Every time I head to the island, I am in awe of its natural beauty, calming environment that makes one think that it is another beautiful green paradise, and which coaxes one to slow down and accept its gentle rythms. Giant Douglas Firs, rolling mountains above 7000 ft, wolves, bears, bald eagles, cougars (mountain Lions), salmon, trout amongst a myriad of other beings and a colorful mesh of Aboriginal (native) peoples, the original inhabitants, along with white settlers and more recent immigrants, including a few Nepalis, settled within the past decade, call this Island home. I am talking about Vancouver Island located an hours’ ferry ride west of the city of Vancouver, on Canada’s extreme west coast, across the strait of Georgia. The Island’s landmass is similar to that of Israel.
Also, it is an island that has the provincial (state) capital, Victoria within it, with a fully developed modern infrastructure of highways, towns and cities and everything associated with it; and yet, this island is not connected to the outside world other than by sea i.e. primarily by ship ferries. Basically there is no land connection to the Canadian mainland.
This is where my family and myself headed for our annual holiday in the Fall of 2010, before the onset of Canadian winter. Along with some practical considerations it was timed with the season to observe the Orcas, aka the magnificent Killer Whales, along the North-East coast of Vancouver Island. More precisely, our ultimate destination was Douglas channel, which is a wide expanse of Pacific Ocean waters between mountainous islands harboring temperate rain forests and pristine wilderness. These waters are where over 200 killer whales call home. To get there we had to island hop to Alert bay (Cormorant Island) from the Vancouver Island.
Our journey to the island originated outside of Vancouver on Departure Bay to Nanaimo, the second largest city on Vancouver Island. To reach our final destination i.e. village of Alert Bay (on Cormorant Island), we had to disembark in Nanaimo and head 3-4 hours North along the highway to Port McNeil, an industrial lumber town. On our way, we broke our journey along the coastal area of Comox valley, to visit friends and their adopted Nepalese son Vijay, who called Nepal home for many years. It was also an opportune time to catch up after over a year and introduce my family to the Neuspiel family.
After our overnight stay at Comox, we headed further North for about three hours. Our destination was Port McNeil. Having reached this small town, we thought we had reached the end of the universe. It turned out that we were quite wrong as we reached Alert Bay (a one hour ferry ride from Port McNeil, due East), which made Port McNeil stand out as a happening town. The only life we saw were a few stragglers on the 50 m or so stretch of its main street. Alert Bay, a First Nations (Aboriginal) settlement area of 1500 residents is primarily an Indian reservation. It is the oldest community in North Vancouver Island, and this fishing community has been the traditional home of the ‘Namgis First Nation for thousands of years.
My family was not feeling too good about not seeing people on the streets, the few stores on main street closed giving it the impression of a ghost town, and seeing boarded up homes also added to this strange uneasy feeling. On reaching our guest house, that was to be home for two nights, we were also greeted by a woman host (non-Aboriginal) who was stressed, slightly tipsy (she had started her wine drinking for the evening with some other hosts) and informed us that there was nothing open in town on Tuesday (our day of arrival), and that the only food she could serve was beef pasta; take it or leave it. Being vegetarians we thought we had to settle for the night empty-stomached.
As the warm, moist evening settled in, I slung my camera and strolled out on the quiet road looking North, to capture Alert Bay’s sights and sounds, as well as the Autumn hues reflecting on the water and sky. Even though Alert Bay could not be any further away from Nepal, I could not help be reminded of it; especially due to the resplendent blues in the sky, that is also a signature of the Himalayan skies after the monsoons in Autumn. So, having taken my pictures and being re-invigorated inhaling the refreshing fresh saltwater air, I headed to the guest house; only to be greeted by an excited Jyotsna. She says: “ You will not believe this; there were First Nations local people who come over to lodge to take part in a ‘Save the Salmon’ meeting with local stakeholders and they invited me and Shreeya to a feast.” It turns out like Nepalese,these local people make every gathering an excuse to feast. When they saw Jyotsna and Shreeya loitering around in the premises they invited and insisted that they partake in the feast. They also had Jyotsna fill her plate with 5 varieties of fish, vegetables and dessert for the missing husband. And, I entered the scene back from my walk, the angels who saved our empty growling stomachs were gone, that added to the mystery of coincidence, immediate connection to the remote island & faith in humanity and kindness. The night was a restful one after this.
The next day we started out 6 in the morning and headed to the local marina to get on the sailing boat that was to takes us out to see the Orcas. Again it turns out the skipper’s partner, a Kiwi, has been to Nepal, is allured just as much to meet Nepalese folks out this far, has the craziest true Yak stories, makes the tastiest fresh muffins for her patrons on-board and greets us with all the warmth of a family member. Gliding first on engine and later on sails for about two hrs, we hear the Orcas much before we see them. They make a sound that is loud enough to be heard far away yet pleasant on the ears. It resembles something close to a steam locomotive when the brake air pressure is released. Then, after much searching and closer up, we see tall steam-like water spouts up-to 10 ft above the water. It is as exciting as seeing a wild tiger, lion and elephant in the wild. From here on, we are in their midst and world and cannot help just marvel at their grace, intelligence and looks. And time seemed to stand still. At times, we are just 10 ft away, with one big male Orca even diving directly under our sailboat. In all we saw about 3 pods (families) with a total of about 30 individuals (babies, juveniles and adults). This time of the year they were feeding on Salmon runs, which migrate upstream & back inland to rivers and outlets, literally in their thousands, from the ocean to spawn and complete their life-cycle. On our way back and forth we saw seals, Golden eagles, seals, countless sea-birds, humpback and minke whales.
Being on a sailboat and witnessing these wonderful creatures in their elements was truly an incredible feeling that my family and myself enjoyed tremendously and a memory that will always endure with us forever.
Later, on land in the evening we strolled around and took in the local sights. This area is renowned for its Totem poles, a testament to the local people’s spirituality and deep connection to the land and nature around them. We can say there were more than a dozen times when local people enquired about us, welcomed us with their body language, without really saying the words. They made us feel welcome, which gave us a warm fuzzy feeling of being accepted. The next morning we departed on a scheduled ferry. When we did so, Jyotsna, Shreeya and myself all looked at each other and had this incredible common feeling of leaving a part of us on Alert Bay. Two days and nights is all it took to acquire a deep connection to a remote yet magical part of the world.
