It was a short flight but uneventful. Mary and I had a choice of seats on a fairly empty plane. We touched down at Sandspit airport and were quickly whisked through the tiny airport to find the Budget car rental.
The decision was to go ahead on the ferry without Ruth since her flight was so much delayed. We found out the shuttle price and managed to text and call her to let her know. She was stuck at the Vancouver airport.
The car ferry was efficient and quick. They loaded up the vehicles and took off without much fanfare. Since we had a couple of hours to wait for Ruth, Mary and I wondered around Charlotte although it is such a small place that the wondering around was perhaps about 15 minutes. We found The Queen Bee Café and had coffee and muffin. Next door there was a charming and surprisingly high end home variety store enticing us with charming home décor, cozy blankets, cute signs and even some unusual fashions. Outside the shop was an impressive collection of gardening plants that even made me look. This was certainly an interesting introduction to the area. We strolled down the street and decided to get some groceries before it was too late so that we could make a supper that night. We discovered an organic grocery store with a surprising variety of choices. Although very expensive, there were quality items and we selected the best of all the choices to settle on organic whole wheat pasta, a half price organic yoghurt and cottage cheese, a very expensive $11 package of sausages and the least expensive jar of tomato sauce which was still $4.95. Bundled with our $40 supper items we proceeded to find our Float home.
It was not immediately visible so we asked a couple of times to find the home. Once we found it, we were didn’t know why it was so hard. There it was right in the middle of the small wharf among the fishing boats and pleasure crafts fully equipped with fishing gear. The grey wood planks of the float home set it apart from the boats and once we discovered how to get in, we were charmed and pleased that it was homey, comfortable and right on the water. The wide front windows allowed for a marvelous water vista that made one feel that we were on a boat. The kitchen was fully furnished and other than the difficult stairs to go up to the bedroom, we were enchanted.
Ruth did find us, despite our worry and concern. Once she was settled we trotted out to explore the area. We were told by the landlord on the welcome note that there would be a food truck out by the park that night and that become our mission. Organic pasta or not we wanted to have food truck food.
Eventually we found the truck not where he told us it would be, but parked by the only baseball field in town which was just minutes down the road. The tacos from the food truck were a real gourmet treat. For $7 I had tuna taco. The taco was piled high with two large pieces of just barely cooked fresh tuna, a delicate cabbage slaw, a great miso aioli, some fine slivers of red onion and then topped with a generous pinch of bonito flakes. This was unexpected gourmet for such a little place!! We sat in the wooden stands relishing our tacos and watched a fairly exciting game of soft pitch baseball with two local teams. 
Mary and Ruth took the queen bed upstairs and I gratefully took the pullout bed in the living room. I think that I had the best deal. Lumpy or not, I had walking access to the bathroom without climbing down some very awkward stairs and I had a window to the world of ocean marvel. I watched the night fall on the harbor and it wasn’t dark till after 10:30. We don’t have that at home in Vancouver. The light was eerie and unusual and I knew we were north.
We drove around and had a goal to locate the one Golden Spruce that was propagated from the pieces of the Golden Spruce on Haidi Gwai, that had been cut down by a cowardly forestry engineer in 1997. (Story of the Golden Spruce). This marvel of nature was a Kayd Sitka Spruce and prospered for over 300 years on this island. The rare genetic mutation created golden needles instead of the typical evergreen.
It would shine and glow through the dense forest standing alone until one day when out of protest of some nature, the 50 meter base was cut down by chainsaw. Out of all the efforts to graft from the original tree, two saplings survived. One of the saplings remains in Gamadiis Port Clements and the other resides at UBC’s Botanical Garden in Vancouver.
We found it enclosed with a chain link fence to protect it from any harm. still in infancy, only a few feet high, it was replanted here in 2001.
The island is not glamorous. The forests were dense with ferns spreading from everywhere. The paths were well trodden but lead to small viewpoints and many remnants of large trees in various states of natural decay. But I remember this trip with such clarity. The kayak tour, lunch on an isolated beach looking out to another island, strolling through the tall grasses of an old camp where life existed at one time. The whole island spoke of generations of life. I felt I really understood the significance of our indigenous people better. I still smell the cedar piled on the ground from the totem carvers. I can still feel the emotion of receiving the generous chunk of halibut from the fishermen carving out their catch of the day in the back of their house. There are traditions here and the ancestry is undeniable.
That night even though it was already 10:30 Mary made the pasta and sausage and despite the late hour we still relished the plate of food.
