Beached

To the local indigenous people of this coast, Hornby Island is a sacred place visited for healing and guidance, Tim Biggins tells us this as we sit beneath a shady apple tree in the orchard outside the Cardboardhouse Bakery. As he talks, a mighty jet-black raven lands behind him on the picnic table, head cocked towards us - listening. You can feel this healing energy underfoot as you walk the shores of this island, over bubbles and drips captured in warm sandstone. 

We rolled onto Hornby at the same time as the heat wave and crowd of summertime souls heading to the beach. Someone told us that the further you get from mainland, the slower time moves, and our visit melts into a sea of music, laughter, and adventures along the water. 

This island weaves a silvery web, entwining creative people from all walks of life. So many locals have told the same story - "came for a visit 10....30..40 years ago, fell in love with the place and never left." One wise weathered islander, when I commented on the kindness and openness of the community, laughed and said, "but isn't this the way life should always be? It's funny that we've come so far away from a place of honest friendliness that it suprises us - we're all neighbours here."

What goes up must go down I guess, and we feel the blow on our second day, when our little green tent - our home for the journey - disapears. But a campfire always softens the edges of a rough day, and we spend the night warm and safe in a driftwood beach hut, graciously offered to us by a wandering anarchist named Ayron. Waking up in a cucoon of smooth sea-worn logs, the morning beckons us into the waves.

Denman Island is a cool deep breath between the craziness of Hornby, and Vancouver Island. The huckleberry bushes are loaded with juicy red berries, enjoyed in the shade of tangled mossy forest. The Slobodin family offers us showers, an amazing feast of birthday leftovers, and they donate a three-legged tent to the campaign! We are happy campers, curled up in a new home, in a new place, fed and clean and excited for tomorrow!