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North Island (Tri-Island) Triangle Tour Itinerary | |
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| Itinerary | |
| Day1. | Port McNeill & Telegraph Cove |
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Just south of Port McNeill, turn off Highway 19 and travel east for 10 km to the tiny hamlet of Telegraph Cove. This settlement, built largely on stilts over the water, was the terminus for a telegraph line between the Mainland and Vancouver Island at one time a sawmill community, and home to a cannery in the early days of the 20th Century. Complete with restaurant, pub, and accommodations, it is the jumping off point for whale watching excursions to nearby Robson Bight where pods of killer whales can be seen in their natural habitat. | |
| Day2. | Port McNeill to AlertBay to Sontula to Port McNeill |
| Today, take a BC Ferry from downtown Port McNeill for a 45-minute ride to Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, oldest settlement on the North Island. First impressions of Alert Bay are powerful: the village has an abundance of First Nation paintings and totem poles. Don't miss the U'Mista Cultural Centre, containing one of the finest mask and Potlatch collections on the Islands.
Returning to Port McNeill, another brief ride aboard BC Ferries takes you to Sointula on nearby Malcolm Island, which was founded at the turn of the century by Finnish settlers seeking to establish a utopian colony based on logging, fishing and farming. Don't miss the museum, art gallery and the 1908 co-op general store. Return to Port McNeill on a late afternoon BC Ferries sailing. | |
| Day3. | Port Hardy - Fort Rupert |
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Port Hardy has much to offer the visitor: museums, arts and craft shops, local Native artisans, a seawall walk, diving or fishing charters, and more. Start with a visit to Fort Rupert, an historic Kwakiutl Village where the opportunity exists to see native carvers working on totem poles and other artifacts. Visit the "Big House" and search for petroglyphs in front of the old Hudson's Bay Fort site. The oldest dated archaeological site on Vancouver Island is at nearby Bear Cove, terminus for BC Ferries' Inside Passage route. Returning to Port Hardy, make sure you leave time for visit to the Port Hardy Museum & Archives, as well as some interesting shopping along Market Street. | |