Bucket List Opportunity
We had the incredible opportunity to join our friends Julie & Dan, on a bucket list trip to northern Vancouver Island. Julie's friend Andrea created Karibu Adventures, a travel company inspired to provide Travel with Purpose. And Keep it Wild.
As so, with purpose, we headed for the airport.
After an uneventful flight to Vancouver we took the YVR courtesy shuttle to the South Terminal.
The Galiano Cafe serves fresh made soup and sandwiches to lots of middle aged white men ready to go on a fishing adventure. The sign read "Only at Joe's Salmon Lodge". The excitement was visible and (mostly) audible. Groups of men slapping shoulders and already telling fishing tales. Wow, can they be loud. Honestly it felt like I was in a grade 4 classroom at an all boys school. Chatter and laughter, teasing and comparing.
The Pacific salmon are back this year, best they have been in the last five years (I was told, unprompted).
Our flight was called, but with a weather warning that it was foggy in Port Hardy (our destination) and "if it is too foggy to land, we will turn around and come back". I'm not pilot, but that sounded reasonable to me. 😳
The one hour flight was a stunning display of Pacific Ocean waterways, snow capped mountains and islands of tall green trees.
No forest fires that we could see. The damp low hanging fog must help that situation.
As we found the runway, we startled a big black bear and he ran (in that loafing, I am too big to run kind of way bears do) along the side of the runway.
What a welcome to Port Hardy!!
We are over 200 kms north of Campbell River here. Almost at the northern tip of Vancouver Island.
With all the excitement of the bear, I left my sweater shirt on the plane.
The tiny airport was a
blessing. Over the speaker came "Marc or Carolyn Solby we have your jacket
here" and as I showed my shock and embarrassment, the nice lady ran from
behind her desk and waved it in the air to me. Good thing, I may need all my
layers here.
We found Andrea, and BLAM (our friends Blaine and Anne Marie) and enjoyed our first evening at the Kwa'lilas Hotel.
From their website:
GilaKas’la! Welcome to Kwa’lilas Hotel, here is our story. Kwa’lilas is a kwak’wala word used by Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw people meaning a place to sleep. A group of Elders chose this word in hopes that travelers and guests would find a peaceful rest after a day of exploration on Northern Vancouver Island.
Our History goes back over 12,000 years when our old people lived off the land and waters of our old countries. Traveling by sea between our villages allowed families to practice our culture through ceremonies like feasts, and potlatching. We also traveled to surrounding villages for trading and harvesting.
Traveling, with purpose!
So excited to read on !!!
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