I haven't thought much about their route. Am curious a bit about the timeline. I am using Google maps for times so might not be 100%. Sorry for this long post...
I'm from Vancouver Island and I think there's 2 main ferry routes off Vancouver Island (didn't include Comox to Powell River as there's 2 ferries and way longer):
1. Drive from Port Alberni to Nanaimo (1 hr 5 min) - take ferry to Horseshoe Bay terminal (between Vancouver and Whistler and goes through city of Vancouver/Surrey) - drive to Laird Springs (21 hrs 6 mins)
2. Drive from Port Alberni to Victoria (2hrs 30 min) - take ferry to Tsawwassen terminal (closer to Surrey, you bypass the city of Vancouver) - drive to Laird Springs (21hrs 25 mins)
Either is likely and from my memory of doing both routes, they kind of balance out timewise. Nanaimo departure is closer to PA but takes you through the city of Vancouver (via hwy) so longer on the mainland. The Victoria departure you bypass the city drive, but do extra from PA to Victoria.
There is likely ferry waits as it's crazy this time of year. So it would take MINIMUM 26-27 hours to get to Laird Springs and that's with straight driving, no food/gas breaks, and still unsure of that time. So possibly 30 hours. So ended up in Laird Springs on 13th. Please correct me if I have some info wrong, or missed a stop, I haven't paid much attention to timeline!
I guess my point is within 24 hrs of being up there, they decided to murder people. The murders happened awfully fast since they left home. I'm wondering why they chose the such a remote area (where they could've gotten away with it maybe) and then light cars on fire to get the attention (obvious to get notoriety). Strange plan.