Our November trip to Cartagena, Colombia was a consolation prize. One of the lovely streets inside Cartagena’s historic walled city, eerily …
Tag Archives: Travel
The Hornby Chronicles 2018-2019
I didn’t realize I has so many posts about Hornby Island so here they are all together. I guess the next project should be a book??
Merry Christmas from Hornby Island
Vancouver to Hornby -The Kindness of Friends
My adventure with standup comedy.

Ailish Sinclair – Stories and photos from Scotland
Stories and photos from Scotland
— Read on ailishsinclair.com/
Another interesting read for me as I read about witchcraft trials in Scotland when I was doing my Genealogy.
On The Heritage Trail: Colombia Part 1
On The Heritage Trail: Colombia Part 1
— Read on lisadorenfest.com/2019/11/12/on-the-heritage-trail-colombia-part-1/
Re-blog where Lisa takes us on a tour of Columbia. So far this is my 5th virtual tour this year.
Walktober 2019: Finding beauty wherever you go
Walktober 2019: Finding beauty wherever you go
https://breezesatdawn.wordpress.com/2019/11/03/walktober-2019-finding-beauty-wherever-you-go/
— Read on breezesatdawn.wordpress.com/2019/11/03/walktober-2019-finding-beauty-wherever-you-go/
This is a virtual meet up of bloggers. It is so touching to hear and see everyone’s walks. And the bloggers is a gifted writer.
Summer Reading on Hornby Island
Summer on Hornby is too busy for reading or blogging. Since the rare rainy day has occurred, it is time to refresh my blog. My reading of the past year has been trapped in the world of grade 7 fantasy books for on online book club for 9 students in Ontario. This was a spin off from my reaching English as a Second Language online. I ended the semester with The Handmaids Tale which did not go over well. Although we had done several dystopian novels, The Handmaids Tale did not rank up there with the Hunger Games or Heartless. My personal favourite from the book club was Heartless by Marissa Meyer. It was a prequel to Alice and Wonderland. It has a good plot, good character development and kept the action moving. Unfortunately, none of these grade 7 students had read Alice in Wonderland so they missed some of the literary allusions. Sad commentary on children’s reading but there are so many books to choose from it’s hard to pick recommended reads. I found it challenging to pick books for the book club. Many libraries have lists, Amazon and Goodreads have lists, there are so many lists, I had to make a spread sheet of the lists. Their favourites were:
- Little Brother
- Replica
- Rebel of the sands
- Heartless
- Maze Runner
- Divergent
- Hunger Games
The downside to the book club was that I spent my time reading grade 7 books and not my own picks. So I was pleased to have been introduced to some adult reading over the summer.
The first book I was introduced to was Adventures in Solitude by Grant Lawrence at a reading on Hornby Island. Grant has had a pod cast on CBC about some characters he knew from spending summers in Desolation Sound, north of Powell River and only accessible by boat. His stories brought back memories of a sailing trip I had to Desolation Sound in 1985. I could imagine the scenes in his stories. Grant wrote about the loss of people’s mental health from extended periods of time in the wilderness. I sometimes wonder if the strange hats people wear on Hornby might be an early warning sign.
The next reading I went to was by Amanda Hale. I was not familiar with her work but was intrigued by her fictionalized memoir of her father’s internment in England during WWII. After the long drought of adult reading I welcomed The Mad Hatter. I couldn’t put it down. The reference to the mad hatter is indirectly related to Alice and Wonderland and you might think this is my theme for today. Amanda’s book is being published in Sept 2019.
My third read was picked from the annual Hornby Island book sale. It was a mystery set in Ireland called The Likeness by Tana French. She has written a series around a group of Irish detectives. I enjoyed the Likeness, it kept me reading late at night. I did however find some inconsistencies in the story line. I’m interested in reading more of her series. The story has an oddly similar theme to the Replica.
