Hi. I have an odd request. I’m going to be speaking at the Access 2007 conference in Victoria BC on October 11th. I’m really looking forward to it. However, travelling there involves going from Tinytown USA to Tinytown Canada which means two small airports which means two long (or expensive, or both) trips. If anyone is driving to Access and heading either through Vancouver BC or Seattle WA on their way there and wouldn’t mind giving me a ride to the conference — I speak on the morning of the 11th, pretty flexible otherwise — I’d be happy to chip in for gas, share my hotel room if it’s logistically possible, or otherwise make it a non-sucky experience for you in the interests of saving the conference promoters money and me some time. Drop a note in the comments or find me in the usual places. I’ll be buying tickets sometime this week. Thanks.
7 thoughts on “Going to Access 2007?”
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Jessamyn, I’d suggest bugging one of my fellow geeks involved with code4lib. Either send out a message to the list, pop into the IRC channel, or just ask around. I know there were some folks looking to fly into Seatac and then get to Victoria from there. Also, I know there’s a bus that runs from the airport to the Port Angeles ferry terminal, from which the ferry to Victoria runs.
Jessamyn doubt my times will be of help. I am driving over from Vancouver on the Monday (8th) for Thanksgiving with the in-laws and staying the entire week. I plan on driving back from Victoria to Vancouver sometime on the Saturday (13th), though I might come back late on the Friday, if you plan to stay that long.
You have probably checked into it, but if you fly in/out of Seattle there is the Clipper service to Victoria, a high speed passenger ferry, though only 1 trip each way at that time of year.Clipper.
When you get your times set, we have to see if we can set up a MeFi meetup.
Jessamyn – if you are flying into Seattle, I suggest you look into the Victoria Clipper (http://www.clippervacations.com) ferry for transportation. Although aimed at tourists, it can be a good way for passengers without cars to get to Victoria from the U.S.
n.b. the Victoria Clipper is not connected to Sea-Tac airport, so you will also need to catch a Metro Transit bus or a taxi to make the connection. And while the bus is quite cheap ($2 or thereabouts), the Clipper will set you back roughly $100.
I’ll be in the same boat, so to speak.
Another option is if you find can a good price for a flight into Vancouver, you can get the Helijet from the Vancouver Airport to downtown Victoria. Not the best times (make sure you check Fall schedule) but damn fun, especially if you do the one that makes a stop in downtown Vancouver. The flight is about $140 Cdn, so not much more expensive than flying into SeaTac and taking the Clipper.
Helijet.com
Fall Sched.
Hi Jessamyn – I won’t be going to Access but make this trip often as my parents live north of Victoria. We have found that sometimes its cheapest to fly into Vancouver, BC. You can get a bus at Vancouver airport that takes you right to downtown Victoria via the ferry. Buses run regularly (every couple of hours) and cost about $25 CDN. As a bonus you get the beautiful scenery from the ferry.
The Victoria Clipper from Seattle is not cheap and is time consuming but the ride is beautiful. You might also try the seaplane from Seattle to Victoria – again a beautiful ride and a lot of fun for about the same price as the regular plane fare. There is a shuttle that runs from the Seattle airport to the seaplane terminal.
Kathy Gould
Palos Verdes Library District
Hi Jessamyn,
I live in Nanaimo, up Island from Victoria. I am sure you have booked all your tickets by now, but you might want to check out Harbour Air to fly from Vancouver to Victoria fairly cheaply. I wish I were going to the ACCESS conference but am going to Monterey instead a few weeks later. Victoria is beautiful though, enjoy!