A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

Milk Run


Milk Run | travel, ordeal | A local, commonly employed term that describes BC Ferries’ beautiful but time-consuming routes through the Gulf Islands or to more remote coastal communities where there are several stops along the way. The milk run from Tsawwassen, for example, visits Galiano, Pender, Mayne, Saturna and Salt Spring. The old Queen of Chilliwack milk run was an epic 17-hour cruise from Port Hardy to faraway spots like Klemtu, Bella Bella, Bella Coola, Shearwater and Ocean Falls.

If you’re in the mood to chill on a beautiful day, the milk run can be a magical, affordable escape that glides past some of British Columbia’s most stunning shorescapes. If you’re commuting or in a hurry, however, it’s an expensive, interminable nightmare that can’t end soon enough. The term came to common parlance during World War II among Allied bomber crews who used it to describe a safe or otherwise uneventful mission involving multiple stages and/or targets (as if they were milkmen delivering the milk).

Usage: “Hi Mom. I made the ferry just in time but it’s a milk run so it’s probably best that you start dinner without me.”

There is 1 comment

  1. Have 100% sent that exact text on multiple occasions. RIP Queen of Nanaimo, I’ll miss your poutine.

One of the Most Beloved Players to Ever Wear a Canucks Uniform

“I was there when Gino scored a penalty shot goal against Calgary. The way the crowd erupted, you’d think we had just won the Stanley Cup!"

How a Climate Change Event Created a Local 'Cause Célèbre'

"Is Barge Chilling Beach a good first date or nah?"

How Generations of Underaged Partiers Have Avoided Cops and Cover Charges in BC

"On our way up to Jones Lake on Sunday we had to wait for a slow convoy of hungover bush party survivors to pass..."

How Vancouverites Know a Targeted Hit on a Gangster Has Just Gone Down

"Like sunshine after rain and dawn after dark, a report of a burning vehicle usually means a gangster has just been shot at."