The next reading I went to by Dr Gabor Mate who also lives part-time on Hornby. I haven’t read any of his books and his reading was from a book he is writing. The reading was a sell out which is a measure of the wide spread interest in his topic of personal development and spirituality. In keeping with the mad hatter theme, he did talk about the use of Iowaska, the drug used in Peru to generate deep personal experiences.
I feel fortunate to have attended the wide variety of readings here. It only takes me 5 min to get there and I don’t have to find or pay for parking for which I also feel grateful.
Links to my reads on Amazon.
Grade 7 reads
My reads
Gabor Mate books on Amazon
What have been your summer reads?
Portrait of a Cruiser: Lisa Dorenfest – Noonsite
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Transportation to Hornby

Many people on Hornby have summer visitors and it’s complicated getting here. This might help a few people to navigate the transportation system to get here. My recommendation is the float plane from Vancouver float plane terminal at Coal Harbour to Hornby for about $200 one way. See details below.
Public transit.
Getting to and from Hornby Island is a lengthy process. Here is a typical schedule for a trip as a foot passenger from Vancouver to Hornby Island. If you are coming as a foot passenger there is an express bus from Downtown Vancouver at Granville and West Georgia to Horseshoe Bay. Check Google Maps for times. The Ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay at Nanaimo is about 1 hr 40 min. Then you can pick up the Island link shuttle from Departure Bay to Buckley Bay. Advance booking for the Island Link is necessary and can be done online. From Buckley Bay you get the ferry to Denman Island. Then you have a 20 min drive to the ferry on the other side of Denman Island to pick up the ferry to Hornby Island. Each crossing is about 10 min. People travelling as foot passengers on the Denman ferry often approach travelers with cars to hitch a ride across Denman Island. Seniors with a BC ID are free on Mon-Thurs but you still have to pay for your car. The ferry fare on Hornby/Denman includes the return fare.
One should check the BC Ferries website up to an hour before leaving as ferries have been known to break down and not be replaced due to lack of availability of replacement ferries. The Denman and Hornby Island operate on a schedule but will increase sailings if line-ups occur.
Here is a typical schedule for a walk on passenger from Vancouver. Times can vary so check the schedules of Translink, BC Ferries and Island Link. Taking your car requires advance booking on BC Ferries to ensure a spot on the ferry at your desired departure time. The ferry schedule for Denman/Hornby is different on some days of the week so close scrutiny of the schedule is warranted.
Vancouver-Hornby
Return from Hornby to Vancouver
depart | Depart time | arrive | Arrival time |
Ferry Hornby -Denman | 10:00 | Denman Island | 10:10 |
Ferry Denman-Vancouver Island | 10:40 | Buckley Bay | 10:50 |
Buckley Bay Island link | 11:20 | Departure Bay | 12:30 |
Departure Bay BC Ferries | 1:15 | Horseshoe Bay | 2:55 |
Granville and West Georgia downtown Vancouver bus 257 | 3:15 | Georgia and Granville downtown Vancouver | 3:45 |
*free for seniors Mon-Thur. Total travel time one way 6 hours
Depart time | Arrival location | Arrival time | fares one way 2019 | Return fare | comments | |
Granville and West Georgia downtown Vancouver bus 250 | 9:56 | Horseshoe Bay | 10:30 | $1.85 | ||
Horseshoe Bay BC Ferries | 11:00 | Nanaimo Departure Bay | $ 17.20 person*
$57.50 car | |||
Departure Bay -Island Link Shuttle Bus | 1:05 | Buckley Bay | 2:10 | $28.99 | ||
Ferry Buckley bay-Denman Island | 3:00 | Denman | 3:10 | $8.90 person*
$ 20.65 car | discount with Experience Card | |
Ferry Denman-Hornby Island | 3:40 | Hornby | 3:50 | 0 | ||
Total without car | $56.94* | $104.98* | ||||
Total with car | $135.09 | $240.63 |
Fares
Denman/Hornby | Horseshoe Bay/Nanaimo | ||
Experience card | |||
adult | 8.90 | 5.15 | 17.20 |
Car | 20.65 | 12.35 | 57.50 |
BC Senior | Free Mon-Thurs. | Free Mon-Thurs. |
Flying
via Comox
Flying from Coal Harbour in Vancouver into Comox Airport with Harbour Air is an option. Prices range from $ 132-$ 199 depending on the day. This would require ground transport or water taxi from Comox to Hornby. A site called Rome2rio.com gives a number of ground and water options to get to Hornby from Comox with the shortest being a 2 hour trip using a car from Comox Airport. Public transit via the Courtenay Bus system is available to Buckley Bay.
