Harbour Taxi

A fleet of these little ferries ply the waters between West Bay Marina and Tillicum Landing. There are sixteen stops on the round trip route, at pubs, restaurants, fish n chip shops, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, and spots along the Galloping Goose, all the way up the Gorge.

They seat about a dozen people and you can just hop on and hop off, or you can charter one for a tour, a pub crawl, or to "lay a loved one's ashes at sea" (they actually advertise that service!) (at sea in the harbour I presume, cos I don't know I'd want to go out on open water in one of these ... wee bit too bobby). You can also get a four punch wrist band if you're of a delicate constitution and only want to do four pubs in one night.

You can buy an annual pass!! For only $150! So if you live up the Gorge and work downtown you can travel quite cheaply to work each day. Much cheaper than a bus pass or parking downtown. And really quite a pleasant commute, providing Hurricane Nellie's not blowing thr0ugh.

Best bit, though, is they do a little Harbour Taxi Water Ballet on Sunday mornings. They twist and turn and bob in between each other to the Blue Danube Waltz. Quite a riot and if you're staying in The Empress Hotel you have a front row seat.

I took this as I was pushing Mum over the Selkirk Trestle. Lovely day! Mum got a bit warm, so she removed her cardigan and put it in her lap. When we stopped for a tea on the way back we couldn't find it, which means that at some point on our walk it fell off her lap onto the pavement, and I rolled her and walked over it and didn't notice! She's not worried though, cos it wasn't one of her embroidered cardigans, it was just a plain old thing.