Ten Months As A Teacher by Dave Jaffe. Part Two

         Part Two of "Ten Months As A Teacher'


    "Powell River is 100 kilometres and five days from Vancouver," one student at Max Cameron High School where I was teaching in the fall of 1969 told me. He exaggerated a bit but certainly it took time to reach this mill town of about 10,000 people. The town was named after Israel Wood Powell, who in the early 20th century was the superintendent of Indian Affairs in B.C. In 1908 a pulp mill started up and people flocked to the area to work in the mill.
     To get to Powell River from Vancouver  in 1969 usually took time. If you drove to the mill town you drove up to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. Then you got on a ferry that took you to Langdale. The rain usually pelted down as you drove off the ferry and headed north. As you drove or sat in a bus as I did, you could look to the left and gaze out at the waters of the Georgia Straight. Or you could look to the right where mountain and trees towered above you.
     This twisting, turning drive along what's called "The Sunshine Coast' took some time. One man who stayed at Gibson's a then small but now growing town on the coast, said way back in 1967, "I sure didn't see much sunshine when I stayed  for the winter in Gibson's." After at least a two hour drive you got on a small ferry at Earl's Cove .This ferry ride left you at Saltery Bay. Or have I named the ferry terminals the wrong way  around? I can't remember now.
     Once your second ferry ride ends you've arrived you're in the township of Powell River. Another short drive would take you near the mill and the town.
    The whole journey from Vancouver to Powell River usually took over five hours. Now of course you could have taken a plane ride from Vancouver Airport to Powell River and in 25 minutes you'd be in the town. But of course that trip cost a lot more money than taking the Greyhound bus as I usually did.
      Another entry point to the town  was from Vancouver Island. Here you could take the ferry that went from Comox to Powell River.  The ferry churned through  grey or blue waters to the town. I never came to Powell River from this direction so I can't report on this journey.   Still which ever way you came, delays or or obstacles to the ferries running, like storms or mechanical ferry failures could stretch out your travelling time even more. And when the winter fog settled on top of the town the plane rides in and out of the place were cancelled.
       So that was it. Truly Powell River was a long way from Vancouver or Victoria. On the map though it looked close by. Yet travelling time could stretch out to six hours or more. Year later when I re-visited Powell River I was asked what I thought of it now. "It's still pretty isolated," I replied. "That unfortunately hasn't changed."