We travelled for two long days with “Emma” our veggie oil bus. Each day took us about 12 hours, from Vancouver to Prince George and from Prince George to Prince Rupert. In PG we stayed with a wonderful family, thinking that we would camp in their backyard, they actually took us into their home as a result of a rain storm that had passed not too long before we arrived. The next day we travelled through dry valleys towards the west until we met the lush forests and mountain peaks of the coast. Camping in Prince Rupert was fun and we got to feel like we were finally getting ready for the wild… sort of.  A cold mist woke us up early in the morning as we experienced a different climate than what we had been experiencing in the lower mainland.

Arriving Hartley Bay has been a beautiful experience for all of us so far. We have had a warm welcome from the community and we have eaten delicious freshly-caught salmon in different forms: baked and boiled. Tonight we tried gyoos (herring spawn on kelp) which we found was very noisy when we chewed.

Getting out on the canoe today was really exciting. Finally, we were on the water, doing what we’ve been talking about doing for so long now. Getting the canoe down to the water was an adventure, our muscles were already sore and we hadn’t even started paddling! We got it down safely thought, and once we were on the water we were going fast. For some of the Hartley Bay students it was their first time on the canoe and it was great to see the smiles all around.

The GBR Youth Paddle

~Creating community and sharing together, two cultures learning about each other and acting for something that they both deeply cherish~

Photos by William Munoz