Abbotsford to Horseshoe Bay/Bowen Island
 

I need to catch the 9:05am ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Bowen Island for a job interview tomorrow and I am wondering how much time I should give myself to get through from Abbotsford to Horseshoe Bay using Highway 1. I'd imagine I'd have to give myself some extra time for morning traffic.

Does anyone know what kind of services (shops, groceries, gas, etc) are on Bowen Island should I have to move there? Will I need to go to West Van for most things?

Wonder what on earth bowen island requires to have them hire out.
If your taking a boat to get stuff in west van u may as well go to granville island.

Its a water treatment company based on Bowen Island but services Vancouver Island, Gulf Islands, West/North Van, Squamish, Whistler, etc.

I don't really have a boat to get all the way to Granville Island.

You'll be driving during the peak of rush hour. It already takes over an hour with free-flowing traffic. Give yourself at least 90 minutes, if not 2 hours. It's better to be early than, to be even, a little late for a job interview.

I'm thinking 2 hours too... it's going to suck going through Vancouver proper on Hwy 1.

2 hours for sure. PoCo to Westview alone, takes 45-50 minutes at that time.

last thursday me and my buddy left fraser heights [right before port mann brige] at 5:55

we got to Horseshoe bay by 6:40, the only slow down was the port mann basically

7am will be grid lock from just passed 176th to gaglardi or worse

if its important i'd say be on the road by 7 the latest

There are some shops and stores on Bowen - enough for groceries, meals, etc. I'm pretty sure I saw a gas station the last time I went as well.

Bowen's shopping includes a lot of organic/holistic/artisan/hippie type shops, but there's some REALLY GOOD food to be had there. And yes, there is a gas station.

Check out their Chamber of Commerce site for a list of businesses, real estate, events, etc. - http://www.bowenchamber.com/

There are a lot of nice properties there, and just about every place on the island has an ocean view.

As the others have said, you want to allow yourself at least two hours... and it never hurts to get there early, there are plenty of coffee and breakfast shops in Horseshoe Bay if you have to wait. Better than missing your sailing! I don't know if you can make reservations for the Bowen sailings, but that might be an idea too, just in case it's busy (although I don't think I've ever heard of a sailing wait to Bowen).

Hey, if I had a job that let me move to Bowen, I'd snap it up in a second. Gorgeous little community there, and so relaxed. You're a little isolated as far as car access, limited to the ferry schedule, but there aren't really any other downsides to it.

Good luck tmw!

I'd just go the night before and stay in a B&B :fuckthatshit:

Thanks for the info everyone. I did manage to get there way ahead of schedule, even with ridiculous traffic near the Port Mann Bridge and a car accident between a benz and a civic that took up almost all 3 lanes. I don't know how you people can make a commute like that every day.

Bowen Island did have a number of businesses and making the trip to the mainland for other shopping doesn't seem so bad. Could I be the only Bowen Island RS member? RS meets = :alone:

My commute is only about 1/3 of what you drove but yeah, it still sucks.

So you get the job or still gotta wait?

Yeah I got the job. He'd like me to start as soon as I can and is helping me find a place to rent.

My commute is down the hall from my bedroom, and i still struggle with it each morning :fuckthatshit:

You'll just have to host one over there :)

Congrats on getting the job... so can you tell us what it's all about? Must be something pretty sweet if it's worth moving for.

Hey OP, congrats on getting the job!

Yeah Bowen Island RS Meet!

Congrats!