into Ukee. But once we turned off the winding highway onto the Ucluelet-Tofino highway, she started to settle. It’s a little straighter!
We checked into the resort – and we splurged on this trip. You only turn 50 once Mr. S!
We checked in at the BlackRock Resort and when I say they are amazing pet friendly room I am not exaggerating! Typically a pet friendly room will be one that either requires updates or is a little of lesser comfort level only because animals tend to create damages. Well, we were very impressed with this resort! Not only were the room gorgeous, but what pet friendly hotel has Ocean View rooms for pet rooms! None that I have ever stayed in! If you’re headed to Ukee with Fido, please stay at BlackRock….I promise you will not be disappointed!
Our first night, we had ordered some sparkling wine a charcuterie for our arrival as a snack or light dinner. I knew we would be tired from traveling all day. It was in the fridge waiting for us! Nicely chilled and ready to drink/eat. Well, we saved this part for another, more relaxing day of our trip!
Skye hopped right up on the bed and snoozed while we set up our temporary home for the next three days. And the patio? Do you want to see an extremely anxious Skye relax? Just open that patio door and let her listen to the ocean waves. She never wanted to come back inside – we definitely have a patio pooch!
Our first night was chill, a drink and hot tub and bed. It’s the next day that we really got our exploration shoes on for!
All in all, traveling with a pup on a long road trip needs a few considerations, but not many. Stop somewhere to stretch some legs and have a pee. Have a water bowl and bottle ready for drinking on the go, and make sure your pup is secure in the car.
Stay tuned and check back soon for more on our island adventures in Ukee!
Happy tails!
ASR Adventures 