Hornby Direct
There is a seaplane that goes from the seaplane terminal at Coal Harbour in Vancouver directly to Hornby and is the quickest way to get to Hornby for about @ $ 200 one way. The plane lands on a beach by the ferry terminal. https://www.vancityseaplanes.com/routcosts
Nanaimo Airport
The Island Link shuttle will stop on the highway next to the Nanaimo Airport. It is a 5 -10 min walk from the bus stop to the departure terminal.
Water Taxis
Water taxi service is available to/from Hornby, Buckley Bay and Comox Harbour as well as other destinations. Comox Water Taxi advertises Hornby to Comox in 35 min. Hornby Island Adventures also offers water taxi for $ 220 for one person from Comox to Hornby.
The Senior Nomads
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Shopping.. some of my favourite things.
Securing your back pack
I have found that backpacks often slip off my shoulders and I have found a solution to this problem. There are two parts to the solution. One is a clip that attaches to the front strap of your backpack and the other is this handy bungee cord like device that clips on to the other strap. The bungee cord is adjustable to the width of your straps.
This is what is looks like on my backpack. I have added a second miniclip but it is not necessary.
Seniors Discounts
There are several sites that list seniors discounts in Vancouver. It’s a bit cumbersome to sort through them all but here they are in the order of the number of places listed.
Vancouver BC
Across Canada
CARP. CARP offers many discounts to members, including 25% off some car rentals and numerous hotel discounts in Canada. One year membership is $ 20.00. They also have a list of discounts across Canada open to non-CARP members.
USA. You can search by city and state.
Australia – State of Victoria has a searchable database of discounts in their area.
Skin Care
This is my favourite line of skin care products. As I get older I find my skin is drying out. CeraVe Moisturizers, Moisturizing Cream. This product contains hyaluronic acid which is used in some of injection fillers. I would say that the research on this product is still in progress but I found one study that showed improvement in the appearance of skin over 3 months. I just find that it makes my skin feel better.
Backpacks
This is a link to my favourite backpacks Beside-U They come with multiple inside pockets so you can find pens, bus passes, glasses, iPhones etc. quickly. Be careful to check the size as there are some packs that are too small for groceries but are a good substitute for a purse. The Nanette is on my wish list as it is big enough for a few groceries and has side pockets for an umbrella, gloves, sun glasses etc. Here is my comparison of some of the Beside-U backpacks that I think are big enough for a few groceries. Although they are expensive, shipping is Free.
link | Side pockets | Size Lx H x D | Cost |
---|---|---|---|
Alloy | 2 | 28 x 40 x 14 | $135 |
Nanette | 2 | 26 x 38 x 15 | $135 |
Hornchurch | 1 open, 1 zip | 29 x 38 x 14 | $125 |
Liza | 2 | 29.5 x 37.5 x 14 | $135 |
Mya | 1 | 29 x 35 x 13 | $150 |
Walking Poles
Below are the Walking Poles with the best customer reviews from Amazon that ship to Canada. These three models are collapsible and carbon fiber and range from $ 53.00-$ 60.00 US plus about $30.00 shipping and duty if shipping to Canada for about a bill of $80-90 US.
Every pole user needs shoes! Save up to 50% on NEW Markdowns – ABEO, Dansko, Raffini, ECCO, Taos + more!